Yves Congar, gli anni del pionierismo ecumenico

Abstract

Among the list of “pioneers and prophets” of ecumenism one surely has to include Yves Congar (1904- 1995), who made the reconciliation between Christians his life purpose. The Dominican author, whom John Paul II made a cardinal in 1994, was an all-round ecumenist, especially regarding doctrinal debates - his method being a part of an overall renewal of theology. In his extensive research he mainly dealt with ecclesiology and ecumenism, which he made inseparable, and which in his work were as essential as two foci in an ellipse. His main claim to fame was that he facilitated the era of détente giving ecumenism a global dimension and anticipating solutions that would lead to the the Second Vatican Council. An acute sense of history made him promote shared roots and also seek the reasons for separations in factors that were outside theology, at the same time grasping the need for a vital reform within the Church. This paper retraces the milestones in his work with a specific focus on the pioneering years that led to the Council. Choosing the narrative mode allows us to intertwine Congar’s thought with his existence, the latter having always been key. We begin with ‘pillars’ such as the vocational conscience and the evaluation of the reunifying movement as a gift from the Spirit. Then, the paper examines three phases: the opening of Chrétiens désunis, the reforming spirit and the ecumenism of dialogue. Chrétiens désunis is the first work that shook the foundations of an ecumenical movement that was still in its infancy on a critical level. The essay was unique in its logical outline of the topic; it presented a project that was still green, yet it paved the way for a “Catholic ecumenism” by tracing the capabilities and boundaries of the reunifying endeavour. A pioneering development was the creation of a new image of the Church that lay in the two features that division jeopardised and wounded the most: unity and catholicity. The article pinpoints four outcomes that were pioneering for the time’s ecumenical theology. Another milestone, which corresponded with the period that immediately followed the Second World War, consisted in having given shape to the intuition for reform, which could already be seen in Chrétiens désunis as a fundamental requirement of the ecumenical perspective. Before they could dictate the conditions for reunion, the parties had to necessarily question themselves. Another link is apparent here: if Congar became an ecclesiologist because he was an ecumenist, then - as Alain Nisus writes - he was also “réformiste parce qu’oecuméniste”. After the bleak years of censorship and exile, the paper deals with the Council by directly chronicling some of the discussions. A coincidence emerges between the categories of ecumenical Church and dialoguing Church, with the idea of communion making its first appearance. The paper ends by underlining some requirements in the dialogue concerning truth, which can be summed-up in the two characteristic terms pureté and plénitude.