Professor José Ramón Villar. PHOTO: Manuel Castells

José Ramón Villar, theologian at the University of Navarra, speaks in this interview about current issues surrounding ecumenism, on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which is being celebrated from January 18 to 25, 2012 under the degree scroll 'We will all be transformed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ'.

What does the World Council of Churches committee want to tell us with this motto?

The motto is found in St. Paul's exhortation to give thanks to God that "through our Lord Jesus Christ he gives us the victory" (1 Cor 15:57). The victory to which St. Paul refers is not a victory or a promise of human-style success. It refers to the "transformation" staff through faith that Jesus with his resurrection has conquered evil, sin and death. To make this victory of the Lord one's own, the believer must be "configured" to Him. This "transformation" affects all the Churches and Christian communities and leads to service to humanity and to the Christian unity to which we aspire according to the prayer of Jesus: "That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.

Why is it necessary for Christians to speak with a common voice?

It is natural for those of us who believe in Jesus to offer a common witness to the Gospel in the face of today's problems. This is all the more urgent in the face of the loss of the sense of God in not a few people immersed in an adverse irreligious climate, and sometimes also disoriented or frustrated. The efforts of Christians for unity also imply proposing the common and joyful witness of hope in the "transformation through the victory of Christ", without yielding to irreligious pressure, both in the staff and in the ecclesial sphere.

Can unity be understood simply as the 'sum of the churches' or is it something more?

The decisive aspect of the ecumenical task is to become aware of the dramatic contradiction that disunity represents for Christians, to which we cannot become accustomed. The unity of which Jesus speaks in the Gospel is not simply the harmony between separate Christian Churches that walk in parallel, but the visible unity of all in one Church. Naturally, this unity is compatible with the diversity of traditions, rites and forms that enrich the Church, without affecting communion in the same faith.

4. At the moment, relations among Christians are very fluid. Is it possible that separations can be overcome in the future?

The goal for which ecumenism works is to come to profess the same faith together around the celebration of the Eucharist. The divergences in the interpretation of the faith that historically led to the separation between Churches and Christian groups are of different relevance. There is much closeness, for example, between Catholics and Orthodox; and there is a greater distance between Protestants and Catholics. The theological dialogues that have been going on for decades among Christians have led to a clarification of the questions that remain to be clarified. Even if the results do not yet allow us to reach the goal of full communion, the fact that there is dialogue, mutual appreciation, fluid personal relations, partnership internship between the Churches, etc., is very important because it means progress towards unity.

5. What are the main difficulties facing dialogue among Christians today?

The issues of dialogue are different according to the Churches involved. Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches, progress has been made on the place of the successor of Peter, the Pope, in the universal Church, but agreement is not complete. Between Catholics (and Orthodox) and Protestant communities things are more complicated, because the divergences in faith are more profound (on Scripture, the Church, the sacraments, the priesthood, etc.). Moreover, Protestantism today is extremely varied. Along with the historic Lutheran and Reformed Churches, there is a great fragmentation (Evangelicals, Baptists, Pentecostals, etc.) with diverse, even contrary, attitudes towards ecumenism.