A Cloud of Witnesses: a message to the churches

4. Different Ways of Commemoration

4.1 In the communion of saints, all the faithful of every age and of all places are united by the Spirit in one fellowship. While we agree about this together, differences remain as to how we give expression to that reality. These differences include questions concerning the intercession of the saints, canonisation, veneration of saintly relics, and the practice of indulgences. Disputes around these issues arose sharply in the 16th-century and led to hardened confessional positions, to persecution, and to martyrdom. Nonetheless, there is today a growing consensus that emphasis needs to be placed on the commemoration of witnesses as a source of inspiration, for all ecclesial communities.

4.2 Secondly, churches differ in the ways they commemorate the great witnesses. Many churches do so through story telling, religious instruction, publications, and artistic expression. Some also commemorate witnesses as part of their daily liturgical life. Some churches formally identify saints through a process of canonization. Some have formal processes for including witnesses of the past in their calendars. Others regard the witnesses as a legacy for building up the life of the Church, but have no formal process of recognition.

4.3 The lack of formal recognition and even more of a clear place in the liturgical life of some churches, has perhaps led them to undervalue the witnesses of the past. We have learned that some of these churches are beginning to value the commemoration of the witnesses. Other churches have had difficulty honoring those witnesses outside their own tradition. We have learned that these churches are beginning to recognize the witness of those from other traditions. This is variously expressed in ecclesiastical calendars, liturgies, books, catechetical materials, memorials, pilgrimages, and celebrations.

5. Commemorating Ecumenically Today

5.1 As well as commemorating together, churches have also broadened their commemorations of witnesses to include those of other traditions. Examples of this include the memorials in the Protestant Cathedral of Utrecht, the martyrology of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and the statues of twentieth-century martyrs on the west front of Westminster Abbey.
5.2 We have heard encouraging stories of ecumenical commemoration of witnesses to Christ. There have been examples such as joint pilgrimages to sites where saints are commemorated (e.g., Nidaros Cathedral where St. Olav of Norway is commemorated) and the ecumenical commemoration of witnesses at the Colosseum (7 May 2000). These examples encourage us to continue to search for more ways of commemorating together. The reconciliation and healing of memories that this involves is a way of making visible the degree of communion that already exists.