Ecumenism–true or false?

Since God is a God of variety–we need only to observe the various creatures and flora–it would make sense that He does not mandate homogeneity in us, His children.

God loves diversity!

Yet false ecumenism has been brewing in the Catholic Church hierarchy for some time; and has, ironically, militated against the truth it claims to protect.

Authentic ecumenism finds the common thread in other religions for the achievement of common ground–but it does not stop there.

It also seeks to accompany the other in following that “thread” to objective truth, Who is Jesus Christ.

Rotten fruit of Universalism

False ecumenism is a rotten fruit of Universalism, a heresy that claims all religions are pathways to heaven and therefore have equal merit in the eyes of God.

Yet this directly contradicts what God has revealed to us through Sacred Scripture and His Son: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Kernel of truth

In the spirit of true ecumenism, St. Paul found the kernel of truth hidden among the false Athenian pagan gods with their altar to an “Unknown God”, and informed them:

“Since the God who made the world and everything in it is himself Lord of heaven and earth, he does not make his home in shrines made by human hands. Nor is he dependent on anything that human hands can do for him, since he can never be in need of anything; on the contrary, it is he who gives everything – including life and breath – to everyone. … The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:23, 30-31).

He did not tell them, “Since you worship God somewhere in your false gods, you’re fine because God is tolerant and appreciates diversity.”

Out of love for them, Paul corrected their polytheism, rebuked its doctrine, and taught them there is only One, true God.

Man creates god or God creates man?

Like the Athenians–in our pride–our society also has an inverted view of God.

Man cannot not create god; God creates man. This cuts to the heart of the lie of Universalism.

The Universal Church

But shouldn’t we Catholics embrace diversity in other religions and beliefs?

Who says we don’t? Christ’s last command was to spread the Gospel to every nation, and He meant it!

He made it clear that His saving love was not confined to the Jewish nation; the Messiah is meant for everyone–and all are free to either take Him or leave Him.

In fact the word, “catholic”, means “universal”. The first person to use the word, “catholic” was Church Father, St. Ignatius of Antioch ( d. circa 107) in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans (Ch. 8).

In the true sense of the word, the Catholic Church is the universal Church that Christ founded, which has spread to every nation in the world (see Mt 28:19-20).

“One World Order” or Christ the King?

God did not say He would dissolve or destroy nations but rescue, defend and sustain all nations, communities, and individuals who honor and cling to Him during their various trials and persecutions (2 Thess 3:3).

History shows this to be true. How many times has the nation of Poland risen from the ashes of its seeming obliteration? Or when God chose St. Joan of Arc to rescue the nation of France by crowning Dauphin Charles VII (1403-1461) in 1429.

God does not want a melting pot of One World Order or a man-made world religion that worships themselves (or worse, A.I.).

He wants the exact opposite–all the diverse nations embracing Him in a culture of life under the banner of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ (John 8:12).

Why? Kingship belongs to Christ alone (Ps 47).

“Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!“

Under the deception of Universalism, nations, communities and individuals that reject and abandon Christ eventually suffer their own demise (Mt 7:15-20).

The Catholic Church may be universal, but the manifold ways the Holy Spirit rescues souls through it are as varied as the creatures of the sea and numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen 26:4).

“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”