Getting Over the Fear

Far back in ecumenical history, in February 1965, the World Council of Churches and the Vatican cautiously decided to form a joint "working group" to study the possibilities of dialogue and collaboration. A beaming Willem Visser 't Hooft, then general secretary of the W.C.C., called it one of the "most historic events since the Reformation." Since then, discussions between the W.C.C., which represents 223 Protestant and Orthodox churches, and the Vatican have become commonplace; in fact, relations with the Roman Catholic Church was the major topic at the twelve-day meeting of the central committee of the W.C.C. that came to a close in Herakleion, Crete, last week.

Presented at the meeting was the Vatican-approved report of the joint working group, which revealed that Rome will send a new category of 15 "delegated observers" to next summer's massive World Council assembly in Uppsala, Sweden. For the first time, Roman Catholics will be entitled to address the assembly and, according to the World Council's general secretary, Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, who would not elaborate, the new category "could also affect the makeup of the new central committee."

Skirting Dogma. Most of the ecumenical progress outlined during the Crete meeting was in areas of joint social and economic activity, unclouded by bitter historical disputes and fundamental differences of doctrine. Particularly emphasized was emergency relief, such as last year's collaboration between W.C.C. and Catholic organizations in aiding famine-threatened India. In this connection, Dr. Blake predicted that the Roman Catholic Church and the W.C.C. might begin to "spend money together" by the end of next year. The joint working group also called for more cooperation in missionary activities, Bible translations, and, citing the similarity of educational problems, a Roman Catholic priest has declared that "never again should a major report on education be done separately by the World Council and the Roman Catholic Church." Catholics and Protestants will be facing each other across conference tables repeatedly over the coming months, including a session with Marxist theoreticians in Western Europe next Spring to mull over common social concerns.

Despite all such talk, little real advance has been made on such basic doctrinal differences as baptism, mixed marriage or the Eucharist. Still, says Dr. Blake, "the important thing is that both sides have gotten over the fear of discussing the issue of formal ties with the Vatican."

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