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Pentecostals and the Definition of Sects

Cardinal Cassidy to Meeting of National Ecumenical Commissions

Since we all have a special paper and discussion in our groups on formation during the week, I shall not go into detail on this important matter now. We shall be listening carefully to your reports during the discussions on formation in the hope that much more is taking place than that of which we are aware. Given the importance that this matter has for our ecumenical task, I shall just mention briefly the treatment that is given to it in the new Directory by means of introduction to our further reflection.

After a general introduction which stresses the necessity of formation and the importance of adapting it to the concrete situation of the persons involved, the Directory treats in turn:

  • the formation of all the faithful, with special emphasis on catechesis and liturgy;
  • the formation of those engaged in pastoral work, with emphasis on doctrinal formation and ecumenical experience;
  • the formation of non-ordained ministers and collaborators;
  • specialized formation - in ecclesiastical faculties, Catholic Universities and specialized ecumenical institutes;

In order that the Catholic Church be in a position to carry out its ecumenical commitment, a solid ecumenical formation is required at all these levels. A sound doctrinal basis is necessary if confusion is to be avoided in dialogue and practice. Similarly, a sound ecumenical understanding will help avoid those unfortunate situations where people experiment with practices that in the long run do more harm than good to the task we have in hand.

In this connection I would like to mention, before closing, two questions that are of concern to us here at the Pontifical Council and affect the action of the Episcopal Commissions.

The first is a tendency to confuse ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue. In several instances, there is just one Episcopal Commission for both these distinct tasks. I realise that some Episcopal Conferences simply do not have the possibility of setting up separate Commissions for all the questions that come within their concern. There can of course be room for ecumenical collaboration in the dialogue with other Religions, and the Ecumenical Directory mentions such a possibility (N 210). The Ecumenical Movement, however, is distinct from inter-religious dialogue, for as the Second Vatican Council pointed out, "taking part in this movement, which is called ecumenical, are those who invoke the Triune God and confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour"(UR, 1).

Ecumenical work and inter-religious dialogue are quite distinct, in that they have distinct aims and methods - and so should be kept separate in so far as that is possible. It is not uncommon for us to receive reports from Episcopal Conferences that claim to deal with ecumenical activity, but are concerned more with Islam or the sects.

It is more understandable that Episcopal Commissions for Ecumenism have responsibility for religious relations with the Jews, when it is not possible to have a separate Commission for Relations with the Jewish People. Yet, even here a distinction should be made and a separate person or group of persons be charged with this matter. Again, the aim and method of dialogue with the Jews is distinct from that of the dialogue with other Christians. Since many of you are in fact responsible for relations with the Jews, we have dedicated a session of our meeting this week to that part of our activity, and I shall not say any more about it at this time.

I have just referred to the sects or new religious movements as they are sometimes called - and I indicated that they do not form part of the ecumenical dialogue. In fact, the ecumenical work of the Church in some parts of the world is complicated and frustrated by the activity of these sectarian groups, who do not want to have anything to do with ecumenism. We must be careful, however, not to confuse the issue by lumping together under the term "sect", groups that do not deserve the title. I am not speaking here, for instance, about the evangelical movement among Protestants, nor about Pentecostalism as such. The Pontifical Council has had fruitful dialogue and significant contacts with certain evangelical groups and with Pentecostals. Indeed, one can speak of a mutual enrichment as a result of these contacts.

What I am referring to here are those persons and groups which of their very nature are resistant to the ecumenical outreach of the Catholic Church â.. groups that are exclusive, that denounce the Catholic Church and proselytise among its members. In the Report published in our Information Service N 61 (1986-III), on the question of Sects or New Religious Movements â Pastoral Challenge, we read:

"The criterion for distinguishing between sects of Christian origin, on the one hand, and churches and ecclesial communities, on the other hand, might be found in the "sources" of the teaching of these groups. For instance, sects could be those groups which, apart from the Bible, have other "revealed" books or "prophetic messages", or groups which exclude from the Bible certain proto-canonical books, or radically change their content" N 1.1.

When a local situation is disturbed by the presence of such groups in large numbers, ecumenical dialogue and common witness become more difficult. One has then clearly to distinguish between these sectarian groups and the main-line churches and ecclesial communities, while concentrating on a clear and profound catechesis within the Catholic community and on providing the faithful with a deeper experience of belonging within that community...