Reflections on fundamentalism
Dr. Hollander named three forms of fundamentalism we can find in today’s branches of Christianity: “Neotraditionalist culture-crusader Catholicism, Martyrological faithful-remnant Orthodoxy, and Apocalyptic christo-nationalist Protestantism.” These kinds of “fundamentalism” are more often opposed to ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. He posed a good question at the end of this lecture: does ecumenism have anything to offer in response to fundamentalism? Well, would fundamentalists listen at all to people promoting ecumenism? Is there a common goal we can establish together? It’s probably the same goal that we are promoting through the ecumenical movement: that the Gospel of Christ be proclaimed throughout the world. Now, obviously we have very different ideas of what that should look like, and maybe our priorities in evangelization look very different. Moreover, Dr. Hollander’s question itself presupposes that fundamentalism is a problem to be fixed. Do fundamentalists want to be seen that way? (No.) Is that how non-fundamentalists see them? (Yes.)
So that’s already another obstacle to attempt to overcome: an “us vs. them” framing. I think back to Archbishop Pace from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, where he expressed great sadness over the excommunications of the SSPX (which could arguably be considered a fundamentalist movement) that had just taken place the day before we visited. He was sad that unity was breaking down further, that there were fewer avenues for listening, sharing, and inviting. It was one of the most pastoral responses I’ve heard in a long time regarding a group that has been “othered.” He could have expressed disgust, frustration, annoyance, but he expressed a heartbreak like Christ’s. Heartbreak acknowledges that there is a beloved; we are all brothers and sisters, all called into the same sheepfold. These are our own family members that our hearts are breaking for.
Now, can “ecumenism” offer anything to “fundamentalism”? As Fr. Santiago said, “There is no dialogue between ideologies; just dialogues between people” (paraphrased). “Ecumenists” can offer “fundamentalists” genuine care, concern, heartbreak, compassion, and mercy. And prayer, which can never be forgotten. But I’m not too sure what comes next.
Reflections on interreligious dialogue
Interreligious dialogue is clearly different from ecumenism. During Fr Santiago’s lectures, I considered how interreligious dialogue for Catholics is necessary for understanding the world we live in. How can we go forth into the world to serve the Lord if we do not know the world? How can we love His creation if we do not know it? Loving comes from knowing. I’m grateful for the opportunities we had to visit a synagogue and a mosque because it brings me a bit closer in knowing and therefore loving.
What we can learn from the World Cup ecumenical moments
There was a beautiful moment right after England’s dramatic 6-4 bronze medal win over France in which three French and four English players put their arms around one another in a circle, bowed their heads, and prayed together. They were Dayot Upamecano, Bukayo Saka, Maxence Lacroix, Eberechi Eze, Marc Guéhi, Jean-Philippe Matte, and Trevoh Chalobah.
Whether it was strictly “ecumenical” or not, I haven’t determined that (I didn’t go down the rabbit hole of researching the exact denomination of each player), but what I can say is that it certainly achieved an ecumenical goal: it gave a clear witness of faith to the world through Christian unity.
On a practical level, ecumenism shouldn’t require that much thinking. Now, I’m a ministry planner, and I know all about strategizing and goal-setting and delegating and executing. I know that thinking has a highly important role when it comes to ecumenical movements (the work of the Centro Pro Unione does not just happen by accident!). But when we think about what happened at the World Cup, players of opposing teams praying together, it just happened naturally. It was a faith-first moment. It wasn’t about making a statement—whether political, moral, ecumenical. And they’re not theologians, they’re soccer players. It was a moment simply about the Lord and how His people can come together to praise Him.
But anyway, as students of this course, we’ve done a lot of thinking about ecumenism. We’ve listened to the lectures, we’ve asked the questions, we’ve read the texts, we’ve written the papers. Are we prepared to do the thing—to pray together spontaneously, to uplift other Christians, to stand together united? Only one way to find out, isn’t there?
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