January 27, 2002

On Sunday, January 20, President Bush delivered an eloquent address on the sanctity of life, in support of the Right to Life March. This was the first time in eight years that a President had supported the march. In a chilling form of censorship, the historic message was totally ignored by "The New York Times."

Our Lord said that if the voices of the children greeting him were silenced, the stones themselves would cry out. The Catholic Church cries out to protect life, giving voice to moral reality. When praying for Christian unity, we give thanks for the voice of the Church, even when many who profess to call themselves Christians have become ambiguous on the most important moral principles. Christian denominations which have taken a wrong turn on the great moral issues have evaporated in size and social significance. This does not stop the voice of the Church because, as the instruction Dominus Iesus recently explained the teaching of Vatican II: "the Church of Christ, despite the divisions which exist among Christians, continues to exist fully only in the Catholic Church."

Ecumenism is not indifferentism: as if one religion is as good as the next. There cannot be truths that contradict each other. The Catholic Church is the one church truly established by Christ. The Orthodox bodies, though not enjoying full communion with the Successor of Peter, constitute legitimate churches. Other Christian bodies, which we commonly refer to as churches out of custom and convenience, are not properly called churches because they lack a valid priesthood and Eucharist. The Catholic Church considers them "ecclesial communities." In spite of their defects, "the spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as a means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church." In terms of oneness with Christ and the apostolic tradition, the Catholic Church is not divided, although there are sad divisions among Christians. The Church's integrity moves her to bring all souls within the Catholic unity. Thus the Church's canon law instructs pastors that all non-Catholic communities within the bounds of a Catholic parish are the pastoral responsibility of the Catholic pastor, whose first obligation is help them grow in a common love of Christ as Redeemer.

As the ecumenical movement passes from adolescent enthusiasm to a mature desire for unity of believers, the first step has to be basic commitment to the right to life. Without that, the hope of eternal life would be futile.

Fr. George W. Rutler