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Wednesday October 24, 2007

AIPRAL Presentacion Libro
AIPRAL Presentacion Libro

President of AIPRAL asks that there not be a disheartening in the task of unity

ALC/CLAI, SAO PAULO, Brasil, July 18, 2007

“Has Christ been divided?” With Paul’s question to the Corinthians the Rev. Clayton Leal da Taxi Heathrow Airport Silva, President of the Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches of Latin America (AIPRAL in Spanish), begins his reaction to the recent statements by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Vatican’s affirming that the only church that has all of the necessary conditions for being the full continuity of the Church of Christ on earth is the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, “is a presumptuous and unnecessary arrogance, given that the Holy Scriptures teach something else,” says da Silva.

Da Silva continues by saying that, “Pope Benedict XVI, who ratified the document, again does not have anything to say. He barely had the courage to publicly assume what Roman Catholic theology teaches. The Rev. Eduardo Carlos Pereira, founder of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, had already said at the beginning of the 19th century, “Rome continues to be the same.”

The President of AIPRAL believes that the Vatican statement goes against all of the Christian effort toward fostering Christian unity. “We, the Reformers, have always known that the real unity of the Church as the Body of Christ does not depend on a theological interpretation by any religious segment in this world. The Church was created by Christ himself. The unity of the Church is found in Christ and not in the figure of a religious leader, be the leader the successor or not of St. Peter,” affirms da Silva.

The AIPRAL leader’s letter emphasizes that when we work against unity we demonstrate our latent sinfulness and we bring unnecessary suffering to the Body of Christ.

Agreeing with most of the Protestant reactions to the Vatican answers, da Silva asks the communities that they not allow themselves to be contaminated or disheartened from working for the real and visible unity of the Body of Christ in Latin America. “Christ is not divided, as the apostle to the Gentiles teaches us. We are baptized in the name of Christ and of the Holy Trinity therefore, we are Christ’s. Enough. Our salvation is a gift from God, grace from the Almighty. Enough.”