The Vatican’s former director for Christian unity told the World Methodist Conference that only together can the two churches make an impact in challenging the “increasingly secularized and pagan” society of toady in which many had lost their sense of sin.
“We sometimes look back in disgust at the moral situation in the Roman Empire before its fall,” said Cardinal Edward Cassidy, former president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. “Have we not erected idols of our own – our sport and pop stars, pleasure and material goods? Are there any limits to sexual behavior? Is life any longer sacred? What has become of the innate dignity of every human being, formed in the likeness of the Creator?
“Perhaps for the first time in the history of evangelization we are confronted on a wide scale with a multitude of persons who do not see the need for salvation,” he said in an address to the 18th World Methodist Conference meeting in Brighton, England.
In a plea for joint evangelization, Cassidy asked: “Is there any reason why we Christians cannot proclaim this saving name together to the world? Is there any insurmountable barrier to developing and giving witness together to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst? Is there any barrier to our making known to those in need- the poor, the sick, the suffering, the hungry, the lonely, the depressed- the loving face of Jesus Christ?”
“How much more effective would our proclamation be if we could be seen as truly reconciled one to the other, truly brothers and sisters united in the love of Christ!”
(RNS)
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