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==Reformation communities==
==Reformation communities==
The document acknowledges that there are serious problems facing prospects of reunion with Reformation communities that make no attempt to claim [[apostolic succession]] such as the Anglican communion does. Ecclesial communities that adhere to [[calvinism]] are a particular case because they often have important doctrinal differences on key issues such as [[ecclesiology]], [[liturgy]] and [[mariology]]. Other communities have insoluble doctrinal differences with Catholic Christianity because their theology of the [[Holy Trinity]] is manifestly incompatible with the doctrine of the [[council of Nicea]] in the early Church. That these serious problems are a barrier to salvation is clarified in the 2004 Vatican document, "The Decree on Ecumenism, Read Anew after Forty Years".
The document acknowledges that there are serious problems facing prospects of reunion with Reformation communities that make no attempt to claim [[apostolic succession]] such as the Anglican communion does. Ecclesial communities that adhere to [[calvinism]] are a particular case because they often have important doctrinal differences on key issues such as [[ecclesiology]], [[liturgy]] and [[mariology]]. Other communities have insoluble doctrinal differences with Catholic Christianity because their theology of the [[Holy Trinity]] is manifestly incompatible with the doctrine of the [[council of Nicea]] in the early Church. That these serious problems are a barrier to salvation is clarified in the 2004 Vatican document, "The Decree on Ecumenism, Read Anew after Forty Years".

==Separated brethren==
"Separated brethren" is a term sometimes used by the [[Roman Catholic Church]] to refer to [[baptism|baptized]] members of other [[Christian]] traditions. Though also applied to Christians of the [[Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Oriental Orthodox]] churches, the term is more often used about [[Protestants]] and [[Anglican]]s.<ref name="MCD">{{cite book| url=http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=36409 |chapter=Separated Brethren|author=Hardon, John |authorlink=John Hardon | title=Modern Catholic Dictionary|publisher= [[Doubleday]]|isbn=9780385121620 |year=1980|accessdate=2010-06-18|edition=CatholicCulture.org}}</ref> The phrase is a translation of the [[Latin]] phrase ''fratres seiuncti''.<ref name="Wellp10">{{cite journal|author=Wells, Christopher| title=The Singular Grace of Division's Wound |journal=Ecclesiology|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]| location=Leiden, Netherlands| year=2009 |volume=5 | number=1 | url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/ecso/2009/00000005/00000001/art00003|accessdate=2010-06-18| doi=10.1163/174553108X378468| page=10}}</ref>

===History of term===
Though coined prior to the [[Second Vatican Council]],<ref name="Whalen1958">{{cite book |title=Separated Brethren: A Survey of Non-Catholic Christian Denominations in the United States|author=Whalen, William Joseph| publisher=Bruce Publishing |location=Milwaukee| oclc=302295|year=1958}}</ref> the Roman Catholic Church as an institution first regarded Protestant and Orthodox Christians as "separated brethren" as indicated by the [[Unitatis Redintegratio|''Decree on Ecumenism'' (Unitatis Redintegratio)]] issued during the [[Second Vatican Council]].<ref name="VaticanII" /> Before the Second Vatican Council, per the pronouncements of the [[Council of Trent]], the Roman Catholic Church officially referred to Protestants and other non-Roman Catholic Christians as "[[Heresy|heretics]]" not having hope of [[salvation]] outside of the "[[Holy See|Church of Rome]]".<ref name="Oakes">{{cite web|url= http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2007/12/who-are-you-calling-a-heretic | work=''First Things'' Online |publisher= Institute on Religion and Public Life| location=New York | title= On the Square: Are Protestants Heretics? |date=December 19, 2007 |author=Oakes, Edward T.|accessdate=2010-07-09}}</ref> After the Second Vatican Council, however, "that habit of unthinkingly hurling accusations of heresy at Protestants pretty much died out".<ref name="Oakes" />

Since at least the mid-1990s, the term has often been replaced by Roman Catholic officials with phrases such as "other Christians".<ref name="Wellp10-11">{{cite journal|author=Wells, Christopher| title=The Singular Grace of Division's Wound |journal=Ecclesiology|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|location=Leiden, Netherlands| year=2009 |volume=5 | number=1| |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/ecso/2009/00000005/00000001/art00003|accessdate=2010-06-18| doi=10.1163/174553108X378468| pages=10–11 }}</ref>

===Consideration of certain groups===
The Second Vatican Council's ''Decree on Ecumenism'' stated that "all who have been baptized and justified by faith 'are members of Christ’s body, and have a right to be called Christian' and 'brothers' by the Catholic Church." <ref name="VaticanII" /> Thus, traditional Protestant groups are included within the Roman Catholic Church's definition of separated brethren.<ref name="VaticanII">{{cite journal|url=http://www.christianodyssey.com/history/vatican2.htm | work=Christian Odyssey |title=Church History Corner: Vatican II and the Future of Church Unity |author=Kroll, Paul|page=18-19|volume=3|number=5|month=October/November|year=2007 | location=Glendora, CA| publisher=[[Worldwide Church of God]]|accessdate=2010-06-21|}}</ref> Likewise, the Roman Catholic Church considers members of Eastern Orthodox churches to be "separated brethren".<ref name="VaticanII" /> The ''Decree on Ecumenism'' went even further in indicating that the Roman catholic Church considers the Eastern Orthodox churches to be "sister churches".<ref name="VaticanII" />

The Roman Catholic Church does not consider Mormons and members of some other religious groups to be separated brethren.<ref name="Whalen9">{{cite book |title=Revised: Separated Brethren: A Review of Protestant, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox & Other Religions in the United States|author=Whalen, William Joseph| publisher=[[Our Sunday Visitor]] |location=Huntington, Ind.| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=sw9ILcqw2hsC | accessdate=2010-06-16| isbn=9781931709057|year=2002|page=9}}</ref> Among the groups not considered to be separated brethren are "[[Jews]], [[Mormon]]s, [[Christian Scientists]], [[Muslim]]s, [[Buddhist]]s, and other groups."<ref name="Whalen9" />

==References==
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 18:29, 27 July 2010

Unitatis Redintegratio is the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism. It was passed by a vote of 2,137 to 11 of the bishops assembled and was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964. The title in Latin means "Restoration of Unity" and is from the first line of the decree, as is customary with major Catholic documents (see incipit). (The full text in English is available from the Holy See's website.)

Contents

The numbers given correspond to the section numbers within the text.

  1. Introduction (1)
  2. Catholic Principles on Ecumenism (2-4)
  3. The Practice of Ecumenism (5-12)
  4. Churches and Ecclesial Communities Separated from the Roman Apostolic See (13-24)
    1. The Special Consideration of the Eastern Churches (14-18)
    2. Separated Churches and Ecclesial Communities in the West (19-24)

Anglican communion controversy

Apostolicae Curae is the title of a papal bull, issued in 1896 by Pope Leo XIII, declaring all Anglican ordinations to be "absolutely null and utterly void". Unitatis Redintegratio does not mention this bull because many more recent Anglican bishops had Old Catholic bishops take part in their episcopal ordinations.[citation needed] However, the Church had to re-assert the validity of Apostolicae Curae during the papacy of John Paul II because of new doctrinal and ecclesiological questions that were explained in the magisterial documents Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, Ad Tuendam Fidem, Dominus Iesus and responses on subsistit in.[citation needed] There are similar issues with the Lutheran Church, which has bishops that do not have apostolic succession as defined in Catholic doctrine.[citation needed]

Policy on the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox

Unitatis Redintegratio calls for the reunion of Christendom and so it is not terribly different from previous calls for unity by Pope Leo XIII in the 1894 encyclical Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae. However, the document articulates a different kind of ecclesiology than Praeclara, focusing on the unity of the people of God and on separate Christian brethren instead of a classical call for schismatics to return to the fold under the unity of the Vicar of Christ.

Reformation communities

The document acknowledges that there are serious problems facing prospects of reunion with Reformation communities that make no attempt to claim apostolic succession such as the Anglican communion does. Ecclesial communities that adhere to calvinism are a particular case because they often have important doctrinal differences on key issues such as ecclesiology, liturgy and mariology. Other communities have insoluble doctrinal differences with Catholic Christianity because their theology of the Holy Trinity is manifestly incompatible with the doctrine of the council of Nicea in the early Church. That these serious problems are a barrier to salvation is clarified in the 2004 Vatican document, "The Decree on Ecumenism, Read Anew after Forty Years".

Separated brethren

"Separated brethren" is a term sometimes used by the Roman Catholic Church to refer to baptized members of other Christian traditions. Though also applied to Christians of the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, the term is more often used about Protestants and Anglicans.[1] The phrase is a translation of the Latin phrase fratres seiuncti.[2]

History of term

Though coined prior to the Second Vatican Council,[3] the Roman Catholic Church as an institution first regarded Protestant and Orthodox Christians as "separated brethren" as indicated by the Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) issued during the Second Vatican Council.[4] Before the Second Vatican Council, per the pronouncements of the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church officially referred to Protestants and other non-Roman Catholic Christians as "heretics" not having hope of salvation outside of the "Church of Rome".[5] After the Second Vatican Council, however, "that habit of unthinkingly hurling accusations of heresy at Protestants pretty much died out".[5]

Since at least the mid-1990s, the term has often been replaced by Roman Catholic officials with phrases such as "other Christians".[6]

Consideration of certain groups

The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism stated that "all who have been baptized and justified by faith 'are members of Christ’s body, and have a right to be called Christian' and 'brothers' by the Catholic Church." [4] Thus, traditional Protestant groups are included within the Roman Catholic Church's definition of separated brethren.[4] Likewise, the Roman Catholic Church considers members of Eastern Orthodox churches to be "separated brethren".[4] The Decree on Ecumenism went even further in indicating that the Roman catholic Church considers the Eastern Orthodox churches to be "sister churches".[4]

The Roman Catholic Church does not consider Mormons and members of some other religious groups to be separated brethren.[7] Among the groups not considered to be separated brethren are "Jews, Mormons, Christian Scientists, Muslims, Buddhists, and other groups."[7]

References

  1. ^ Hardon, John (1980). "Separated Brethren". Modern Catholic Dictionary (CatholicCulture.org ed.). Doubleday. ISBN 9780385121620. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  2. ^ Wells, Christopher (2009). "The Singular Grace of Division's Wound". Ecclesiology. 5 (1). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill: 10. doi:10.1163/174553108X378468. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  3. ^ Whalen, William Joseph (1958). Separated Brethren: A Survey of Non-Catholic Christian Denominations in the United States. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing. OCLC 302295.
  4. ^ a b c d e Kroll, Paul (2007). "Church History Corner: Vatican II and the Future of Church Unity". Christian Odyssey. 3 (5). Glendora, CA: Worldwide Church of God: 18-19. Retrieved 2010-06-21. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b Oakes, Edward T. (December 19, 2007). "On the Square: Are Protestants Heretics?". First Things Online. New York: Institute on Religion and Public Life. Retrieved 2010-07-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  6. ^ Wells, Christopher (2009). "The Singular Grace of Division's Wound". Ecclesiology. 5 (1). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill: 10–11. doi:10.1163/174553108X378468. Retrieved 2010-06-18. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ a b Whalen, William Joseph (2002). Revised: Separated Brethren: A Review of Protestant, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox & Other Religions in the United States. Huntington, Ind.: Our Sunday Visitor. p. 9. ISBN 9781931709057. Retrieved 2010-06-16.

External links

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