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Second International Conference on Ecclesiology: Orthodox Theological ONE IN CHRIST CONTENTS VOLUME 42 NUMBER 1 ARTICLES ‘The Tunic was without Seam’. Fr. R.Cantalamessa CAP.Ofm 1 Beyond the Local and the Universal: Search for New Paradigms in Ecclesiology. Revd Dr K. M. George. 8 The Logos of our Advaitic Ekklêsia. R.Brad Bannon. 20 The Maronite Catholic Church: History and Identity. Emma Loosely. 29 The Ethiopian Catholic Church: A Tale of Two Rites. Fr. Kevin Robinson. 46 The Official Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church: 1973-1992. Fr. Frans Bouwen MAfr. 75 Ravenna and Beyond. The Question of the Roman Papacy and the Orthodox Churches in the Literature 1962-2006. Adam DeVille. 99 The Evolving Face of Ecumenism. Fr. Thomas Ryan CSP. 139 Catholic-Methodist Dialogue: Promise, Hope and Caution. David Carter. 148 Fifty Years and Running: Oberlin 57, Back and Beyond. Jeffrey Gros FSC. 171 REPORTS & EVENTS A Journey of Reconciliation with the Tantur Ecumenical Institute. 187 Rt. Revd Dr Michael Jackson launches book on Irish School of Ecumenics. 201 Paul D. Murray on Recent Developments in Receptive Ecumenism at Durham University. 207 DOCUMENT ‘Through Divine Love: the Church in each place and all places.’ 212 BOOK REVIEWS 222 NOTE FROM THE NEW EDITORIAL BOARD Such has been the response to our appeal for editorial help made in the October, 2006 issue that we have been able to resume publication of ONE IN CHRIST in a revised and enlarged format. We are particularly grateful for the support of the Benedictine monks of the Holy Cross Monastery, Rostrevor, Northern Ireland, a sister monastery to that of Turvey, and also to the staff of PROCHE-ORIENT CHRÉTIEN in Jerusalem. We have also used this opportunity to revise our statement of intent (reproduced inside the front cover) to accord more with current ecumenical trends. We hope this is reflected in the variety of contributions contained in this issue. Our goal, as ever, remains one of promoting the ‘movement towards full communion among Christians’ or, as the rule of St. Benedict states, ‘to prefer nothing to the love of Christ’ - That they all may be One. Dom John Mayhead OSB Superior of Turvey Monastery 1 ‘THE TUNIC WAS WITHOUT SEAM’ Good Friday Sermon of Fr. Cantalamessa* When the soldiers had finished crucifying Jesus they took his clothing and divided it into four shares, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was without seam, woven in one piece from top to bottom; so they said to one another: ‘Instead of tearing it, let’s throw dice to decide who is to have it’. In this way the words of scripture were fulfilled: ‘They shared out my clothing among them, they cast lots for my clothes.’ (John 19: 23-24) It has always been asked what the evangelist John wanted to say with the importance that he gives to this particular detail of the Passion. One relatively recent explanation is that the tunic alludes to the vestment of the high priest and that with this, John wanted to affirm that Jesus died not only as king but also as priest. It is not said in the Bible, however, that the tunic of the high priest had to be seamless (see Exod. 28: 4; Lev. 16: 4). For this reason the most authoritative of the exegetes prefer to stick to the traditional explanation, according to which the seamless tunic symbolized the unity of the disciples.1 It is the interpretation that St. Cyprian already gave: ‘The unity of the Church,’ he writes, ‘is expressed in the Gospel when it is said that the tunic of Christ was not divided or cut.’2 Whatever be the explanation that one gives to the text, one thing is certain: the unity of the disciples is, for John, the purpose for which * Given by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa OFM. Cap., preacher of the Pontifical Household, at the Good Friday liturgy 2008 in St. Peter's Basilica. Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic. Reproduced with the permission of ZENIT © Innovative Media, Inc. 1 See R. E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah (New York: Doubleday 1994) vol. 2 pp. 955-958. 2 St. Cyprian, De unitate Ecclesiae, 7 (CSEL 3, p. 215). 2 Christ dies. ‘Jesus had to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God’ (John 11: 51-52). At the Last Supper he himself said: ‘I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me’ (John 17: 20-21). The glad tidings to proclaim on Good Friday are that unity, before it is a goal to be sought, is a gift to be received. That the tunic is woven ‘from the top down,’ St. Cyprian continues, means that ‘the unity brought by Christ comes from above, from the heavenly Father, and because of this it cannot be broken apart by those who receive it, but must be received in its integrity.’ The soldiers divided ‘the clothes,’ or ‘the cloak,’ τὰ ἱµάτια, into four pieces, that is, Jesus' outer garments, not the tunic, the χιτὼν which was the undergarment, in direct contact with his body. This is also a symbol. We men can divide the human and visible element of the Church, but not its deeper unity, which is identified with the Holy Spirit. Christ's tunic was not and can never be divided. It too is of a single piece. ‘Can Christ be divided?’ Paul cried out (see 1Cor. 1: 13). It is the faith we profess in the Creed: ‘I believe in the Church, one, holy, catholic and apostolic.’ * * * But if unity must serve as a sign ‘so that the world may believe,’ it must also be a visible, communitarian unity. This is the unity that has been lost and must be rediscovered. It is much more than maintaining neighbourly relations; it is the mystical interior unity itself - ‘one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all’ (Eph. 4: 4-6) - insofar as this objective unity is in fact received, lived and manifested by believers. A unity that is not endangered by diversity, but enriched by it. After Easter the apostles asked Jesus: ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ Today we often address the same question to God: Is this the time in which you will restore the visible unity of the Church? God's answer is also the same as the one Jesus gave to the disciples: ‘It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will 3 be my witnesses’. (Acts 1: 6-8) The Holy Father recalled this in a homily he gave on 25 January in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls at the end of Christian Unity Week: Unity with God and our brothers and sisters is a gift that comes from on high, which flows from the communion of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit in which it is increased and perfected. It is not in our power to decide when or how this unity will be fully achieved. Only God can do it! Like St Paul, let us also place our hope and trust in the grace of God which is with us. Today as well, the Holy Spirit will be the one to lead us into unity, if we let him guide us. How was it that the Holy Spirit brought about the first fundamental unity of the Church, that between Jews and pagans? The Holy Spirit descends upon Cornelius and his whole household in the same way in which he descended upon the apostles at Pentecost. So, Peter only needed to draw the conclusion: ‘I realised then that God was giving them the identical thing he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; and who was I to stand in God’s way?’ (Acts 11: 17) For a century now, we have seen the same thing repeat itself before our eyes on a global scale. God has poured out the Holy Spirit in a new and unusual way upon millions of believers from every Christian denomination and, so that there would be no doubts about his intentions, he poured out the Spirit with the same manifestations. Is this not a sign that the Spirit moves us to recognize each other as disciples of Christ and work toward unity? It is true that this spiritual and charismatic unity is not enough by itself. We see this already at the beginning of the Church. The newly formed unity between Jews and Gentiles was immediately threatened by schism. In the so-called Council of Jerusalem there was a ‘long discussion’ and at the end an agreement was reached and announced to the Church with the formula: ‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of ourselves...’ (Acts 15: 28). The Holy Spirit works, therefore, also through another way, which is that of patient exchange, dialogue and even compromise between the different sides, when the essentials of the faith are not in play. He works through human ‘structures’ and the ‘offices’ put in action by Jesus, above all the apostolic and Petrine office.
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