Perspectief 2014-25

2014-25 Legal positioning 23 Reageer 3.1.2 A key principle from Vatican II Conciliar documents contain first of all dogmatic statements. However, they also express guidelines for practical implementation of the teaching of the Church. The theological reasoning of the Council will be treated in the next chapter, here I look at the guidelines given. As stated already in the previous paragraph, the Second Vatican Council embraced and promoted ecumenism and expressed a new attitude towards non Catholic Christians. In fact, the entire decree Unitatis Redintegratio is dedicated to the restoration of Christian unity. No longer is ecumenism of return the sole conception of restoration of the unity. Since Vatican II the Catholic Church promotes active participation in the ecumenical movement. This participation needs guidance and regulation to define the space and the boundaries for ecumenical encounter. The council encourages ecumenical encounters and, under some conditions, shared prayer. With regard to the Eucharist the council states in number 8: “Yet worship in common (communicatio in sacris) is not to be considered as a means to be used indiscriminately for the restoration of Christian unity. There are two main principles governing the practice of such common worship: first, the bearing witness to the unity of the Church, and second, the sharing in the means of grace. Witness to the unity of the Church very generally forbids common worship to Christians, but the grace to be had from it sometimes commends this practice. The course to be adopted, with due regard to all the circumstances of time, place, and persons, is to be decided by local episcopal authority, unless otherwise provided for by the Bishops' Conference according to its statutes, or by the Holy See.” The language is very clear: in principle worship in common is forbidden. However, a small space is left open here for common prayer and Eucharistic sharing. The decree “offers two principles for (...) eucharistic sharing, first, as the sign of the Church’s unity, second, as participation in the means of grace. The first principle, not yet achieved,