Theologians Agree: Inquiry Into the Holy Spirit
Can Contribute to Ecumenical Progress

Pictured: Above left, Sister Lorelei Fuchs, S.A., center, with other participants.  Above right: Cecil Robeck, Associate Professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, center; Dr. Ann Riggs, NCC Associate General Secretary for Faith and Order, second from right, with other participants.

Can a common focus on the person and work of the Holy Spirit strengthen the unity of the churches? That question, posed in many ways over the past 50 years, represents an important direction in modern ecumenical thinking -- and a longing for the renewal of creation, healing of relationships, and fullness of life that the Holy Spirit brings.

The subject of "The Holy Spirit and Ecumenism" was raised anew by an informal but influential conference of theologians who met October 14-20, 2002, at the Ecumenical Monastery of Bose, Italy. The 20 conference participants -- including three who are a part of the NCC’s Faith and Order Commission -- gave a resounding "Yes" to the question: Can theological inquiry into the Holy Spirit contribute to ecumenical progress?

Coming from Europe, North America and South Africa, and from a wide variety of Christian communities, the participants at Bose affirmed their unity in the Holy Spirit as a first step before the more difficult church-dividing issues of doctrine or church order can be most profitably addressed. In their message to the churches, which follows, participants said, "The Holy Spirit, who takes the things of Christ and declares them, vivifies the preaching, the life of faith, the sacraments and the order of the Church, and is the guarantee of its communion in diversity."

The Cardinal Suenens Center of John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio, sponsored the conference and plans to publish the conference papers in 2003 in the series Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium. In 1999, in Belgium, the Center held its first conference on "The Holy Spirit and Ecumenism."

Message to the Churches
The Holy Spirit, the Church and Christian Unity

Theologians from Europe, Africa and North America, from Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Mennonite, Quaker, Methodist and Pentecostal traditions, we met at the ecumenical monastery of Bose, Italy for the Second International Conference on the Holy Spirit and Ecumenism, October 14-20, 2002. The conference was sponsored by the Cardinal Suenens Center, John Carroll University, USA. We gathered together to consider the significance of the person and work of the Holy Spirit for the Church and its unity. Witnessing to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our deliberations we offer the following to the Churches:

We affirm that on the ground of the Son’s saving work on the cross, the Father, by the Holy Spirit, calls the Church of Christ into being. Christ’s work of redemption, from his conception to his resurrection and ascension, bears witness to the personal presence and action of the Holy Spirit. Sent at Pentecost by the Father in response to the prayer of the exalted Christ, the Holy Spirit is the Giver of life, the Guide into all truth, the Power of witness, the Event of koinonia or communion, the Prompter of praise and prayer, the Source of holiness, the Bestower of gifts, the Sigh of an expectant creation, and the Pledge of God’s final kingdom. The integrity of the Holy Spirit’s work is respected when this fullness is not narrowed by our limited openness to and reception of it. The Holy Spirit, who takes the things of Christ and declares them, vivifies the preaching, the life of faith, the sacraments and the order of the Church, and is the guarantee of its communion in diversity. This communion embraces the various and manifold gifts, ministries, works, forms of discipleship and life together that bring to expression the riches of Christ in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

We gratefully acknowledge the measure of communion we enjoy as a gift of the Holy Spirit. We pray for new outpourings of the Holy Spirit.

Although the Holy Spirit is given generously beyond our desire or imagination and is sent to Christ’s Body as the fullness of the one who fills all things, we recognize that the churches have grieved and quenched the Holy Spirit. We trust God’s faithfulness to perfect the Church and to bring all Christians to the fullness of unity by enabling them:

· to cooperate with the Giver of Life, the Breath by which all things exist. The Holy Spirit fosters new life in Christ Jesus through whom we are reconciled to God.

· to pursue the truth through the exercise of discernment. We look for what belongs to the Gospel in those things that appear to diverge and now divide us but which may in fact be manifestations of the manifold wisdom of Christ and the diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit.

· to engage in mission as one in the power of the Holy Spirit for the credibility of witness to the Gospel. We acknowledge our call to reach the ends of the earth with the Gospel and bring the comfort of Christ’s presence until the end of the age.

· to be led by the Holy Spirit into deeper and enduring levels of communion, a participation of the Church in the life of the triune God.

· to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, as sons and daughters in Christ, to offer worship to the Father with one mind and heart calling upon God for the necessary gifts and graces to advance the unity of the Church.

· to rejoice in the holiness given to the Church, and in a spirit of repentance for sins that obscure the image of Christ in his Body to pray for the purification and renewal of the life and unity of the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit.

· to receive the various gifts that the Holy Spirit distributes and that are encountered in one another’s churches.

· to enter into the groaning of creation for God’s justice and peace through solidarity and service with the poor and marginalized.

· to rekindle hope for the restoration of the unity God desires for the Church and to commit ourselves in the way of discipleship "as we await the coming of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."

We recognize significant trends that have emerged in the quest for Christian unity requiring further attention. An ecclesiology of koinonia or communion appears to be one of the most promising theological themes for the renewal and reform of the Church. Communion in the triune God sets in a new light issues of authority, ministry and primacy among others.

We see the need for the churches to engage in careful and continuing discernment of the Holy Spirit’s presence and action in the present age. An important aspect of discernment is communication of insights gathered through dialogue with one another. In this connection the question of how far the achievements of dialogue are being received by the churches needs to be addressed urgently. Reception is a Spirit-led process extending to all the faithful. Reception is both an open and critical process. It entails renewal in our own lives and changes in our relationships with others. We see the need for our churches to be open to mutually receive the gifts they have to offer one another. It is our firm desire that Christians who are not currently a part of our conversations would be led by God’s grace to share in our search for Christian unity . We pray, come Holy Spirit.