The Catholic-Protestant Love Fest

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops voted to join a new alliance that would be the broadest Christian group ever formed in the United States, linking American evangelicals and Catholics in an ecumenical organization for the first time. The alliance, called Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A., is set to kick off next year. It would also include mainline Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and black and other minority churches. With about 67 million members the U.S. Catholic Church would be the largest denomination. "It's not to create some kind of mega body or mega church," said Bishop Stephen Blaire, chairman of the ecumenical committee for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "It is a forum for participation so that we can pray together, grow in our understanding together and witness together our faith." It is considered a biblical imperative for Christians to find ways to build unity among their denominations. Pope John Paul II has made such efforts a priority of his pontificate. The Catholic Church has ecumenical dialogues with many denominations. However, some evangelical and Pentecostal churches have resisted participating. In the floor debate Wednesday, New York Cardinal Edward Egan noted those churches were worried that such talks risked "watering down their faith." In fact, the evangelical Southern Baptist Convention, which has more than 16 million members and is the largest Protestant denomination in the country, has so far not agreed to fully join Christian Churches Together. Blaire said that among the evangelicals who have agreed to participate are the Salvation Army and the International Pentecostal Holiness Church.

Powerball’s response:

I hate to be the one to cast doubt on this big love fest but I’m about to. What is the true purpose for all this? "It is a forum for participation so that we can pray together, grow in our understanding together and witness together our faith." Yeah, yeah, yeah but what else? I’ve scratched my head over “The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” because it basically states the division between Catholic and Protestants is over. Now we can move forward with a grand merger between the churches. Well, who was right? I missed the ending! Have Protestants and Catholics really reached an understanding of justification by faith? If not, why are some claiming unity? I’m not going to argue the debate. I have already done so in the past and the result was anything but a common agreement. Yet there is a massive movement to agree on everything, not just moral issues. This is a two way street here, not only is the Vatican responding, but Protestants are claiming Rome has a biblical understanding of salvation by faith alone while it contradicts the core of Protestant theology. I think there is something behind all this and it’s not just Christian unity. I think we are witnessing the formation of the largest and most powerful political lobbying groups. You see, in order for the Protestant Evangelical “Christian Right” to really have power in America, they need the huge number of Roman Catholics in their camp. While I’m not against us all seeking a greater understanding of each other, there can be only one truth. We can't say we agree when we don’t. The fact that a fundamental aspect such as the issue of justification is so readily compromised by the Protestant church hints at a desire for something other then truth. It has turned religion into a political agenda and it should concern Catholics and Protestants alike.