Reunion of Christendom or Ecumenism? Relations between Catholics and Protestants Before Vatican II in the South African Magazine The Southern Cross

Abstract

The present article examines the relations between Catholics and Protestants in South Africa prior to the Second Vatican Council. It is based on a collection of forty-eight articles dealing with 'non-Catholics' in the weekly Catholic newspaper The Southern Cross between 1949 and 1951. This period was chosen on account of its proximity to the foundation of the World Council of Churches in August 1948 in Amsterdam. After Pope Pius XII's call for the reunion of the church in his radio-message of Christmas 1949 and the release of Ecclesia catholica, the belated response of the Roman Curia to the establishment of the ecumenical movement, subtle changes started to affect Catholic attitudes towards Protestantism in South Africa. More news on the Protestant churches was reported to signal that the Pope's ideal of unity was not beyond reach. The holding of ecumenical gatherings was authorised, with the proviso that no doctrinal compromise should ever be made. The Catholic Church remained a fortress, convinced as it was of being the only recipient of Jesus Christ's promise of redemption, but occasions of dialogue with members of other churches started to multiply. They paved the way for Vatican II's ecumenical breakthrough a decade later.