Separated Brethren

 BASIC R.C.BELIEF

For many years there had been an understanding among some Roman Catholic teachers that Protestants were to be known as separated brethren. Cardinal Gibbons (in the 19th century) used this phrase in his apologetic work on Catholicism. However, it was not defined and popularized until Vatican II.

POST VATICAN II

From THE TEACHING OF CHRIST, Imprimatur: Leo Pursley, Bishop of Ft. Wayne/South Bend. "Many who are not members in the full sense of the Catholic Church are surely Christ's own, and linked to the saving sacrament of His Church by many bonds. The Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers. For these who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are brought into a certain, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Even though they are not bound to it by a full sharing in the joy of Catholic faith, nor by a full communion with those in whom Christ shepherds His flock, they do share many true gifts of Christ, as faith in Him and baptism, gifts that possess an inner dynamism toward Catholic unity. The Catholic should honor God's gifts in them, and so live his own Catholic life as to make more apparent its real nature, that others may come to know the blessings of full unity with Christ in His Church."

Protestants cringe at pope's description

The pope's choice of words has Protestants puzzled.

By Richard N. Ostling Associated Press (1/30/99)

There were moments of ecumenical goodwill during Pope John Paul II's pilgrimage to Mexico City and St. Louis. But he provoked Protestant dismay when the trip's major pronouncement addressed non-Catholic "sects" and the trouble they are causing.

To Protestants, especially in Latin America, "sect" is a four letter word.

"I have to say frankly, I wish he had not used the word," says the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus of First Things magazine, a Catholic who rarely finds flaws in the pope. Neuhaus said he lobbied against the S-word as a delegate at the pope's 1997 Synod of America.

But the pontiff's "apostolic exhortation" on synod themes, issued in Mexico, insists on the word and includes a significant four-paragraph section on "the challenge of the sects."

Reaction: "I don't think the pope has a mean bone in his body," said one Protestant, the Rev. Cecil Robeck, Jr., of California's Fuller Theological Seminary. "But I fear, yes, fear, what this could mean." He thinks in Latin America the text could be applied indiscriminately against non-Catholics who are aggressive about evangelism.

Latin America has seen severe, localized conflicts between the recently arrived Pentecostal evangelists and the long-established Catholic Church, with accusations of misconduct on both sides.

Robeck was particularly concerned that the pope's thinking does not reflect a thoughtful accord on Protestant evangelism in Catholic countries, eight years in the making, which was issued last year by an international Catholic-Pentecostal dialogue group. Robeck is the Pentecostal co-chairman of those negotiations.

"It's not John Paul's best statement," remarked the Rev. Gerald Anderson of the Overseas Mission Study Center in New Haven, Conn., a onetime Methodist missionary to a Catholic land, the Philippines.

The Rev. Timothy George, a seminary president in the Southern Baptist Convention that sends missionaries to Latin America, insists that denominations like his that teach orthodox doctrine simply cannot be considered sects. "We are part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church."

Loaded word: "Sect" doesn't rank up there with "cult" as a religious slur, but it's unquestionably loaded. Partly this is a matter of size and status. Webster's says the word applies especially to "a small group" that breaks from "an established church." Protestantism did break away, but is well established and no longer small, even in Latin America - which is why Latin American Catholics are so edgy.

Since the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65, most Catholic leaders have been diplomatic in talking about Protestants. But Latin American Catholic bishops still speak of sects instead of Protestant churches, and the pope picked up their language. During a previous Latin American tour he characterized non-Catholic soul-hunters as "ravenous wolves."

Protestant commentators say the pope's latest statement is confused. He speaks fondly of "the sisters and brothers" in separated churches that have "true though imperfect communion" with Rome. He also mentions "new religious groups," which may or may not refer to non-Christians. So then, Anderson would like to know, "Who are the sects? What defines a sect?