2017 Udienza Moderatore Chiesa di Scozia
AUDIENCE WITH THE MODERATOR OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
26 October 2017
On 26 October 2017, the Holy Father Pope Francis received in audience an ecumenical delegation headed by the Right Reverend Dr Derek Browning, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. We publish here below their addresses.
Address of the Holy Father
Dear Moderator, Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I offer you a warm welcome and I thank the Moderator for his thoughtful remarks, and also for our meeting [private, which took place previously]. Your presence affords me the opportunity to offer a warm greeting to all the members of the Church of Scotland.
Our meeting takes place during the fifth centenary of the Reformation, which I joined in commemorating last year in Lund. Let us thank the Lord for the great gift of being able to live this year in true fraternity, no longer as adversaries, after long centuries of estrangement and conflict. This has been possible, with God’s grace, by the ecumenical journey that has enabled us to grow in mutual understanding, trust and cooperation. The mutual purification of memory is one of the most significant fruits of this common journey. The past cannot be changed, yet today we at last see one another as God sees us. For we are first and foremost his children, reborn in Christ through the one Baptism, and therefore brothers and sisters. For so long we regarded one another from afar, all too humanly, harbouring suspicion, dwelling on differences and errors, and with hearts intent on recrimination for past wrongs.
In the spirit of the Gospel, we are now pursuing the path of humble charity that leads to overcoming division and healing wounds. We have begun a dialogue of communion, employing language befitting those who belong to God. Such language is essential to evangelization, for how can we proclaim the God of love if we do not love one another (cf. 1 Jn 4:8)? It was in Scotland itself, in Edinburgh, more than a hundred years ago, Christian missionaries had the courage to set forth once again with renewed vigour the firm will of Jesus that we be one, “so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). They understood that proclamation and mission are not fully credible unless they are accompanied by unity. This remains as true now as it was then.
I have learned that the emblem of the Church of Scotland depicts the burning bush before which Moses encountered the living God. I am struck by the fact that in this great biblical text the Lord calls himself by a name that will echo down the centuries: “the God of your fathers” (Ex 3:15). In this way, he calls us too, as sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, to enter into a history of prior relationships and to live the life of faith not as isolated individuals and in theory, but within a concrete community, a “we”. For no one becomes a Christian by himself and no one can live as a Christian without others. We belong to the family of believers, of so many of our brothers and sisters who have begun to walk in newness of life through Baptism (cf. Rm 6: 4) and who accompany us along that same path.
My thoughts turn in a particular way to those Christians who in our day face grave trials and sufferings, enduring persecution for the name of Jesus. So many of them bear a heavy cross as they profess their faith, many to the point of martyrdom. Their witness impels us to persevere, with love and courage, to the end. Our dialogue directed to full unity, our witness and our shared service, our commitment to pray for one another and to overcome the wounds of the past: these are also a response that is owed to them, within this great “we” of faith.
It is my prayerful hope that the journey to visible unity will continue daily and bear rich fruits for the future, as it has in the recent past. The Catholic Church, especially through the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has engaged for decades in a fruitful cooperation with the Church of Scotland and the World Communion of Reformed Churches, and desires to continue on this path. With gratitude for your presence here and on the ecumenical journey, I ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our fellowship in Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. And to Him we turn together in prayer for each other: “Our Father…”
Address of Right Reverend Browning
Your Holiness,
I greet you in the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
It is also my privilege and delight as Moderator to bring you greetings in the name of the General Assembly from your sisters and brothers in the Church of Scotland.
Hospitality is the distinctive mark of the Christian Church. We are born out of hospitality and our faith spread because of hospitality. If we are in a position of privilege, it is better to build a longer table than a higher fence. In the Church of Scotland we ask of ourselves, and all our sisters and brothers, who is at our table? How do we share the message of forgiveness, mercy, hope and love with an increasingly secular world that no longer knows what we believe, or mistrusts us because of our past errors and narrowness?
My Church seeks to ensure that the ministry of our Church continues to reach out to every area of Scotland’s life, and to reaffirm that the strength of our Church, is to be found at the local, parish level. Prayers connect us to God and the faith we profess; practical compassion, motivated by an honest and robust engagement with civil and other authorities empowers us to speak out for the poor, refugees and migrants, for the marginalised in all our communities, and for the better stewarding of the creation that is entrusted to our care.
Next year the Church of Scotland celebrates fifty years of women ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament; two years ago we celebrated fifty years of women being ordained to the eldership; and women have been set apart as deacons for one hundred and twenty-nine years. The ministry of the diaconate in the Church of Scotland is a collaborative ministry, which seeks to build bridges between church and community. Our diaconate works not only in parishes but also in chaplaincies, counselling, with asylum seekers, and meeting spiritual needs. Now ordained since 2002, deacons, both women and men, play a welcome part in the courts of our Church sharing their experience and wisdom. Your Holiness, we note in your Church the commission you have encouraged to study the issue of women deacons and their ministry in the Early Church, and we look forward with interest to its conclusions.
The Church of Scotland will continue to advocate models of gender justice and crusade against violence and discrimination against women, and celebrate the contributions and place of women, alongside men, in our churches and communities.
The Church of Scotland maintains its active concern about issues relating to human trafficking and modern day slavery, and continues to express concern about the fate of migrants and refugees, fleeing from their home countries, and finding a mixed welcome in countries where they seek new homes away from persecution, war and hunger.
In this year of the 500th anniversary of the German Reformation, the Church of Scotland recognises its roots in the many European Reformations. We acknowledge openly our doctrinal and governance differences, but gladly note the complementary dimensions of our shared faith within the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, especially in the documents Together towards Life, and Evangelii Gaudium, and the call to participate in the mission of God. We ask that where relations between our Churches have become less focussed at local and national levels, Your Holiness would join with me to call our Churches to work together for the common good, particularly in the face of national and international anxiety expressed in sectarianism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
A wise man recently told me: “When we speak, we must speak the truth. Then we must speak the truth in love. But first, we must speak.” Your Holiness, in our speech together, may truth and love shine out, not only in our words, but also in our actions. We would also be bold to ask that if it were possible you might make a visit to Scotland at some time, where you would be welcomed with open arms.
As you continue ministering in the name of Jesus Christ, we continue to pray that God will bless and use you generously. May God’s richest blessings be upon you, and the light of Christ illuminate your path, and the gentleness of the Holy Spirit encompass you day and night.