"Holy Father,
keep them in your name that you have given me,
so that they may be one, just as we are."
Gospel of John 17:11
"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans 15:5-6
"I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose."
First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians 1:10
"I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, a striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 4:1-5
"Only conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel."
Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians 1:27
ON CHRISTIAN UNITY
The third Millennium is a time to restore Christian unity, as in the times of Jesus. Christian unity was the prayer of Jesus (John 17:11 and 17:21) and the plea of St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, throughout his Epistles.1
Human nature tragically led to divisions within the Church of Jesus Christ, which have primarily been those of the East and West. The Nestorians who rejected the teaching of the Council of Ephesus in 431 (on Mary as Theotokos) formed the Assyrian Church of the East. Those that rejected the teaching of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 (that Jesus was one Person with two natures, Divine and human) formed the Oriental Orthodox Churches of the East. The final split in the East occurred during the Great Schism of 1054 between Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic. The Protestant Reformation that began with Martin Luther in 1517 constituted the major division in the West. 2
This lack of Christian unity proved to be a grave impediment to bringing non-Christians into the Church. The loss of Christian unity led to the secularization of Western culture. Recognition of this problem served as an impetus toward Christian unity among the Protestants in the early twentieth century, beginning with the World Missionary Conference of Edinburgh in 1910, and the formal organization of the World Council of Churches in 1948. The call for Christian unity accelerated with the surprise announcement of Pope John XXIII for the Second Vatican Council on January 25, 1959. Pope John Paul II has made great efforts to continue the ecumenical movement throughout his Papacy.2
As we are more familiar with the Catholic approach to Christian unity, this paper will focus primarily on the ecumenical efforts of the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II.
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