ecumenism - Christian ecumenism and interfaith pluralism, Three approaches to Christian unity, Contemporary developments

A movement seeking visible unity of divided churches and denominations within Christianity. The 4th-c and 5th-c ‘Ecumenical Councils’ had claimed to represent the Church in the whole world. A dramatic increase of interest in ecumenism and the reuniting of Churches followed the Edinburgh Missionary Conference (1910), and led to the formation in 1948 of the World Council of Churches. Assemblies are held every seven years, the decisions of which guide but do not bind member Churches. The movement encourages dialogue between Churches of different denominations, unions where possible (as in the Churches of N and S India), joint acts of worship, and joint service in the community.

The word ecumenism (also oecumenism, œcumenism) is derived from Greek οἰκουμένη (oikoumene), which means "the inhabited world", and was historically used with specific reference to the Roman Empire.

In its broadest meaning, ecumenism refers to initiatives aimed at worldwide religious unity.

In a narrower and more common sense, ecumenism refers to the movement towards unity among Christians. In this sense, ecumenism is based on the idea that there should be a single Christian Church, a single Christian faith.

A more limited goal of ecumenism in either sense is promotion of co-operation and better understanding between religious groups or denominations, without aiming at unity.

Christian ecumenism and interfaith pluralism

Christian ecumenism, the narrower sense referred to above, is the promotion of unity or cooperation between distinct religious groups or denominations of the Christian religion. It can have the goal of reconciling all who profess Christian faith into a single, visible organization, for example, through union with the Roman Catholic Church, or the Eastern Orthodox Church. The World Council of Churches is an instrument in this effort.

According to Edmund Schlink, most important in Christian ecumenism is that people focus primarily on Christ, not on separate church organizations. In his book Ökumenische Dogmatik (1983), he says Christians who see the risen Christ at work in the lives of various Christians and in diverse churches, realize that the unity of Christ's church has never been lost (pages 694-700;

Christian ecumenism is distinguished from interfaith pluralism. Ecumenism in this broad sense is called religious pluralism, as distinguished from ecumenism within a faith movement.

Ecumenism as interfaith dialogue between representatives of diverse faiths, does not necessarily intend reconciling their adherents into full, organic unity with one another but simply to promote better relations.

Three approaches to Christian unity

For a significant part of the Christian world, the highest aim of the Christian faith is the reconciliation of all humanity into a full and conscious union as one Christian Church, visibly united with mutual accountability between the parts and the whole.

Christian ecumenism can be described in terms of the three largest divisions of Christianity: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The Eastern Orthodox Church works to embrace estranged communions as (possibly former) beneficiaries of a common gift, and simultaneously to guard against a promiscuous and false union with them. The history of the relationship between Eastern Orthodoxy and the Oriental Orthodox churches is a case in point. Likewise, the Eastern Orthodox have been leaders in the Interfaith movement, with students active in the World Student Christian Federation since the late 19th century and some Orthodox patriarchs enlisting their communions as charter members of the World Council of Churches. Christianity for the Eastern Orthodox is the Church; and the Church is Orthodoxy—nothing less and nothing else.

One way to observe the attitude of the Orthodox Church towards non-Orthodox is to see how they receive new members from other faiths. Also Protestants and Roman Catholics are often referred to as "heterodox", which simply means "other believing", rather than as heretics ("other-choosing"), implying that they did not wilfully reject the Church.

Roman Catholicism

Like the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church has always considered it a duty of the highest rank to seek full unity with estranged communions of fellow-Christians, and at the same time to reject any promiscuous and false union that would mean being unfaithful to or glossing over the teaching of Sacred Scripture and Tradition.

Before the Second Vatican Council, the main stress was laid on this second aspect, as exemplified in canon 1258 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law:

1. It absolutely forbids Catholic priests to concelebrate the Eucharist with members of communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church (canon 908), but allows, in certain circumstances and under certain conditions, other sharing in the sacraments.

Pope John XXIII, who convoked the Council that brought this change of emphasis about, said that the Council's aim was to seek renewal of the Church itself, which would serve, for those separated from the See of Rome, as a "gentle invitation to seek and find that unity for which Jesus Christ prayed so ardently to his heavenly Father."

Some elements of the Roman Catholic perspective on ecumenism are illustrated in the following quotations from the Council's decree on ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio of 21 November 1964, and Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Ut Unum Sint of 25 May 1995.

Every renewal of the Church is essentially grounded in an increase of fidelity to her own calling. In ecumenical dialogue, Catholic theologians standing fast by the teaching of the Church and investigating the divine mysteries with the separated brethren must proceed with love for the truth, with charity, and with humility. When the obstacles to perfect ecclesiastical communion have been gradually overcome, all Christians will at last, in a common celebration of the Eucharist, be gathered into the one and only Church in that unity which Christ bestowed on his Church from the beginning. We believe that this unity subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time.

While some Eastern Orthodox Churches commonly baptize converts from the Catholic Church, thereby refusing to recognize the baptism that the converts have previously received, the Catholic Church has always accepted the validity of all the sacraments administered by the the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches.

The Catholic Church likewise has never applied the terms "heterodox" or "heretic" to the Eastern Orthodox Church or its members. Even the term "schism", as defined in canon 751 of its Code of Canon Law ("the withdrawal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or from communion with the members of the Church subject to him"), does not, strictly speaking, apply to the situation of the concrete individual members of the Eastern Orthodox Church today as viewed by the Catholic Church.

Protestantism

The contemporary ecumenical movement for Protestants is often said to have started with the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference. However this conference would not have been possible without the pioneering ecumenical work of the Christian youth movements: the Young Men's Christian Association (founded 1844), the Young Women's Christian Association (founded 1855) and the World Student Christian Federation (founded 1895). Eventually, formal organizations were formed, including the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches, and Churches Uniting in Christ.

Since that time, Protestants have been involved in a variety of ecumenical groups, working in some cases toward organic denominational unity and in other cases for cooperative purposes alone. Edmund Schlink's Ökumenische Dogmatik 1983, 1997 proposes a way through these problems to mutual recognition and renewed church unity.

In 1999, the representatives of Lutheran World Federation and Roman Catholic Church signed The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, apparently resolving the conflict over the nature of Justification which was at the root of the Protestant Reformation, although some conservative Lutherans did not agree to this resolution.

Contemporary developments

The original anathemas (excommunications) that mark the "official" Great Schism of 1054 between Catholics and Orthodox were mutually revoked in 1965 by the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

The year 2006 is to see a resumption of the series of meetings for theological dialogue between representatives of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, suspended because of failure to reach agreement on the question of the so-called "Uniate" Churches, a question exacerbated by disputes over churches and other property that the Communist authorities once assigned to the Orthodox Church but whose restoration these Churches have obtained from the present authorities.

Catholic and Orthodox bishops in North America are engaged in an ongoing dialogue.

Similar dialogues at both international and national level continue between, for instance, Roman Catholics and Anglicans.

Organizations such as the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches USA, Churches Uniting in Christ, and Christian Churches Together continue to encourage ecumenical cooperation among Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, and, at times, Roman Catholics.

United and uniting churches

Influenced by the ecumenical movement, the "scandal of separation" and local developments, a number of United and Uniting churches have formed; An increasing trend has been the sharing of church buildings by two or more denominations, either holding separate services or a single service with elements of all traditions.

Opposition to Ecumenism

A sizeable number of Christians oppose ecumenism. They tend to be from churches of Evangelical, Pentecostal or Charismatic backgrounds and strongly conservative sections of mainline Protestant churches and the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

A majority of Evangelical churches, including most Baptists, non-denominational Christians, and Evangelical Christian denominations like the Christian and Missionary Alliance church, do not participate in the ecumenical movements. The doctrine of separation is adopted by Evangelical churches towards churches and denominations that have joined ecumenical activities. Many Charismatic Christians, such as Assemblies of God, shun ecumenism, but some organizations, including some Pentecostal churches, do participate in ecumenism. Other conservative Protestant Churches, such as the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Presbyterian Church in America, and Free Methodist Church, often view ecumenism in ways similar to their evangelical counterparts.

Catholic opposition to ecumenism centers on Traditionalist Catholics and associations such as the Society of St. Pius X. In fact, opposition to ecumenism is closely associated with antagonism, in the case of Traditionalist Catholics, to abandonment of Latin in the celebration of Mass, and, in the case of Greek Old Calendarists (who speak of "the arch-heresy of ecumenism"), to abandonment of the Julian calendar.

Ecumenical organizations

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. World Student Christian Federation Action of Churches Together in Scotland Churches Together in Britain and Ireland Conference of European Churches Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Taizé Community World Council of Churches World Alliance of Reformed Churches Edinburgh Churches Together Iona Community

Interdenominational organizations opposing ecumenism

IFCA International (formerly Independent Fundamental Churches of America)

Islam and Ecumenism

Muslims believe that Allah sent the Holy Qur'an to bring peace and harmony to humanity through Islam (submission to Allah), and that Muhammad's mission was to establish universal peace under the Khilafat. The Khilafat ensured security of the lives and property of non-Muslims in a state of dhimmitude, allowing them to practise their religious rituals according to their faith and beliefs under that welfare state founded by Muhammad, which saw itself as granting them tolerance, justice, brotherhood and peace, always extending its support and justice to any minority of creed, colour or caste, and pouring its blessings in different human habitations in the world from 'Granada to Delhi.'

The best example of brotherhood reserved exclusively to Muslims is the Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah prescribed by Islam. "The Episcopal Church and the Ecumenical Movement, 1937-1997: Presbyterians, Lutherans, and the Future."