The celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity leads us to consider other important aspects for ecumenism — above all, the great progress made in relations between Churches and ecclesial communities after the Edinburgh Conference of a century ago. The modern ecumenical movement has developed so significantly that, over the last century, it has become an important element in the life of the Church, recalling the problem of union among all Christians and also supporting the growth of communion among them. This not only favors fraternal relations between the Churches and ecclesial communities in response to the commandment of love, but it also stimulates theological research. Moreover, it involves the concrete life of the Churches and of the ecclesial communities with topics that touch upon pastoral care and the sacramental life as, for example, the mutual recognition of baptism, the issues relating to mixed marriages, the partial cases of comunicatio in sacris in well-defined particular situations. In the wake of this ecumenical spirit, contacts have spread also to Pentecostal, evangelical and charismatic movements, for greater reciprocal knowledge, though serious problems are not lacking in this sector.
Since Vatican II and thereafter, the Catholic Church has entered into fraternal relations with all the Churches of the East and the ecclesial communities of the West, organizing, in particular, with the majority of them, bilateral theological dialogues, which have led to the finding of convergences and even consensus on several points, thus deepening the bonds of communion.
In the year that just ended, these dialogues have achieved positive steps….
I do pray for the unity of the Church. However, with respect to the Roman Catholic Communion, it appears that they still see unity as adopting completly the RCC view of things. I remember a couple of years ago hearing that there had been some very serious discussions between Eastern Orthodoxy and Rome. The believed outcome was that the Bishop of Rome would have to give up infallibility to be recognized as the [i]primus inter pares[/i] of the bishops of the Church, filoquoe would have to be resolved (which I think has quietly been done already), and some other dogma removed from the books.
However, I will still pray for the unity of the Church.
The sentiments of the first two paragraph are absolutely true. In which case, it is most significant that “the Catholic Church†calls some “Churches†and others “ecclesial communities†(on more than one occasion). Not only is this form of language “the RCC view of things†(#1 above); it prejudges exactly what it might mean for there to be “full communion among the followers of the Lordâ€.
My question to B 16 is: Does this form of discourse enhance or restrict the language of [i]Ut Unum Sint[/i], §96, re “a patient and fraternal dialogue on [the] subject†of Petrine Primacy?