Luke Coppen i Catholic Herald publiserte i går et grundig intervju med Ulf Ekman om hans opptagelse i Den katolske Kirke. Der står det bl.a.:
… … What happened, as I said, around 1998 was really a quest for what the Church really is. For me it was an existential and an ecclesiological question: what are we really doing? What are we really part of? And where does this lead us? What will happen to the free church movement 100 or a 150 years from now? How come that the historic churches, especially the Catholic Church, seemed to keep on going? It was an understanding of the stability and historicity of the Church that intrigued me. As I started to study this, especially ecclesiology, there’s no way you can study that without coming into contact with the Catholic Church. So I discovered one thing after another. …
… When I started to question the essence of the Church, it was authority, the sacraments and unity. Those are the three things that draw us to the Church. I’ve always had a strong sentiment for the sacraments, but when I started to discover what they really are and how they work I felt really on the outside looking in. I had a longing to participate in and to draw life from the sacraments in a way that I’ve not been able to do. Seeing that, I also saw what was lacking in our way of doing Communion. So I would say that the fullness that the Lord has put in the Catholic Church – that is what I discovered and long for. …
What role would you hope to have within the Catholic Church?
I don’t hope for any role. I’m just very content to become a Catholic. We’ve had for the last year a very strong yearning and we feel very privileged. We feel this is a grace from the Lord, to be received into the Catholic Church. I have, of course, 30 years of background, and that could be of use. But I feel very content just to try to be a good Catholic. …
Ekman mener helt sikkert også det siste han her sier, men om en stund vil det være rimelig å tro at han også ønsker å gjøre/ utrette noe innenfor Kirken. Det blir interessant å se hva det kan bli.