Misunderstanding of the catholic teaching about the Blessed Virgin Mary among Christians as an obstacle to ecumenism: a case study of Matale Parish

Abstract

The topic of the research is: “Misunderstanding of the Catholic Teaching about the Blessed Virgin Mary among Christians as an obstacle to Ecumenism. A case study of Matale Parish.” Generally, this research is based on the following specific objectives; to determine the knowledge about Mary in the mystery of Christ, knowledge about the place of Mary in the pilgrim church and identifying the gaps contained in understanding the maternal mediation of Mary. The researcher used a descriptive research design. He used interviews, questionnaire and also observing phenomena. Seventy five (75) respondents used questionnaires and sixty one (61) respondents used the interview system. The researcher used purposive and simple random sampling methods. The data was analyzed using qualitative and quantitative techniques. Qualitative information was obtained through key informants and conducting interviews. Quantitative data was obtained from respondents who after issuing them with questionnaires, answered and returned them to the researcher and also interviews were being carried out and relevant information was attained as presented in chapter four. According to the research findings, the respondents acknowledged the events of incarnation, the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth’s home, Mary and Jesus at the wedding feast at Cana and Mary and John at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. The only difference among the denominations comes in understanding the place of Mary in the mystery of Jesus Christ. The Catholic and Orthodox Christians note that Mary is blessed and Jesus Christ her son placed her in a special place in her mystery. So her place in the pilgrim Church flows from that very that she is in the mystery of Christ who is the head of the Church. This is the reason why the Council Fathers emphasized her mediatory role as intercessory (John Paul, R.M, no. 21). This can be compared to how a person can ask another person to pray for him or her. But Mary’s intercessory power is higher than our intercessory powers. The Christians from the Anglican, Phaneroo and Born-again churches did not acknowledge the place of Mary in the mystery of Jesus and focused more on Jesus hence acknowledge Mary as a role model of Christian virtues but denied her mediatory role since to them it makes them think that they are two mediators and yet it is supposed to be Jesus Christ only. The researcher noticed that such differences arose due to misunderstanding of Scripture and therefore recommended all church leaders from the different Christians denominations and all Christians to devote more time at doing Bible studies since the Bible needs the literal sense and the spiritual sense in order to understand the message in which God wants to convey to us. The Bible shouldn’t be read as a history book. The researcher also recommended adult catechesis for the Catholic Christians in order to deepen their understanding of the Catholic doctrine especially the one concerning Mary. Dialogue between the Christian denominations especially concerning doctrine is also necessary. On top of that, the government too should come in to look at the coming up of different churches whereby some people do it for the sake of earning money and hence playing with people’s faith.