Chapter III
Discerning God’s Will in the Service of the Kingdom
124. The harvesting of biblical and traditional teaching about the kingdom of God and the stories of
common witness by our communities in Canada, South Africa and Northern Ireland, presented in the
previous two chapters, show how our very identity as Christian communities is rooted in accepting God’s
message and seeking to live it out in the circumstances of our time. The pairing of these chapters is of
importance for our present report in so far as it highlights the correlation between the Gospel as heard and
the Gospel as lived, each illuminating the other. As such they lead directly to this third chapter, which
will now consider how our communions discern God’s will for their service to the kingdom within
contemporary situations throughout the world.
1. Discernment and the Holy Spirit
125. Discernment may be described as the process of listening to the Holy Spirit in order to discover the
presence of God, the signs of God’s activity in human history and God’s will or call in any given
situation. It uncovers the presence of the kingdom of God, which St. Paul described succinctly in terms of
“justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). Where these qualities are lacking or even
violated, disciples of Christ are obliged to work for change, in obedience to his command to “seek first
the kingdom” (Matt 6:33). “Discernment of spirits” is one of the gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit for the
common good (1 Cor 12:10); it enables the Christian community to promote the gospel values evident in
the words and deeds of Jesus. It gives new insights into the Christ event and new perspectives to the
wider community, inviting it to encounter God anew and to profess anew its faith.
126. John’s gospel, in its last supper passages about the Paraclete, illuminates the role of the Spirit in the
process of discernment. Jesus promised his disciples: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you”
(John 14:16-17). As this passage suggests, the Spirit reveals an alternative outlook to that offered by the
world. Moreover, there is continuity between what Jesus has taught and what will be learned from the
Spirit: “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the counselor, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all
that I have said to you” (John 14:25-26). Or again, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot
bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak
on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to
come” (John 16:12-13). In light of such texts, discernment may be seen as a process of remembering, in
which the prophetic meaning of salvation history illuminates and is applied to the present, proclaiming its
implications for the future. It seeks to understand and to communicate the truth of the good news, the
liberating power of God in a given context.
127. The Spirit who guides Christians in the process of discernment is also active in bringing about the
realization of the kingdom of God throughout the world. As the first Reformed-Roman Catholic dialogue
affirmed: “It is through the Spirit that Christ is at work in creation and redemption. As the presence in the
world of the risen Lord, the Spirit affirms and manifests the resurrection and effects the new creation.
Christ who is Lord of all and active in creation points to God the Father who, in the Spirit, leads and
guides history….”82 One of the signs of the presence of the Lord in history can be found “in those
movements of the human spirit which, with or without the assistance of the church, are achieving the ends
of his kingdom.”83
128. Some might be tempted to contrast Christ’s promise of the kingdom, on the one hand, with the life of
the church, on the other. But the Book of Acts militates against such a view, recounting how the Holy
Spirit leads the church, through pain and struggle, to discern and accept God’s will. Such discernment can
also be doctrinal in nature. Paul emphasizes the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in arguing
that gentile converts need not observe the prescriptions of the ceremonial law (cf. Gal 1:6-10). John
points out how decisive the doctrine concerning the humanity of Jesus Christ is for the discernment of the
community: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:2). The Spirit brings newness of life in Christ to the baptized person,
allowing the believer to discern the will of God: “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed
by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and
perfect” (Rom 12:2). The Spirit builds up the church by bestowing upon it different gifts (charismata) for
the benefit of the whole body. In this way the kingdom touches the church and makes its presence
tangible. Moreover, the Holy Spirit encourages us to enter into adoption, freedom and renewal of life of
those who, through Christ, are “children of God” (cf. Rom 8:9-17).
129. Discernment also means reading the signs of the times (cf. Matt 16:3). As our consideration of the
discernment of our communities in Canada, South Africa and Northern Ireland showed, many factors can
be at play in the various social situations in which Christians find themselves called to witness to the
gospel. At times, political, economic, racial or other factors can be disguised under the garb of religion or
“justified” by appeal to Scripture or tradition. It is not always easy to discover the true nature of particular
situations, their causes or solutions. A special danger is that of selective inattention, e.g. overlooking the
evidence of injustice because such evidence would require disciples of Christ to abandon a comfortable
acquiescence in the status quo and undertake the challenging task of trying to introduce needed change.
The research and dialogue needed for discernment demand effort and can be a painful process. At the
same time, the witness of exemplary figures of the past and present serves as a guide, pointing the way
prophetically to where God is calling the church.
2. Common Sources for Discernment
130. The Word of God is the primary source by which the Holy Spirit guides the discernment of the
church. Our dialogue team received testimony about the way in which, through their regular shared
reflection upon the Scriptures, communities in South Africa were able to identify situations in daily life
which contradicted God’s kingdom and were encouraged to take action to change such situations. Living
with the Word of God is a necessary condition for discernment. One of our earlier reports affirmed:
“God’s Word in history has taken a threefold form. Primarily it is the Word made flesh: Jesus Christ,
incarnate, crucified and risen. Then it is the Word as spoken in God’s history with God’s people and
recorded in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as a testimony to Jesus Christ. Third, it is the
Word as heard and proclaimed in the preaching, witness and action of the church. The third form depends
upon and is bound to the second, through which it has access to the first, the Word incarnate in Jesus
Christ.”84 Both of our communities affirm the ultimate authority of the Word of God in discerning God’s
will for the church. But the paths by which we claim to have access to that Word can be quite different.
131. The present phase of Reformed-Catholic dialogue has sought intentionally to listen to Christian
voices from the past, especially from the patristic era, which provide a common heritage to us, since they
date from prior to our divisions. To the extent that this heritage treated the moral implications of
discipleship, one can say that we share a common moral heritage of interpreting the Word of God
regarding Christian behaviour and conduct in society. Even after the divisions, Reformed and Roman
Catholics, although in different ways, continued to be keenly aware of their moral obligation to be
servants of the kingdom of God in society. Our traditions learned much from the secular struggles for
social change in nineteenth century Europe and North America. Both communities also admit that this
history is not only one of success but includes the shadows of failure. This history of reflection upon the
moral imperatives of the kingdom of God and of actions or failures to promote its values, especially in the
area of social justice, can contribute to discernment today. Moreover, it is important to acknowledge that
cultural developments, sometimes without a direct link to the tradition of Christian moral reflection and
action, can be decisive for how questions are approached today. For instance, the development of
awareness of human rights owes as much to philosophical, cultural and political advances as to insights
stemming from explicit reflection on the gospel.
132. Among the indicators essential for discerning God’s will for the church’s witness in society is the
voice of the poor. The conviction that the poor must not be overlooked can be gleaned from Jesus’ own
words and actions. In Matthew’s depiction of the last judgment, Jesus identifies himself with those in
need (cf. Matt 25:31-46); the way one cares for the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and the homeless
constitutes the criterion for entering the kingdom of heaven. Jesus was concerned for the wellbeing of
people in the present life, not only in the fulfillment promised at the end of time. This echoes the concern
already expressed in the story of the Exodus. God spoke to Moses from the burning bush: “I have seen the
affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know
their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring
them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exod 3:7-8). If
the kingdom of God belongs to the poor (cf. Luke 6:20), then we must ask ourselves how the voice of
those who are poor, deprived and discriminated against, is effectively and decisively heard in our
communities so that they become a guide for our interpretation of the way God is calling us to serve the
kingdom today.
133. Discernment takes place within the realization that, while the kingdom of God is present in the life
and witness of the church, it is not so in an “exhaustive” way. The church, as foretaste of the kingdom of
God, is called to offer a counter-witness to the self-centred acquisitiveness and xenophobia that can
characterize cultures today. Christians recognize that the whole of the universe belongs to God and are
able to see signs of the kingdom of God in other peoples – signs that the Holy Spirit is at work in them.
The first creation narrative repeatedly pronounces “good” the diverse beings fashioned by God in the
beginning. This evaluation could be also applied to much of the variety displayed by human cultures and
traditions. Respect for others includes respect for all that is good and true in their cultures and in their
religions, which we recognize when we see them as in conformity with the kingdom. The church
witnesses to the adherents of other religions through the quality of its own life and faithfulness. At the
same time, out of obedience to Christ and love for their neighbours, disciples do not shrink from
explicitly sharing their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, according to the possibilities afforded by the
conditions of time and place. Not only have Reformed and Roman Catholic Christians been able to work
together in a sustained fashion in order to further goals of justice and peace, but also they have been able
to collaborate with peoples of other religions in order to transform their societies according to commonly
held convictions. We see kingdom values in the life and work of those other faiths and can learn from
them and cooperate with them to achieve common goals.
3. Differences Between Reformed and Roman Catholics in the Use of Sources
134. Our use of the above-mentioned sources – the Word of God and its inspired expression in Scripture,
the heritage from the tradition, the voice of the poor and the testimony of people of good will who are not
Christians – is related to and guided by our distinctive understandings of what can serve as genuine
sources for discerning the will of God.
135. The Reformed tradition is well known for its insistence that, in the last analysis, it is only Scripture,
read and understood in specific times and places, by people and church assemblies marked by those times
and places, that can be the final authority in the communal discernment process. This is not to say that
Scripture is the only authority, but it is the ultimate authority. The pattern of discernment regularly
emerges from the dialogue between Scripture and life. New insights may emerge when Scripture is read
with new eyes or when contradictions appear between certain conditions of life, on the one hand, and the
received interpretation of Scripture, on the other. Such discernment is also enriched by the witness of
other traditions within the Christian faith and beyond. The fact that Scripture alone has the authority of
Jesus Christ in the church means that the other authorities from the past – the creeds and conciliar
decisions of the “undivided” church and the recorded convictions of those adjudged to be “fathers”, as
well as the pre-eminent confessions of the Reformed churches themselves – can be regarded only as
“subordinate standards”. The degree to which these speak in conformity with Holy Scripture is the degree
to which they have authority. Reformed believers see such an approach as the proper way to give due
place to the Word of God.
136. Reformed people may commit themselves to new interpretations and expressions of the Christian
faith, provided these new claims conform to the message of the Scripture, communally interpreted in
dialogue with the Reformed tradition. This Reformed position shows a clear awareness of the presence of
the Holy Spirit. In the Reformed understanding, church assemblies play a decisive role in discerning, but
Reformed Christians know that all ecclesial statements are subject to revision and all institutions are
subject to reform, because of the continuing guidance of the Holy Spirit through history. This is precisely
the reason why all believers, themselves prophets, priests and kings (servants), are called to become
mature in their own faith and able to discern and judge for themselves in all spiritual matters. Ultimately,
this is the rationale behind the conciliar system of church governance, widely spread through Reformed
churches.
137. Roman Catholics consider Scripture to be “the supreme authority in matters of faith”.85 It is the
Word of God, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This Word is “transmitted in an integral
way” by the Tradition, which is thus indispensable for its interpretation.86 These convictions are rooted in
a deep appreciation of the fact that the writing, recognition and interpretation of the divinely inspired
Scriptures are intimately related to the life of the community of disciples. Therefore, in interpreting the
Word of God, Catholics refer, as a matter of principle, to the Tradition and to the discernment of the
church, especially as the latter is expressed in official teachings. The authority of Tradition derives from
the fact that it is guided by the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to send for the purpose of leading his
community into the whole truth (cf. John 16:13). The liturgy provides a privileged place where the Word
is contemplated and celebrated in worship and sacrament. Thus the “rule of worship” (lex orandi) is also a
most important “rule of faith” (lex credendi).
138. Discernment of the Word and application of it to the circumstances of life also take place in small
groups that gather to study the Scriptures and in the personal meditations of individuals as they ponder
the riches of the Word in their hearts, after the example of Jesus’ mother Mary. Mindful that Scripture is
not a matter of merely human invention (cf. 2 Pet 1:20) and that Jesus himself criticized the way in which
some people of his day were “making void the Word of God” (Mark 7:8.13), Catholics believe that the
church has a duty to “test everything” (1 Thess 5:21), so as to discern what truly pertains to the Word.
The process of discernment involves the whole prophetic people of God (laity and pastors; cf. Lumen
gentium 12) who, along with the gift of faith, are endowed with that “sense of the faith” (sensus fidei),
which enables them to recognize the Word of God for what it is, to grow in deeper knowledge of it and to
apply it to their daily lives. Theologians and exegetes, who dedicate themselves in a specially informed
way to exploring revelation at greater depth, offer an irreplaceable contribution to the church’s ongoing
task of interpreting God’s Word.
139. Finally, the decisive role in the process of discernment is exercised by the bishops, whose unity in
faith and love is confirmed by their communion with the successor of Peter, the bishop of Rome.
Catholics believe that one of the reasons Christ selected the apostles and entrusted to them and to their
successors the task of guiding the community in his name was to provide the church with a special aid for
the process of interpreting God’s Word. In discerning what witness is required regarding social questions,
Catholics draw upon the teaching of the universal church, as reflected in the social doctrine of councils,
bishops and popes. Ultimately, on the basis of such moral principles shared by the worldwide community,
a precise course of action can be discerned locally, by a careful consideration of what the kingdom of God
requires in each particular situation.
140. Reformed and Roman Catholics agree that discipleship to Jesus Christ entails the discernment of
God’s will regarding ethical issues and moral behaviour. Both of our communities are aware of the
complexities involved in moral discernment. The revelation of God’s Word remains for us a lasting
source of inspiration in this area, while we acknowledge that one cannot expect to find in Scripture a
ready-made solution to the moral situations which human beings face today. Both communities
acknowledge the contribution of human reasoning to moral and ethical discernment, although theologians
and ethicists within our communities have at times evaluated in differing or even contrasting ways that
philosophical understanding of good and evil usually called the “theory of natural law”. As is well
known, Catholic teaching affirms the possibility of knowing right and wrong actions on the basis of
natural law.
141. Deeply appreciated in both of our communities is the importance of the situation for discerning what
should be done in any particular circumstance. Conscience comes in to play whenever there is a question
of subjective guilt or innocence. Both of our communities would acknowledge that conscience, as a
particular subject’s grasp of what is right and wrong, is formed as one grows from childhood to adulthood
and that the church has an important contribution to make to the proper formation of the consciences of
believers in light of the gospel. Since moral discernment is increasingly a topic that exhibits church-dividing potential and since our present report has focused upon moral engagement in various social
questions, we feel it important to signal some of these aspects of moral discernment here. They need to
become part of the ongoing dialogue between our two communities in the future.
142. In this present phase of dialogue, our option to examine the role of the church in relation to the
growth of God’s kingdom in society meant that our three stories of common witness focused mostly upon
social ethics. We have seen that our common concern for social justice, related to the kingdom of God as
an alternative vision for humanity and the locus of gospel values and human hope, enables common
witness, which is already going on in many places around the world, even if we are not yet fully united.
The kingdom of God urgently calls for our commitment to justice and peace and encourages us to speak
with a common voice, as our experiences in Canada, South Africa and Northern Ireland have shown.
4. Different Patterns of Discernment
143. As is true with discernment in general, discerning ethical issues in each of our communions takes
place according to different patterns and habits. Roman Catholic moral thought is often guided by the
social doctrine that is found in the teachings of councils, synods, bishops’ conferences and papal
encyclicals. For Reformed communities, the way of discipleship is aided by an ongoing tradition of social
witness policy and ethical reflection that guides action in local contexts and facilitates learning between
them. Our communities can find challenge, enlightenment and encouragement in each other’s ethical
discernment and witness.
144. Our patterns of discernment are related to, and guided by, our distinctive ecclesiologies and by our
distinctive understandings of authority and of the role of experience in our traditions. These patterns
encourage Reformed congregations to take their local contexts very seriously and to start with their own
experience in that context. While the emphasis on the local context is important in shaping local witness
to the kingdom, without wider conversation and discernment it can be too narrow and, in its narrowness,
can distort the gospel message. An example of this is the way in which the Dutch Reformed Church in
South Africa developed a non-accountable kind of local theology in order to justify apartheid. That
theology and the life of the church it informed badly needed the correction of the larger Reformed family
of churches.
145. However, practice is not always clear, precisely because of the hermeneutical questions involved
here. How can one convincingly demonstrate that new claims conform to the clear message of Scripture?
The appeal to the principle of sola scriptura might not sufficiently take into account the fact that our
understanding is shaped by cultural and other factors. For this reason, many Reformed Christians are
wary of immediate appeal to an ostensibly objective deposit of truth, believing that in the face of new
challenges in diverse contexts we require renewed guidance from the Holy Spirit.
146. In the Catholic Church, such phenomena as the Catholic Action Movement in the early twentieth
century or the development of Basic Ecclesial Communities in more recent decades, commonly followed
the method of seeing, judging and acting. First, the given situation was carefully analysed; then it was
evaluated in light of God’s Word; finally the community sought to respond to God’s call as that became
clear from the previous two steps. Such local discernment takes place under the influence of the sensus
fidei, […] that believers receive from the Holy Spirit, whose guidance is necessary for individuals and the
whole church in applying the Word of God to the situations of daily life (cf. Lumen gentium 12). Their
characteristic sensitivity to the unity of the whole church naturally leads Catholics to look for insight and
guidance from other local churches (dioceses) and from organs of discernment and teaching at the
universal level, such as councils, papal teachings or synods of bishops. A significant aspect of the
ministry of the bishop is understood precisely as that of serving as a link between the local community
and the wider regional, national or universal Catholic community. One question that seems to need further
reflection is the authority of more localized discernment for the wider community: what weight does a
determination by the bishops’ conference of one country have for Catholics of other nations? Our stories
of common witness suggested that teachings of the universal church assisted new and positive
developments in local settings, such as when the teachings of Vatican II strengthened the ability of many
Catholics in Northern Ireland to see Protestants more clearly as their sisters and brothers.
147. It is possible for our two traditions to learn from the strengths of each other’s discernment processes
and thus to enrich one another. For example, we can broaden our patterns of moral discernment, not
thinking exclusively in ways shaped by our own ecclesiology but seeing how we might learn from each
other and support each other. Those whose thought characteristically begins with the general norm which
is then applied to the particular situation may learn from giving more attention to the context; those
especially attentive to context may gain fresh insight by looking again to the general demands of
discipleship which are addressed to all peoples in all contexts. By learning from one another in such a
way, not only can the tensions between the local and the universal that sometimes appear within each of
our communities be eased, but also we will become more related to one another, each benefiting from the
strengths of the other. Thus our different patterns of discernment may begin to converge.
5. The Functioning of these Patterns in Ecumenical Collaboration
148. The fundamental parallel between the approaches of our two communities to discernment lies in our
common desire to know God’s will and to respond to grace as disciples of Jesus Christ in specific
situations. We do this according to uses and patterns that are somewhat different, as we have attempted to
explain above. But the climate created in recent decades by the ecumenical movement has prompted us to
join together in this process of discernment and advocacy of the gospel. Living side by side in Canada,
South Africa and Northern Ireland, Reformed and Roman Catholics at times were able to witness together
about issues of justice, peace and the environment. One significant lesson of these stories of common
witness is that they illustrate how distinctive each situation can be. The complex variety of factors woven
into each context and the appropriate Christian response thereby called for caution against making facile
generalizations about common discernment and witness which would not do justice to this diversity.
149. In Canada (see chapter II), our churches live in a context that has allowed them substantial
ecumenical cooperation for quite a number of years. One of the more prominent examples of such recent
ecumenical collaboration has been in the area of our common efforts to support the “First Nations” or
Aboriginal peoples in their struggle for justice. Our history in relation to the First Nations was not free
from that prejudice which overlooked many of the good qualities of these peoples and was, moreover, an
occasion for competition and lack of Christian charity between our two communities. In recent decades,
by learning more of the values and needs of the people of the First Nations, our approach to them
changed. As the narrative showed, the ecumenical climate helped us to join together in supporting their
rejection of the recommendations of the “white paper” of 196987 and to act in solidarity with them on a
variety of issues. Complex issues regarding the relation of the churches to the First Nations continue to
surface. For example, more recently there have been charges and court proceedings related to the
residential schools, some of which were run by our two communities. The attempt to assimilate the First
Nations by force to the European culture effectively led to the weakening or even loss of their own
culture, language and spirituality by many Aboriginals. Nevertheless, it seems clear that a new stage has
been reached in which witness for the equality, justice and freedom of the kingdom of God in regard to
the First Nations can be a shared effort.
150. Our consideration of Christian social witness in South Africa (see chapter II) focused predominantly
upon the single question of apartheid – the policy of racial segregation officially adopted by the
government in 1948 – although many other issues were interwoven with that policy. A struggle within the
Reformed family was sparked by the theological justification for apartheid offered by the Dutch
Reformed Church in South Africa. This led eventually to the Belhar Confession, adopted in 1986. The
process of receiving this confession demonstrates the significance of confessions within the Reformed
pattern of discernment. They are contextual in the sense that the context demands that a confession be
made because the truth of the gospel is at stake. For Reformed Christians contextuality implies that
confessions are in principle open to revision and evaluation, which may be undertaken by believers from
other contexts. A confession has wide ranging authority when it is received by many other churches as an
expression of the message of the gospel. Confessions authoritatively define a geographically
circumscribed Christian fellowship, but remain open to revision in light of new developments and may be
revised or augmented when so required by fresh local insights into the gospel. The process by which the Belhar Confession evolved and was received illustrates how discernment concerning issues that affect the
entire church can be made within the synodal structure of the Reformed tradition. It illustrates how the
worldwide community cannot remain aloof when a local doctrine or practice is in contradiction with the
convictions and practice of the rest of the communion. Moreover, support from Reformed Christians
throughout the world served to strengthen the resolve of those who suffered for their witness against
apartheid.
151. The Roman Catholic witness from South Africa, on the other hand, showed how that community
moved from a more isolated, minority self-understanding to an ecumenical, collaborative role in the
struggle against racism and injustice. This local development was influenced by initiatives from the
universal level of ecclesial life, such as the appointment of a black bishop to South Africa by the Vatican
in 1957 and, soon afterwards, the teachings of Vatican II, which encouraged all the local churches to take
up their responsibility as active advocates in promoting a more just society in their various parts of the
world. In South Africa, bishops took a leading role in Catholic engagement against apartheid, but they
were by no means the only agents in this process. Theologians helped with their reflections on human
dignity, on solidarity with the poor and on the church’s role in promoting the kingdom of God. Many
individual Catholics, moreover, participated in justice and peace committees and in protests against
apartheid, some paying the price for this involvement in imprisonment, torture and death. Discriminatory
attitudes within the church also had to be addressed and ecumenical collaboration was gradually fostered.
152. The narrative from Northern Ireland (see chapter II) described a situation quite different from the
previous two. Here a bloody conflict between two sides was based on a myriad of social, political and
economic factors, but the two opposing groups identified themselves primarily in terms of their church
affiliation. Thus this twentieth century conflict shows how the painful divisions stemming back to the
sixteenth century are still very much alive and have been used as justification for subsequent division
with tragic consequences. The hatred and desire for revenge caused by the violence in Northern Ireland,
for the most part politically inspired, posed a huge challenge to establishing reconciliation among
members of different Christian communities. Rather early on during these “troubles,” which date from the
late 1960s, people of influence within the four main churches began to meet regularly to try to respond to
the violence and the sentiments which it caused. The Second Vatican Council stimulated Catholics to
relate more to others and made possible some of the steps subsequently taken towards greater
appreciation of their Protestant sisters and brothers. The wider ecumenical movement also contributed to
such changes for both parties. Various initiatives were sponsored together by the Roman Catholic bishops
and the Irish Council of Churches.
153. Believers from both sides took part in frank, often painful, dialogue; and these exchanges witnessed
to the possibility of friendship, even within such a tense conflictual situation. Ministry to the families of
those who had been killed was a particularly painful way in which the churches tried to make possible
reconciliation: funerals of victims became occasions for courageous witness to God’s grace of
forgiveness. The isolation of the two communities from one another as well as their self-understandings
as churches had contributed to the building up of prejudices and misconceptions. The many efforts by
church leaders and their communities were all part of a process that tended towards overcoming these
prejudices and misconceptions.
154. Obviously these narratives illustrate, first of all, how Christians face very different situations as they
seek to promote the kingdom in various parts of the world. This panorama of ways in which the one
gospel inspires a plurality of responses according to the particular needs of time and place illustrates the
catholicity of the church. Within such variety, some constant features are present, such as the strength that
comes from working together for the kingdom; the participation of the entire people of God – leaders and
ministers, theologians and the whole community; the use of public statements issued by churches either
individually or together with others; the advocacy organized by committees and task forces; the
presentation of programmes of formation in gospel values; the importance of friendship and mutual
encouragement; and the role of mutual accountability. Our stories of common witness also show that the
discernment of good and evil and of a plan of action in any given context is not, and cannot be, isolated
from the interest and contribution of the wider church. Especially when the gospel is at stake in local
discernment and action, the community of all the other local churches and, thus, of the universal church
as well, cannot remain indifferent, but has both a right and a responsibility to be involved and a duty of
solidarity.
155. As our narratives show, the collaboration of different churches on many social questions has
contributed to a growing consensus and commitment among Christians about witnessing together on
behalf of God’s kingdom. This kind of ecumenical experience participates in the mystery of koinonia. At
the same time, when a crisis passes, effort must be made to ensure that cooperation continues to take
place. In this perspective, koinonia is directly linked to reconciliation, especially a growing reconciliation
of memories, making use of a common reading of history.88 While historical research is of immense value
and sheds light on the origins of our differences, reconciliation is possible only when those involved
modestly refrain from judging the actions of persons and bodies in the past (cf. TCUC 63), and
acknowledge their own responsibility, aware that often the past continues to operate under the surface in
the present and thus continues to affect the future. For healing to occur, nothing less than conversion is
required. In its study entitled For the Conversion of the Churches, the Groupe des Dombes makes clear
that conversion and identity are not exclusive, but mutually presuppose each other: “Far from excluding
each other, identity and conversion call for each other: there is no Christian identity without conversion;
conversion is constitutive of the church; our confessions do not merit the name of Christian unless they
open up to the demand for conversion.”89
6. Possibilities of Common Discernment and Witness
156. The experiences of our communities in Canada, South Africa and Northern Ireland show that we can
agree and witness together about some important social issues. Moreover, it is possible to learn from each
other and at times to be inspired by each other through such common witness, especially as we come to
understand better our differing processes of discernment.
157. There is no disagreement between us regarding the basic affirmation that the church is and should be
a community of common witness to the kingdom of God. Common witness evokes and enables the joint
action of our churches in advocating the realization of Jesus’ message about the kingdom in different
times and places. Our common understanding of the kingdom enables us to read together many of the
signs of the times. For example, in South Africa, members of our two traditions, over a sustained period
of time and motivated by a common recognition of how Jesus situates the poor in relation to the kingdom
of God, learned to work together for economic and racial justice. Both of our communities are committed
to listen to the voice of the poor as a privileged source of discerning the demands of God’s kingdom in
our world. In this sense, their voice can serve as a kind of “hermeneutical key” for interpreting the signs
of the times and for engaging in common discernment based upon our ecclesial self-understanding as
moral communities. This is one of the clear implications of the discussions on “ecclesiology and ethics”
which took place within the World Council of Churches in the mid-1990s and produced such texts as Costly Unity, Costly Commitment, and Costly Obedience.90 It is also clear around the world in the life of
our communions, as Catholics and Reformed Christians live and work together on common projects and
concerns.
158. Even as we rejoice in our ability to witness to the kingdom by thinking and acting together in many
times and places, especially where we find great injustice and suffering, we recognize that our traditions
have distinctive habits of communal discernment. While the paths we take to arrive at conclusions about
moral matters sometimes take different routes, we often arrive at similar or even identical moral positions.
In such matters as racial or economic justice, the stewardship of creation, violence in our societies or the
rights of Indigenous peoples, we not only learn from each other but also encourage one another and work
together. In this way we begin to see ourselves as in many ways morally accountable to one another.
ENDNOTES
- The Presence of Christ in Church and World, para. 45.
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- Ibid., para. 48.
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- Towards a Common Understanding of the Church, para. 96.
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- John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ut unum sint, para. 79.
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- Vatican Council II, Dei verbum 9.
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- See above chapter II.
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- See Towards a Common Understanding of the Church, para. 12-63 and 153-156.
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- Groupe des Dombes, For the Conversion of the Churches, Geneva, WCC, “Introduction,” para. 8.
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- These three texts have been published together in book form under the title Ecclesiology and Ethics: Ecumenical Ethical Engagement, Moral Formation and the Nature of the Church, Thomas F. Best and Martin Robra, eds., (Geneva, 1997).
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