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Ecumenism of life: a network of brotherhood is created among bishops and priests of different Churches
The experience of a Rumanian priest
29/01/2005
I am a Catholic parish priest in a city in Rumania which has 90,000 inhabitants. Due to its history the city is a mosaic composed of seven nationalities and different Churches. When I arrived 16 years ago, I resolved to love everyone, in a special way the ministers of other Churches. I believed we were all there for the same reason: to be a witness of God’s presence to the people. Our first contacts were only occasional, for example during funerals or other events. I saw these moments as opportunities to build a deeper relationship, by showing interest in the life of the other ministers and the problems they faced in their pastoral work. This was how the first common initiatives were born. One day, for example, I asked an Orthodox priest to talk to the youth of my parish. Later he invited me, too.
In 1992, we thought of fixing a day of the week when the priests and pastors of the city could get together. After 10 years, the number has grown to 30 priests and pastors and 2 bishops. Our group - which is made up of Rumanian and Serbian Orthodox priests, Catholic priests of the Latin and Greek rites, Hungarian pastors of the Reformed Church, German and Hungarian Evangelical pastors, Slovaks, Ukrainians and Croatians – has become a small ecumenical laboratory. Together we try to put the Gospel into practice and grow in reciprocal love. Jesus’ promise is our source of inspiration and encouragement: “Where two or more are united in my name ...”
From our meetings emerged the annual “Ecumenical Day” which we hold during the yearly “Week of prayer for Christian unity.” During such days, we find joy in exchanging gifts among the different Christian traditions through the songs and prayers of the liturgical services we hold in all the churches of the city, so that our faithful make a sort of pilgrimage from one church to the other.
Lately, we were able to find two patron Saints for our city, a choice acceptable to all the Churches: Sts. Peter and Paul. Their feast day was also recognized by the civil authorities, to the point that June 29th has become the most significant feast day of the city. In fact crowds come out and the day is a symbol of unity for all.
Of course, there are difficulties, too. Once, just as we were preparing the ecumenical ceremony, a heated discussion arose between an Orthodox priest and a Catholic priest of the Greek rite. “Now the work of all these years will be spoiled and our ecumenical progress will be reversed,” I thought. I could only entrust the matter to God. Three days later, the priest who caused the offense publicly apologized for having been an obstacle to unity.
On another occasion, one of my parishioners told me that someone I know from another Church had been very critical of me. I started to pray for this person, convinced that Jesus would take care of this, too. I then phoned this person to let him know I wanted to work out any difficulties I might have created. This little step was enough to rebuild our relationship.
One priest of our group confided that thanks to our unity the sense of loneliness and isolation he had experienced had passed and had gained renewed vigor for his ministry. We helped an Evangelical pastor who was unjustly accused before his superiors by sending a collective letter to his bishop to inform him of the actual situation. There are pastoral problems typical of this period of transition, and every time we meet, we pray together for the grace to handle them.
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