10 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION churches, 7 almost in full communion. The latter category of division is denominational in nature, based on confessions rather than on local churches. Kasper notes that the Reformation introduced an altogether new type of division and pushed the Catholic Church to a form of self-understanding alien to its nature: [T]he Catholic Church has never understood itself as a confessional church but through the decrees of the Council of Trent, the Trent confession and the Trent catechism factually adopted characteristics of a confessional church. That resulted in a situation that had never existed before: confessional churches existing alongside one another that differed and differ not only in individual questions of the confession of faith, the sacraments and the understanding of their ministries but also in their ecclesial self-understanding.8 Kasper mentions a third category of division: the emergence of new types of Christian communities inspired by the evangelical movement in the twentieth century, often at the cost of traditional churches. For Kasper, this third category is harder to grasp because the communities involved are so different in nature and in their level of ecumenical engagement. Some even take anti-ecumenical positions. These communities are, by their emphasis on the local manifestation of church, less inclined to engage in supra-local ecumenical dialogues, let alone seek for visible unity. Moreover, the altogether different conception of church as a theological concept in these communities makes it difficult to discuss structural unity, since they do not start from a sacramental (Catholic, Orthodox) or confessional (Protestant) point of departure, but from the perspective of individual conversion. As Jelle Creemers concludes: [F]ree churches are very ecumenical – in their own way. Their different starting point in conversionist soteriology, however, makes them unusual partners in ecumenical dialogue. Their full acceptance as partners in dialogue and their full inclusion in ecumenical 7 The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a “Note on the Expression ‘Sister Churches’” in 2000 to advocate the term’s proper use. According to the Congregation, the term can only be applied to particular churches that have preserved the valid episcopate and Eucharist, but never to the universal church, which should be regarded as mother with relation to the particular churches. Therefore, the Roman Catholic Church as a whole cannot be regarded as a sister church of the Orthodox Churches, whereas, e.g., the particular church (i.e., the diocese) of Rome can. 8 Kasper, “Vatican II: Toward a Multifaceted Unity,” 156.
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