THE
P RTAL
January 2018
Page 21
Ecumenism in action
A Personal Journey into Unity by Fr Ian Hellyer
O ne of
my great personal joys upon being received into the Catholic Church was the opening of my
mind to the truth of so many Catholic doctrines. One particular example of this was the joy of studying
the Catholic teachings regarding the nature of the Church – or to use the jargon word, ecclesiology.
Why should I experience joy studying
ecclesiology? To be able to explain
this I need to share something of my
personal journey. In the decade before
I converted, I wrestled with various
questions about Christian identity:
what it is to be human, what it is to be
a man or woman, what it is to live in
Christ etc. I wanted to know the truth
of these things and I looked to a variety
of sources for the answers. It was a
search for truth; ultimately of finding
where that truth comes from.
At the same time as this I was also an
Anglican priest married to a Catholic. In our family
life, we tried to live our beliefs with integrity. Although
we held many things in common, we also had to
struggle with things that we did not hold in common.
To keep our integrity was at times costly.
schemes could be organised, but we
did not search together for the truth
about our different understandings of
grace, of Our Lady, of the Church, of
sacraments etc.
Before you ask, yes, I did raise this
point at clergy fraternals and there were
basically two answers. One response
was logically incoherent and might
be called post-modern: “We have our
truth, and you have yours.” How could
God have revealed contradictory truths
to different people?
It was contrary to reason. The other response lacked
hope: “There is no point in discussing these things – we
just go around in circles and get nowhere.” This seemed
to ignore the will of Christ that His disciples be one.
After the Week of Prayer, all parties withdrew back to
their respective enclaves. We had politely attended one
For example, the Catholic precept of attending Mass another’s prayer events, we had all sipped tea in church
on Sundays and Holy Days could put strain on us. I halls, and we had all agreed to cooperate in the latest
tried to attend Mass with my family as much as I could common work of charity. That was it. But is this really
– for any Clergyman, fitting in extra Sunday worship the goal of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity?
is not easy.
For my wife and me, these Weeks of Prayer and the
Of course, praying for Christian Unity was very usual activities of Churches Together never seemed to
important for my wife and me. However, our abiding come close to our own experience of seeking Christian
experience of the Weeks of Prayer for Christian Unity unity within our life as a married couple and family.
was different to the path for unity we were seeking. My
Now along came Anglicanorum Coetibus! Of all
wife and I were longing to be united in every aspect of
ecumenical initiatives of recent times this at last
our faith.
spoke to our situation. I had already worked through
We had many discussions about particular aspects the Catechism of the Catholic Church in my search
of our faith. We wrestled with things. We were open for truth, but I also treasured much in my Anglican
and honest about differences, while at the same time upbringing which I didn’t want to turn my back on.
longing for the truth.
I also much preferred the way Anglo-catholics
This did not seem to be what the usual events of conducted the liturgy compared to my general
the Week of Prayer would address. In ecumenical experience of the way Catholics practiced it. But
clergy chapters everything would be discussed, except Anglicanorum Coetibus seemed to provide what I
doctrine. There seemed to be an absence of longing for was looking for. It offered ecclesial unity without
absorption i.e. without having to reject good Anglican
unity in Faith.
traditions and practices. It meant corporate reunion
Yes, soup kitchens, food banks and recycling in groups with the integrity of the group’s pastor