Ecumenism in contention

As it's the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, it was no surprise that one of Wales' leading ecumenical ambassadors of the past forty years, Revd Noel Davies, was preaching at the Cathedral Eucharist yesterday morning. Former General Secretary of CYTUN, now in retirement, he's  pastor of Ebenezer Newydd Welsh Congregational Church in Swansea. He was in good form, although I must admit, I've heard him preach that sermon before. But then, it's not really surprising. There's only so much you can say about mission and ecumenism that hasn't already been said.

In the Cathedral notice sheet there was reminder that Mgr George Stack, Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff was preaching at Evensong, so I proposed to make an effort to return to the Cathedral, but I dozed off after lunch and lost ten minutes, so I arrived during the singing of the Psalm, slipped into the nave feeling a little guilty, and sat next to another retired cleric, more punctual than me. I'm glad I made it. He preached a thoughtful sermon about the value of ecumenism and witness, touching upon the contentious and thorny issue of presumed consent in relation to organ donation for transplants, under debate in Wales at the moment. 

He takes the same line as Archbishop Barry about the risk presumed consent poses to a Christian understanding of human dignity and responsibility. He was emphatic about the need for freedom and generosity in the charitable exercise of consent. This is different from compulsion in response to need. It won't be properly understood, that's certain. Both Archbishops will continue to come in for negative criticism from transplant advocates, although they share concern with them for health and quality of life for all who suffer.

There's a profound problem in failing to understand that church leaders are guided by perceptions of the entire world in all its complexity. Their position is far less immediate in perspective than the urgency felt by campaigners giving their utmost to respond to the crises of  life threatening illness sufferers the best way they can.

It's possible for those addressing 'big picture' issues to ignore what's in their faces. But, it's equally possible for those responding the crisis before them to fail to see or fail to be concerned about unforeseen consequences of their actions affecting the wider world. We see this all the time in politics and economics. In this special issue of medical ethics, both politics and economics, not to mention global interdependency and social justice come into play. We need more open dialogue than we're getting on what life is all about.

Quality and value mean different things to different kinds of people it seems, and depend on whether you're one of the haves or a have-not, wherever you live.