Unity in the Church

                                                      Fr. Ryan and Fr. Mike 
                                                            6/20/2021

At the Last Supper Jesus prayed: “Holy Father keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.  I pray not only for them but also for those who will believe in me through their word so that they may be one, as you Father are in me and I in you. (Jn 17:11 & Jn 11:20)

We are a people who believe in One God and yet three persons. We believe in the Communion of Saints living in Christ with one mind and one heart and yet each one of the saints is a unique reflection of God the creator. How do we maintain unity in diversity? It is through a process of self-giving and life-giving love.    

Each Sunday, we profess the four ‘marks’ of the Church Community.  We say the Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.  We profess the Church is One, because it is true.  Today it can be a real challenge to profess that the Church is One when we see or hear of disagreements among our bishops and our fellow Catholics.  Most recently the question of whether Catholic politicians can receive Communion while promoting policies legalizing or expanding access to abortion has caused some to wonder what does it mean to say we are One.  Division has also been apparent between bishops and the Holy Father, both in the form of formal questions (called dubia), as well as open letters.  While this is a challenge to our understanding of Unity, it’s important to recognize that Church unity has been a growth area ever since the Holy Spirit first descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost. Below is a quick tour through Church History.

Immediately following Pentecost, Christian unity was a highly prized value among the Apostles and early Church, but “unity among the disciples of Christ was also at times a highly threatened value, indeed a value that needed to be worked at, prayed for and requiring great self-discipline.” (Acts 15:2)  Within the New Testament itself, we encounter division even among the Apostles by the year 50 A.D.  As described in Acts 15, this division centered on whether followers of Jesus needed to keep the Mosaic law, especially on dietary matters: “Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and presbyters about this question.”  Eventually an agreement was reached in the first Church Council as Acts 15 continues.

A few centuries later, St. Cyprian (210-258) wrote a classic on Church unity called On the Unity of the Church in the 3rd Century.  He quotes Scripture extensively on how God wills the Church to be united, and then writes to the bishops, “this unity we ought firmly to hold and assert, especially those of us that are bishops who preside in the Church, that we may also prove the episcopate itself to be one and undivided.”^[1]  In spite of having authored this classic, St. Cyprian himself argued with Pope St. Stephen while serving as bishop of Carthage in North Africa.  During their dispute, Pope Stephen wrote that Cyprian was a “false Christ and false apostle.”
In response, Cyprian called Stephen “arrogant, inconsistent, self-contradictory, ill-considered, and inept.”^[2]  In spite of this, both would later be martyred and have been canonized as saints.

When Christianity became legal, the Church was freed from persecutions, but faced difficult arguments.  At the Second Council, or Synod, of Ephesus in 449, Pope Leo I sent a letter with Bishop Flavian to the bishops of the area.  After reading the letter, Flavian was beaten severely by soldiers and monks, and died of his wounds a few days later.  Imagine the news coverage of something like that today.  In spite of such a horrific moment, just two years later the bishops of the whole Church were invited to Chalcedon in 451 with Pope Leo I.  The result was a definition of how Jesus is both fully human and divine that has been essentially unchanged ever since.

In the 11th Century, Pope St. Gregory VII issued reforms that were desperately needed.  One reform was to free papal elections from being influenced by kings and political authorities. Pope Gregory instituted the conclave to seal the cardinals off from those trying to influence their decision.  Emperor Henry IV retaliated, calling a synod himself.  This synod of bishops elected another pope.  Then the emperor attacked Rome, forcing Gregory VII to leave the Vatican for Salerno where he died in 1085.  Again, imagine the social media coverage of something like that today.  Yet, as we know, Gregory’s reforms held up, and we consider the conclave part of what helps keep the Church together under the successors of Peter.

As a response to the Reformation, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) was called to address Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the growing number of Christians breaking away from the Catholic Church.  While all the bishops were invited, the council began with only Italian bishops.  As time went on, bishops from Spain arrived.  There was sporadic attendance by German and French bishops, largely inhibited by their rulers.  In this case, imagine our bishops not being allowed by our government to go to Rome.  In spite of these challenges, the Council implemented reforms that led to greater unity in liturgy and inspired people like St. Charles Borromeo.  Our patron worked hard after the Council of Trent for unity among the dioceses near Milan, recognizing the need for and challenge to Church unity. He wrote, “and so we see tremendous detriment and harm to the Christian republic, brought in by bishops having such a dissimilar spirit, even though Christ the Lord wished the spirit of the pastors to be one, joined in one bond by charity and spurred on by one concern and solicitude.”^[3]

Hopefully this quick tour of Church history shows that Church Unity has been an ongoing journey. Even while the Church is truly One it is still on the journey to the fullness of Unity. What we are reading about today and experiencing is simply the latest effort of the Church, that is to say, this Community of Disciples to “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another… so that we may experience the peace of Christ, the peace into which we were called in one body.  And be thankful.” (Col 3:12-17)

As our history shows, the Holy Spirit is very clearly with the Church, and can bring resolution to disputes that can seem irreconcilable to the point of violence. 

So with St. Cyprian, Pope St. Stephen I, St. Leo the Great, St. Flavian, Pope St. Gregory VII, and St. Charles Borromeo, we pray that the Church might manifest this unity here on earth, just as our Lord Jesus prayed: “I pray...that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you...and I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one.” (John 17:20-23)