Rome's Ecumenical Progress

At least two significant statements have been made by Cardinal Walter Kasper to a meeting of the world's cardinals. (Kasper is in charge of the Vatican's office for ecumenical relations).

The first of these was about Rome's relationship with the Orthodox Church. Kasper announced that the Vatican-Orthodox theological commission has produced a document in which they agree that the pope has primacy over all bishops – although they disagree over just what authority that primacy gives him. "The development is significant," says a press report, "because the Great Schism of 1054 – which split the [Roman] Catholic and Orthodox churches – was precipitated largely by disagreements over the primacy of the pope." It is not likely that the agreement will eradicate the tensions caused by Rome's endeavours to extend its boundaries in traditionally-Orthodox regions in Eastern Europe, but Kasper regards it as an "important turning point" in his ecumenical programme.



In the second significant statement, Kasper complained that Rome's wider ecumenical programme has been complicated by "aggressive" Evangelical movements in various countries. He was referring to the increasing migration of Roman Catholics to Pentecostalism. The Vatican, of course, has been in¬creasingly vocal against what it calls "sects", that is, Protestant Pentecostals in such regions as Latin America and Africa. It is reported that "in Brazil alone, Roman Catholics used to account for about 90% of the population in the 1960s; by 2005, it was down to 67%". The church, says Kasper, must confront the "exponential" rise of Pentecostal movements.

Rome's hunger for power will never be satisfied unless it rules universally and absolutely. Whenever it has had the opportunity and means, it has always opposed competing powers, whether secular or religious. But its power will come to an end. Although Rome's appearance and continuing on the world scene "is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" (2 Thes 2:9), the day will surely come when Christ will exercise His power through His Word, the rod of His power (see Ps 110:2), to the destruction of Rome and the salvation of multitudes.

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