Ecumenism in the Diocese of Saskatoon

"May they be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:21)

The spirit of ecumenism calls us beyond simple co-operation among different denominations. The word "ecumenism" itself comes from the Greek oikoumene, a Biblical word referring to God's whole created order, "the earth and its fullness" (Ps.24). Ecumenism is the commitment to the search for the fullness and unity God intended for creation.

It calls us to name what we believe in common and to celebrate that common faith, as well as to name our differences and to work to overcome obstacles to a united witness to Jesus Christ.

The Roman Catholic vision of ecumenism is founded on the will of Christ and the shared communion of all Christians through baptism. The "soul of the whole ecumenical movement," is a "change of heart" and "holiness of life" along with "public and private prayer for the unity of Christians." These three together are called "spiritual ecumenism" by the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism (#8).

"There is one body and one spirit - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all". Eph.4;4-5

"The Catholic Church embraces with hope the commitment to ecumenism as a duty for the Christian conscience enlightened by faith and guided by love.... This unity which the Lord Jesus has bestowed on his church and in which he wishes to embrace all peoples, is not something added on, but stands at the very heart of Christ's mission. Nor is it some secondary attribute of the community of his disciples. Rather, it belongs to the very essence of this community. God wills the Church, because he wills unity, and unity is an expression of the whole depth of his "agape." (Pope John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, encyclical on Christian unity, May 25, 1995, para. 8)

Prayer for reconciliation and unity

The Ecumenical journey is nurtured by prayer that is fervent, frequent and regular, private and public. A variety of resources are available for individuals and parishes in planning prayer for Christian unity. Among these, the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle is strongly encouraged. This cycle of prayer is provided by the World Council of Churches to encourage prayer for ecumenical communities around the world. Each week of the year is designated for a particular region of the world.

The most common time for ecumenical prayer is during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This week is celebrated in January, between the feasts of St. Peter's confession and St. Paul's conversion. The PCE maintains a helpful webpage with resources for the Week of Prayer. In the city of Saskatoon there are numerous events during the week. Other parts of our diocese also hold services for prayer together with neighbouring Christian churches. We invite you to tell us about the many ways that you pray for the reconciliation and unity of the Christian churches.

This "Prayer for an Ecumenical Heart" has been prepared for use in the Diocese of Saskatoon:

O generous and loving God, we praise and thank you for your gifts.

We acknowledge our failure to heal the divisions
that exist among the followers of your Son, Jesus Christ.

We pray for your help and guidance to overcome
the barriers that continue to separate Christians.

We ask that the power of your Holy Spirit be fully alive within us;
and for Your love to give us the strength
to mend the hurts that separate the followers of Jesus.

Help us build bridges of love and understanding with all humanity.

May the love and forgiveness of Jesus guide us each day
as we journey with our sisters and brothers in Christ's name.

We pray for the day when it will truly be said
of all who follow your Son, Jesus Christ:
"They love one another as Jesus loves."

Amen

Saskatoon Diocesan Commission for Ecumenism (SDCE)

Mandate of the Commission

The role of the Ecumenical Officer and the Commission for Ecumenism is outlined in the Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism.

The Saskatoon Diocesan Commission for Ecumenism undertakes to be guided by: the leadership of the bishop of Saskatoon and the terms of reference of the Commission; the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and its directives for ecumenism; and documents of the Church, especially the Decree on Ecumenism and the Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.

In the practice of the Catholic Church's commitment to ecumenism in the Diocese of Saskatoon, the SDCE further undertakes:

• to recognize that many ecumenical relationships have been developed over the years,
• to realize that the focus of the SDCE is with Catholics of the diocese of Saskatoon,
• to become aware and supportive of other ecumenical and interfaith activities,
• to encourage ecumenically active individuals to be more "intentional" about their participation; to see it as part of the ecumenical movement..

Members of the Commission

The members of the Commission for Ecumenism are appointed by the bishop for a two-year renewable term.

• Fr. Bernard de Margerie (Ecumenical Officer)
• Joan Eyolfson-Cadman
• Angeline Fleischfresser
• Nicholas Jesson
• Marie Klombies
• Fr. Marvin Lischynsky
• Carol Pek

Prairie Centre for Ecumenism (PCE)

Ecumenical cooperation is not new to the diocese. We have a rich experience in ecumenical relationships. Our social, political and spiritual development, although not without strife and tensions has been marked by a tone of cooperation. For generations we have seen goodness in our neighbours from many backgrounds, who have worked together to build many caring communities. This grassroots experience, at times unnamed and unknown as ecumenism, has led to the formation of many Ministerial Associations, Councils of Churches and Ad Hoc Committees to enrich our experience of church. The Diocese has participated and often taken the lead in these endeavours. This leadership was shown in the formation of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism (PCE).

The PCE was established in 1984 as the ecumenical office of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. Our Diocese was enriched by the commitment and ecumenical wisdom of Fr. Bernard de Margerie. Bishop James Mahoney entrusted Fr. de Margerie with a full time ministry in ecumenism that enabled Bernard to become the founding director of the Centre. The Constitution of the Centre describes the PCE's mandate "to call the churches to the goal of visible reconciliation and unity for the world's sake, expressed in one faith and one Eucharistic fellowship in Christ." This mandate is drawn from the foundational documents of other ecumenical agencies, especially the World Council of Churches.

The Constitution also indicates that the establishment of the Centre corresponds to the common will of the partner churches to move forward together on the road of Christian renewal, reconciliation and unity. We do so in a spirit of faithfulness and obedience to the Gospel.

From its founding, the Centre has had a Board of Directors drawn from the various churches in Saskatoon. In 1988, recognizing that an appropriate level of maturity had been achieved, the decision was taken to move to a broader sponsorship. The Local Church Leaders' Group, a regular gathering of the senior leaders of the churches of Saskatoon, approved the revised Constitution of the Centre, and asked the churches of Saskatoon to determine whether they were prepared to sponsor the Centre and provide it with both financial and prayer support. The Anglican, Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian and United churches, as well as the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, joined with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon in sponsorship of the new ecumenical enterprise.

Parish ecumenical contacts

Our Commission also supports the PCE in its efforts in ecumenical education. The PCE supports a network of parish ecumenical contacts, many of whom are active in Catholic parishes. Ecumenical contacts are charged with the responsibility of promoting ecumenical reflection and prayer within their parishes, and encouraging ecumenical interaction with neighbouring Christian communities. The Commission and the PCE are available to assist in these endeavours.

In many Catholic parishes, ecumenical contacts also serve on the parish council. In this way the ecumenical consciousness of the parish is enhanced in the many aspects of parish life.

Documents on ecumenical & interfaith relations

The webpage for the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism provides an outstanding website with links to the full texts of thousands of documents. They have been subdivided into categories to help find the documents, statements and articles that are becoming a rich tradition in ecumenical teaching, practices and reflections.

For a select list of Catholic documents related to the ecumenical movement, see the PCE's Catholic documents page. See the Ecumenical documents and Ecumenical dialogues pages for additional resources.

Sacramental Sharing in the Diocese of Saskatoon

"By the grace of God, the Catholic Church and other Churches or Ecclesial Communities are united in varying degrees in a real though imperfect communion of fellowship. Unity in baptism impels us toward full communion. It calls all disciples of Christ to faithful discipline in striving toward reconciliation and unity in the hope that we will reach, one day soon, full communion around the eucharistic table of the one Lord."

Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sacramental sign of the oneness of faith, life and worship of the Church and that participation in Communion presupposes this unity. It is for this reason, then, that reception of Holy Communion is ordinarily reserved for baptized members of the Catholic Church. However, it is a source of joy that Catholic pastors may in certain cases as outlined in the Pastoral Directives, administer the sacraments of the Eucharist, Reconciliation or Anointing of the Sick to other Christians.

In such cases a baptized Christian individual of another denomination who is experiencing genuine serious need and spiritual hunger and who wishes to receive one of these Sacraments is strongly encouraged to request the sacrament by meeting with the Catholic pastor for a full discussion about the conditions for such a sharing.

Two general principles guide the application of these Pastoral Directives. Firstly the directives and norms are to be applied generously in favour of those eligible with the pastoral and ecumenical sensitivity that each situation requires, and secondly, that the Church does not demand more of our fellow Christians that it does of Catholic people.

• Bishop Albert LeGatt's letter on sacramental sharing. English | français [Dec. 16, 2007]
• Sacramental Sharing brochure (English) [Feb. 13, 2007]
• Partage de vie sacramentelle (français) [13 fév. 2007]
• Pastoral notes for Sacramental Sharing [Aug. 22, 2008]

NOTE: These pastoral directives are issued by the Bishop of Saskatoon for the Diocese of Saskatoon. They are derived from, and consistent with, the Code of Canon Law and the Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism. Outside of the Diocese of Saskatoon, other local applications of the Directory may be in use. In all other circumstances, the Code and the Directory should be consulted.

Ecumenical dialogues

Dialogues among the Christian denominations have been taking place for many years, both in Canada and internationally. Many documents from these dialogues are available on the internet. The PCE's Ecumenical dialogues page is a good place to begin searching for dialogue texts. Documents that are not available online will likely be found in the PCE's library. The general public is welcome to borrow books from the PCE library.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is involved in a number of ongoing dialogues in Canada. There are important documents from these dialogues available online. They are all listed on the PCE's Ecumenical dialogues page.

Our ecumenical commission has a particular concern to promote the "reception" of the dialogues. The work of the dialogues will only become fruitful in the life of the church through study, reflection, and experimentation. In Saskatoon, we have contributed to the ongoing reception of the dialogues by holding study sessions on different dialogues, and by promoting local dialogues using the national and international dialogues as a guide.

Groups for ecumenical co-operation

Many ecumenical relationships have been developed throughout the Diocese. An inventory of the known ones are listed below and divided into Saskatoon Urban Groups and Rural Groups for ecumenical co-operation.

Saskatoon urban groups for ecumenical co-operation

Saskatoon Inner-City Council of Churches (SICCC)

North End

Nutana/Broadway

Nutana Park Ecumenical Group ((NPEG)

South East Saskatoon Interchurch Group ( (SESIG)

Sutherland

West Side Group

Rural groups for ecumenical co-operation

Davidson Interchurch Association

Eatonia Ministerial Association

Eston Ministerial Association

Humboldt and District Ministerial Association

Kenaston Interchurch Association

Kindersley & District Ministerial Association

Lanigan Ministerial Association

Leader and District Ministerial Association

Luseland Ministerial Association & Bible Study Group

Outlook Ministerial Association

Rose Valley

Unity Ministerial Association

Wadena

Interfaith / interreligious relations

The Diocesan Commission for Ecumenism is also concerned for furthering our relationships with other religious groups in our community. These are our interfaith or interreligious relationships. The Second Vatican Council signalled a new openness to, and appreciation of, other world faiths. Acknowledging our common human quest for the divine, Pope John Paul II explained that: "The many religions are the 'many reflections of the one truth', 'seeds of the Word', attesting that though the routes taken may be different, there is but a single goal ... a quest for God and ... the full meaning of human life."

Faith communities in Saskatoon

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