Bishop Mark Davies: Christians must not give up quest for ‘full, complete and visible unity’

Bishop Davies - image Simon Caldwell

Christians must continue to pray for the “full, complete and visible unity” desired by Jesus Christ in spite of the appearances of new obstacles within the last half a century, the Bishop of Shrewsbury has said.

In recent decades the great goal of the unity of all Christians had been relegated in the minds of many people to a “noble but seemingly hopeless cause”, the Rt Rev Mark Davies said during a homily in St Mary’s Anglican Church, Nantwich, Cheshire, on Sunday.

But he said that the united witness of Christians was crucial if “deceptive ideologies” were not to fill “the vacuum in the faith and moral reasoning” in Britain’s increasingly secularised society.

The “miracle of unity” referred to by Pope Francis was already happening, he said, urging the congregation not to lose confidence in what God makes possible.

“I know Christians weary or despair of ecumenical activity and speak of an excitement which has disappeared along a path which has proved long and arduous,” Bishop Davies said.

“Fifty years ago the Second Vatican Council foresaw a shallow enthusiasm which would set back the true cause of Christian unity by not appreciating this goal can only be realised only by supernatural means.”

“It is our united prayer tonight within these walls of St Mary’s, a united prayer which would have been impossible, unthinkable a century ago but is now part of the life and commitment of every Christian. And is this we can surely glimpse the promise of something wonderful to come if we do not lose sight of the goal of our full, complete and visible unity.”

The Bishop’s word came in the 'Churches Together in Cheshire' service to mark the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

His homily in a 13th century church known as the 'Cathedral of South Cheshire' because of its size and magnificence represented the first time a Catholic bishop has preached there since the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century when the Church of England was established.

Bishop Davies observed that Christians were more divided on some questions than they were half century ago and noted the analysis in the Church Times newspaper of Anglican Bishop Peter Forster of Chester, who was present at the service, who noted how Christians were in danger of drifting from “a vision of full visible unity to an essentially debased vision of reconciled diversity”, which in practice meant “unreconciled diversity”.

“In other words we are in danger of settling for a state of disunity by allowing the goal of the full, visible unity Christ wills for all who would follow Him to recede from our horizons as an impossible plan,” Bishop Davies said.

“In our increasingly de-Christianized country, sometimes described as one of the most irreligious societies in the world, how much this united witness is needed so that our world might believe,” he continued.

“I think of times when I’ve got lost along the roads of the Shrewsbury Diocese I serve and looked for someone, anyone who could give me sure directions. This reflects the situation of so many of our contemporaries who find themselves without direction amid the vacuum of faith and moral reasoning which surely poses the greatest danger to the future of British society, a vacuum which will be all too easily be filled by deceptive ideologies.

“However, if the directions offered by the roadside were a series of confused and conflicting directions – all hope would be lost! We don’t look for a range of conflicting opinions but directions we can rely upon. The world, Jesus tells us, our contemporaries look to us for our united witness but are now often met with the confused message of our divisions.”

He reminded the congregation that the Second Vatican Council declared that “such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalises the world, and damages the most holy cause, the preaching of the Gospel to every creature”.

Bishop Davies said: “This is the situation still prevailing amongst Christians 50 years later – a disunity contradicting Christ’s will has become an obstacle for others and impedes the most holy cause of preaching the Gospel.

“Indeed, we could say across those 50 years divisions amongst Christ’s followers on some questions have grown greater. And we are in danger of settling for division, for a plan which was never Christ’s plan for all of us who follow Him.”