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Fraternal Frankness. In any event, Roman Catholic membership in the World Council is not likely to become a reality during Paul's reign. "In fraternal frankness," said the Pope, "we do not consider that the question is so mature that a positive answer could or should be given. The question still remains a hypothesis. It contains serious theological and pastoral implications." Even so, Paul had warm praise for the World Council as a "marvelous movement of Christians, 'of children of God scattered abroad.'" The guiding principle for the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope assured the council, "will always be the search for the unity willed by Christ." Then, with his entourage, Paul VI joined Blake and other council leaders in a brief ecumenical service including a scriptural reading by Jan Cardinal Willebrands and a common recitation of the Lord's Prayer. The Pontiff had declined to have the service at the council's interdenominational chapel, but paused there for a moment of silent meditation before leaving.
Despite the cautionary tone of Paul's speech, his visit nonetheless pleased the World Council; as recently as ten years ago, a Catholic priest was severely reprimanded by the Vatican after he attended a World Council reception in
Geneva. "It took courage for the Pope to come here," said one top-echelon World Council official. "This is a place where he is often rubbed the wrong way." That the Pope had made the visit anyway, noted the official, signified that Paul had "consecrated the Vatican II decree on ecumenism, which finally recognized 'the others' as churches in their own right."
Roman Catholic membership in the World Council may be for the moment out of the question; active cooperation, on the other hand, is not only possible but seems to expand every single month. So far, Rome and Geneva have established a Joint Committee on Society, Development and Peace, and Catholic theologians participate fully in the council's Commission on Faith and Order. There is also a joint working group examining such mutual problems as mixed marriage, intercommunion, proselytization and the authority of Scripture. And on a local level there are countless other ecumenical efforts, including, in one field alone, more than 100 joint Bible translations currently in progress in various countries around the world.