Konrad Raiser retires from WCC

Catholic New Times, May 9, 2004 by Henri Tincq

Recently Henri Tincq, religious editor at the French daily Le Monde, interviewed Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser the outgoing secretary of the World Council of Churches.

H.T.: What is the best memory that you have from your eleven years as general secretary, of the World Council of Churches?

K.R.: I have been privileged to meet many remarkable women and men, religious and spiritual figures, and senior political leaders. My most moving memory is that of Nelson Mandela at the WCC Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1998, arriving in the plenary hall dancing to the music as he made his way to the podium. He spoke in words of profound simplicity about his experience as a young African leader and about the way he was influenced both by the Christian faith and the commitment of the churches in the struggle against apartheid.

And your worst memory?

Without doubt, my visit in February 1998 to the Moscow Theological Academy and the unfriendly reception I received from a few young Orthodox monks and students. I have never experienced such a violent verbal attack, without the dignitaries present making any move to intervene. I interpreted this as the expression of tension between this group of theological students and their own hierarchy, and particularly as the expression of their rejection as "heretical" of any kind of interest in Ecumenism.

Would you say that the ecumenical movement has made progress in the past eleven years?

I sincerely believe that it has, but I say this with a certain degree of modesty, because people other than myself would be more skeptical. Also the signs of progress that I see are not all due to the work of the World Council of Churches, for example the agreement signed in Augsburg in 1999 between the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church. It was the first time official representatives of the Vatican had agreed to sign a doctrinal agreement with another communion of churches. It was the result of a long process of dialogue. Lutherans and Catholics had the courage to say together that that which had separated them for four centuries should no longer divide them. It was a considerable step forward. We are witnessing a real reorganization of relations between all churches, including the churches of the Reformation and Anglicans, up to and including Roman Catholics.

I'm reminded of the statement of Vatican II that communion does truly exist, even if it is as yet imperfect. Unity remains a gift to be received, to be recognized, to be celebrated. But if our efforts already allow us to make unity more visible and to translate it through our actions then, yes, I am right to speak of progress. As Pope John Paul II has often stated, our journey towards unity is irreversible. It is unthinkable that we could return to the situation as it was in the past.

There has, however, been no lack of tension with the Roman Catholic Church. The reaffirmation of doctrine, particularly the statement "Dominus Iesus" in 2000, could seem to be a step backwards ecumenically. Has this not led to an impairment of the quality of relations with Roman Catholics?

I would first like to pay tribute to the faithfulness and clarity of our Catholic partners. They are brothers and sisters who seek, as we do, and who want, as we do, to respond to the ecumenical call and are not put off by opposition. They can be found at the Vatican and amongst bishops at the national level, amongst priests and lay people. As we continue our search for unity, we already feel that the links between us are so strong that the obstacles that arise do not call into question the progress already made. At the same time, it is impossible to overlook increasing fears among Roman Catholics, but also among Anglicans and Lutherans, Methodists and Orthodox, linked to the identity or integrity of each tradition. There are trends developing which see the ecumenical movement as threatening or disturbing. Following the 2003 Ecumenical Kirchentag in Berlin, Cardinal Joachim Meisner criticized the event for having sown confusion amongst the faithful. Such fears are linked to the breakdown and fragmentation of religious identity, to secularization, and to the relativism which continues to gain ground at the heart of our society. We can only overcome these things, in my view, by transcending our various traditions in a common rediscovery of the spirit and life of Christ.

I would add that such fears do in part determine the direction of the Roman Catholic Church, and that this creates problems for us. We cannot hide that. I do not for a moment doubt that John Paul II is personally committed to ecumenism and that for him, this is much more than just a question of strategy. Neither do I doubt his desire to re-open dialogue with the Orthodox. But I do not think the approach adopted is the best way to achieve that goal. John Paul II was extremely courageous in proposing to his ecumenical partners that there should be discussion of the way primacy is exercised by the Bishop of Rome. However, by adding that there could be no question of discussing the concept of primacy itself, he demonstrated that in each of our traditions the stumbling block has to do with the way we understand our faith in the church.