Unity or Conformity

Unity cannot be equated with conformity. The unity of the Church is a oneness of worship and doctrine, but not a complete and unquestioning acceptance, a conformity rejecting the prospect of differences. To require such uniformity as a sign of unity would be to say Paul should have been a circumciser, that John should not have shouted in the desert, that Jesus should have joined the Pharisees. Questioning is questioning, not denial. Differences are signs of life and make progress come about. When it does not challenge itself, when there are no questions to be raised, then the Church is in danger of dying.