![Ecumenism symbol](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Ecumenism_symbol.jpg)
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjective ''ecumenical'' is thus applied to any initiative that encourages greater cooperation and union among Christian denominations and
churches.
The fact that all Christians belonging to
mainstream Christian
The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
denominations profess faith in
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
as Lord and Saviour over a believer's life, believe that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant and inspired word of God (John 1:1), and receive
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
according to the
Trinitarian formula
The Trinitarian formula is the phrase "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" ( grc-x-koine, εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, e ...
is seen as being a basis for ecumenism and its goal of Christian unity.
Ecumenists cite John 17:20-23 as the biblical grounds of striving for church unity, in which
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
prays that Christians "may all be one" in order "that the world may know" and believe the
Gospel message
The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefits ...
.
In 1920, the
Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church,
Germanus V of Constantinople
Germanus V (6 December 1835 – 28 July 1920) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 28 January 1913 till 1918. He was educated in Jerusalem and Athens before attending the Theological School of Halki. Germain V of Constantinople (i ...
, wrote a letter "addressed 'To all the Churches of Christ, wherever they may be', urging closer co-operation among separated Christians, and suggesting a 'League of Churches', parallel to the newly founded
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
".
In 1937, Christian leaders from mainstream Christian churches resolved to establish the
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
, to work for the cause of Christian unity; it today includes churches from most major traditions of Christianity as full members, including the
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول ...
, the
Old Catholic Church
The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...
, the
Oriental Orthodox Churches
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent ...
, the
Lutheran World Federation
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...
, the
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
, the
Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...
, the
Mennonite churches, the
World Methodist Council
The World Methodist Council (WMC), founded in 1881, is a consultative body and association of churches in the Methodist tradition. It comprises 80 member denominations in 138 countries which together represent an estimated 80 million people; this ...
, the
Moravian Church
The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...
, the
Pentecostal churches
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement[World Communion of Reformed Churches
The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...]
, as well as almost all jurisdictions of the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
; the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
participates as an observer, sending delegates to official gatherings.
Many regional councils affiliated with the World Council of Churches, such as the
Middle East Council of Churches
The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) was inaugurated in May 1974 at its First General Assembly in Nicosia, Cyprus, and now has its headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. Initially it consisted of three "families" of Christian Churches in the Mid ...
,
National Council of Churches in Australia
The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) is an ecumenical organisation bringing together a number of Australia's Christian churches in dialogue and practical cooperation.
The NCCA works in collaboration with state ecumenical councils ...
and
Christian Churches Together
Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) is an organization formed in 2006 to "broaden and expand fellowship, unity and witness among the diverse expressions of Christian traditions in the USA."
Christian Churches Together was created as a ...
, work for the cause of Christian unity on the domestic level, with member denominations including churches from the Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Methodist, Anglican, and Reformed traditions, among others.
Each year, Christians observe the
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an ecumenical Christian observance in the Christian calendar that is celebrated internationally. It is kept annually between Ascension Day and Pentecost in the Southern Hemisphere and between 18 January and ...
for the goal of ecumenism, which is coordinated by the World Council of Churches and adopted by many of its member churches.
The terms ''ecumenism'' and ''ecumenical'' come from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(''
oikoumene
The ecumene ( US spelling) or oecumene ( UK spelling; grc-gre, οἰκουμένη, oikouménē, inhabited) is an ancient Greek term for the known, the inhabited, or the habitable world. In Greek antiquity, it referred to the portions of the worl ...
''), which means "the whole inhabited world", and was historically used with specific reference to the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. The ecumenical vision comprises both the search for the visible unity of the Church (Ephesians 4:3) and the "whole inhabited earth" (Matthew 24:14) as the concern of all Christians. In Christianity, the qualification ''ecumenical'' was originally and still is used in terms such as "
ecumenical council
An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are ...
" and "
Ecumenical Patriarch
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
", in the meaning of pertaining to the totality of the larger Church (such as the Catholic Church or the Eastern Orthodox Church) rather than being restricted to one of its constituent local churches or
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
s. Used in this sense, the term carries no connotation of re-uniting the historically separated Christian denominations but presumes a unity of local congregations in a worldwide
communion.
Purpose and goal
The term ecumenism as it is now commonly used refers to interdenominational cooperation between different
Christian church
In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym fo ...
es. These initiatives can range from local churches of different denominations operating a soup kitchen for the poor, hosting an ecumenical Bible study with participants from different Christian traditions, inviting all baptized Christians to partake in a
Lovefeast
An agape feast or lovefeast (also spelled love feast or love-feast, sometimes capitalized) is a communal meal shared among Christians. The name comes from ''agape'', a Greek term for 'love' in its broadest sense.
The lovefeast custom originat ...
when churches celebrate them, to holding an ecumenical Stations of the Cross service on Fridays during the Christian liturgical season of
Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
with the service being held at a different local church each Friday (e.g. Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican, Reformed and Methodist).
The ultimate goal of ecumenism is the recognition of sacramental validity, eucharistic sharing, and the reaching of
full communion
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but ...
between different Christian denominations. There are a variety of different expectations of what that Christian unity looks like, how it is brought about, what ecumenical methods ought to be engaged, and what both short- and long-term objectives of the ecumenical movement should be.
Baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
according to the
Trinitarian formula
The Trinitarian formula is the phrase "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" ( grc-x-koine, εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, e ...
, which is done in most
mainstream Christian
The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
denominations, is seen as being the grounds for Christian ecumenism, the concept of unity amongst Christians.
With respect to ecumenism,
A. W. Tozer
Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963) was an American Christian pastor, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor. For his accomplishments, he received honorary doctorates from Wheaton College (Illinois), Wheaton and Houghton ...
maintained that "Unity in Christ is not something to be achieved; it is something to be recognized."
Ecumenists cite as the Biblical basis of striving for church unity, in which
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
prays that Christians "may all be one" in order "that the world may know" and believe the
Gospel message
The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefits ...
.
As such, ecumenism has a strong implication for the Church's mission of
evangelism
In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...
, which is referenced in : "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another".
Additionally, Jesus emphasized that the ties of Christians to one another are much greater than those to blood relatives.
Historically, the term "ecumenism" was originally used in the context of the larger ecumenical councils organised with the support of the
Roman Emperor. The aim of these councils was to clarify matters of
Christian theology
Christian theology is the theology of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theology, theologian ...
and doctrine, leading to the meaning of unity behind the term "ecumenical". The ecumenical councils brought together bishops from across the Roman Empire, with a total of seven ecumenical councils accepted to have been held by both the
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
and
Catholic church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
es before the
Great Schism dividing the two churches; the first four ecumenical councils are recognized by the Lutheran Churches,
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
and Reformed churches though they are "considered subordinate to Scripture". The
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول ...
acknowledges the first two ecumenical councils,
while
Oriental Orthodox Church
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...
es accept the first three ecumenical councils.
Historic divisions in Christianity
Christian denominations today
Christianity has not been a monolithic faith since the
first century
The 1st century was the century spanning AD 1 ( I) through AD 100 ( C) according to the Julian calendar. It is often written as the or to distinguish it from the 1st century BC (or BCE) which preceded it. The 1st century is considered part of t ...
, also known as the "Apostolic Age", and in the present day, a number of widely varied Christian groups exist, both within and without mainstream Christianity. Despite the division between these groups, a number of commonalities exist throughout their traditions, understanding of
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
,
governing church systems, doctrine and language. As such, many of these groups are visibly divided into different
communions or
denominations, groupings of Christians and their churches in
full communion
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but ...
with one another, but to some degree set apart from other Christians.
The
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
counts 348 member churches, representing more than half a billion members of the major Christian traditions. This, with the Catholic Church's 1.25 billion Christians, indicates that 349 churches/denominations already account for nearly 80% of the world's Christian population.
One problem with the larger numbers is that single denominations can be counted multiple times. For example, the Catholic Church is a single church, or communion, comprising 24 distinct
self-governing
__NOTOC__
Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...
particular churches in full communion with the
bishop of Rome
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
(the largest being the
Latin Church
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
, commonly called "Roman Catholic"). Further, the Catholic Church's presence in each country is counted as a different denomination—though this is in no way an ecclesiologically accurate definition. This can result in the one Catholic Church being counted as 242 distinct denominations, as in the ''World Christian Encyclopedia''.
Additionally, single nondenominational congregations or megachurches without denominational affiliation are effectively counted each as its own denomination, resulting in cases where entire "denominations" may account for only a handful of people. Other denominations may be very small remnants of once larger churches. The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...
) have only two full members, for example, yet are a distinct denomination.
Most current divisions are the result of historical
schism
A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
s—a break in the full communion between previously united Churches, bishops, or communities. Some historical schisms proved temporary and were eventually healed, others have hardened into the denominations of today. However individual denominations are counted, it is generally acknowledged that they fall into the following major "families" of churches:
* The
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
, the
Oriental Orthodox Churches
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent ...
, and the
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول ...
;
* The
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
;
*
Mainline Protestant
The mainline Protestant churches (also called mainstream Protestant and sometimes oldline Protestant) are a group of Protestant denominations in the United States that contrast in history and practice with evangelical, fundamentalist, and charis ...
(including the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
Churches,
Moravian Church
The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...
,
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
Communion,
Reformed Churches
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the Christian theology, theological tradition and forms of Christianity, Christ ...
, among others) and
Old Catholic Church
The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...
es;
*
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
(including the
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
and
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
Churches) and
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement Churches;
* Independent or marginally Christian groups and
Restorationist
Restorationism (or Restitutionism or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer a ...
sects (
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
,
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
,
Christadelphian
The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the U ...
s, etc.) (Non-Nicene Christianity)
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the historic racial/ethnic churches are sometimes counted as a distinct family of churches, though they may otherwise fit into any one of the previous categories.
Some of these families are in themselves a single communion, such as the Catholic Church. Other families are a very general movement with no universal governing authority. Protestantism, for example, includes such diverse groups as
Adventists
Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...
,
Anabaptists
Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
, Baptists,
Congregationalists
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
,
Evangelicals
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
,
Hussites
The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation.
The Hussit ...
,
Irvingians,
Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
,
Messianic Jews
Messianic Judaism ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism.
It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier ...
, Methodists (inclusive of the
Holiness movement
The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. The movement is historically distinguished by its emph ...
), Moravians,
Pentecostals
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement ,
Presbyterians
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
,
Reformed
Reform is beneficial change
Reform may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
*''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...
, and
Waldensians
The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation.
Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...
. Many of these have, as a result of ecumenical dialogue, established full or partial communion agreements.
Ancient apostolic churches
The oldest lasting schism in Christianity resulted from fifth-century disagreements on
Christology
In Christianity, Christology (from the Ancient Greek, Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, wiktionary:-λογία, -λογία, wiktionary:-logia, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Chr ...
, heightened by
philosophical
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
,
linguistic
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
,
cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
, and
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
differences.
The first significant, lasting split in historic Christianity, the so-called
Nestorian Schism, came from the
Church of the East
The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...
, consisting largely of Eastern Syriac churches outside the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, who left full communion after 431 in response to misunderstandings and personality conflicts at the
Council of Ephesus
The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church th ...
. After fifteen centuries of estrangement, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Catholic Church entered into an ecumenical dialogue in the 1980s, resulting in agreement on the very issue that split them asunder, in the
1994 Common Christological Declaration, which identifies the origin of the schism as largely linguistic, due to problems of translating very delicate and precise terminology from Latin to
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
and vice versa.
As part of the then-ongoing Christological controversy, following the
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bith ...
in 451, the next large split came with the
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
and
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
churches dividing themselves. The churches dissented from Chalcedon, becoming today's Oriental Orthodox Churches. These also include the
Armenian Apostolic Church
, native_name_lang = hy
, icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg
, icon_width = 100px
, icon_alt =
, image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, a ...
, the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
, and the
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. The church serve ...
in India. In modern times, there have also been moves towards healing this division, with common Christological statements being made between
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
and Syriac patriarch
Ignatius Zakka I Iwas
Ignatius Zakka I Iwas ( syr, ܐܝܓܢܐܛܝܘܣ ܙܟܝ ܩܕܡܝܐ ܥܝܘܐܨ; ar, إغناطيوس زكا الأول عيواص; ', born Sanharib Iwas, 21 April 1931 – 21 March 2014) was the 122nd reigning Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Anti ...
, as well as between representatives of both Oriental Orthodoxy and the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
.
Great Schism
Although the Christian world as a whole did not experience any major church divisions for centuries afterward, the
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
, predominantly Greek-speaking and
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
, predominantly Latin-speaking, cultural divisions drifted toward isolation, culminating in the mutual excommunication of
Patriarch of Constantinople
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
Michael I Cerularius
Michael I Cerularius or Keroularios ( el, Μιχαήλ Α΄ Κηρουλάριος; 1000 – 21 January 1059 AD) was the Patriarch of Constantinople from 1043 to 1059 AD. His disputes with Pope Leo IX over church practices in the 11th century p ...
and the legate of then-deceased
Pope of Rome
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
Leo IX
Pope Leo IX (21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically ...
in 1054, in what is known as the
Great Schism. The canonical separation was sealed by the Latin
sacking of Constantinople (1204) during the
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
and through the poor reception of the
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
(1449) among the Orthodox Eastern Churches.
The political and theological reasons for the schism are complex. Aside from the natural rivalry between the
Eastern Roman
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
or Byzantine Empire and the
Franco-Latin Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
, one major controversy was the inclusion and acceptance in the West in general – and in the diocese of Rome in particular – of the
Filioque clause
( ; ) is a Latin term ("and from the Son") added to the original Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (commonly known as the Nicene Creed), and which has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. It is a term ...
("and the Son") into the
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed
The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
, which the East viewed as a violation of ecclesiastical procedure at best, an abuse of
papal authority
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
as only an
Ecumenical Council
An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are ...
could amend what had been defined by a previous council, and a heresy at worst, inasfar as the Filioque implies that the essential divinity of the Holy Spirit is derived not from the Father alone as ''arche'' (singular head and source), but from the
perichoretic union between the Father and the Son. That the hypostasis or persona of the Spirit either is or is produced by the mutual, pre-eternal love between God and His Word is an explanation which Eastern Christian detractors have alleged is rooted in the medieval
Augustinian Augustinian may refer to:
*Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine
*Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs
*Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo
* Canons Regular of Sain ...
appropriation of
Plotinian Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonism, Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and Hellenistic religion, religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of ...
. (See Augustine of Hippo, ''
De Trinitate
''On the Trinity'' ( la, De Trinitate) is a Latin book written by Augustine of Hippo to discuss the Trinity in context of the logos. Although not as well known as some of his other works, some scholars have seen it as his masterpiece, of more doc ...
''.)
Both West and East agreed that the patriarch of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
was owed a "primacy of honour" by the other patriarchs (those of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
,
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
), but the West also contended that this primacy extended to jurisdiction, a position rejected by the Eastern patriarchs. Various attempts at dialogue between the two groups would occur, but it was only in the 1960s, under Pope
Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
and
Patriarch Athenagoras
Athenagoras I ( el, Αθηναγόρας Αʹ), born Aristocles Matthaiou ("son of Matthew", a patronymic) Spyrou ( el, Αριστοκλής Ματθαίου Σπύρου, links=no; – July 7, 1972), initially the Greek archbishop in North Amer ...
, that significant steps began to be made to mend the relationship between the two. In 1965, the excommunications were "committed to oblivion".
The resulting division remains, however, providing the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, both of which are globally distributed bodies and no longer restricted geographically or culturally to the "West" or "East", respectively. (There exist both Eastern Rite Roman Catholicism and Western Rite Orthodoxy, for example.) There is an ongoing and fruitful
Catholic-Orthodox dialogue.
Western schisms and reformations
In Western Christianity, there were a handful of geographically isolated movements that preceded in the spirit of the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. The
Cathars
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Fol ...
were a very strong movement in medieval southwestern France, but did not survive into modern times, largely as a result of the
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...
. In northern Italy and southeastern France,
Peter Waldo
Peter Waldo (; c. 1140 – c. 1205; also ''Valdo'', ''Valdes'', ''Waldes''; , ) was the leader of the Waldensians, a Christian spiritual movement of the Middle Ages.
The tradition that his first name was "Peter" can only be traced back to the f ...
founded the
Waldensians
The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation.
Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...
in the 12th century, which remains the largest non-Catholic church in Italy and is in full communion with the Italian Methodist Church. In
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, a movement in the early 15th century by
Jan Hus
Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspir ...
called the
Hussite
The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation.
The Hussit ...
s called for reform of Catholic teaching and still exists to this day, known as the Moravian Church. Though generally counted among
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
churches, groups such as the Waldensians and Moravians pre-exist Protestantism proper.
The Protestant Reformation began, symbolically, with the posting of
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
's "
Ninety-Five Theses
The ''Ninety-five Theses'' or ''Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences''-The title comes from the 1517 Basel pamphlet printing. The first printings of the ''Theses'' use an incipit rather than a title which summarizes the content ...
" in
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
on October 31, 1517, written as a set of grievances to reform the Western Church.
Luther's writings, combined with the work of
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
theologian
Huldrych Zwingli
Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Unive ...
and French theologian and politician
John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
, sought to reform existing problems in doctrine and practice. Due to the reactions of ecclesiastical office holders at the time of the reformers, the Catholic Church separated from them, instigating a rift in
Western Christianity
Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...
. This schism created the
Mainline Protestant
The mainline Protestant churches (also called mainstream Protestant and sometimes oldline Protestant) are a group of Protestant denominations in the United States that contrast in history and practice with evangelical, fundamentalist, and charis ...
Churches, including especially the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
and
Reformed
Reform is beneficial change
Reform may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
*''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...
traditions.
In
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
declared himself to be supreme head of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
with the
Act of Supremacy
The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the Eng ...
in 1531, repressing both Lutheran reformers and those loyal to the pope.
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...
as
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
introduced the
English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
in a form compromising between the Calvinists and Lutherans.
This schism created today's Anglican Communion.
The
Radical Reformation
The Radical Reformation represented a response to corruption both in the Catholic Church and in the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century, the Ra ...
, also mid-sixteenth century, moved beyond both
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
and
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
reformations, emphasizing the invisible, spiritual reality of the Church, apart from any visible ecclesial manifestation. A significant group of Radical reformers were the
Anabaptists
Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
, people such as
Menno Simons
Menno Simons (1496 – 31 January 1561) was a Roman Catholic priest from the Friesland region of the Low Countries who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and became an influential Anabaptist religious leader. Simons was a contemporary o ...
and
Jakob Ammann
Jakob Ammann (also Jacob Amman, Amann; 12 February 1644 – between 1712 and 1730) was an Anabaptist leader and namesake of the Amish religious movement.
Personal life
The full facts about the personal life of Jacob Ammann are incomplete ...
, whose movements resulted in today's communities of
Mennonites
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
,
Amish
The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches ...
,
Hutterites
Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Refor ...
, and Brethren churches, and to some extent, the
Bruderhof Communities
The (; 'place of brothers') is an Anabaptist Christian movement that was founded in Germany in 1920 by Eberhard Arnold. The movement has communities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Paraguay, and Australia.
The Brud ...
.
Further reform movements within Anglicanism during the 16th through 18th centuries, with influence from the Radical Reformation, produced the
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...
and
Separatists
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
, creating today's Baptists,
Congregationalists
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
,
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
, and eventually
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth, guided by a ...
.
The Methodist churches, which uphold
Wesleyan-Arminian theology
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles We ...
, grew out of a revival within Anglicanism, especially in England and the
American colonies, under the leadership of the brothers
John Wesley
John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
and
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include " And Can It Be", " Christ the Lord Is Risen ...
, both priests in the Church of England. This movement also produced the
Holiness movement
The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. The movement is historically distinguished by its emph ...
churches.
The Old Catholic Church split from the Catholic Church in the 1870s because of the promulgation of the
dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
of
Papal Infallibility
Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope when he speaks ''ex cathedra'' is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the aposto ...
as promoted by the
First Vatican Council
The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...
of 1869–1870. The term "Old Catholic" was first used in 1853 to describe the members of the See of Utrecht who were not under Papal authority. The Old Catholic movement grew in America but has not maintained ties with Utrecht, although talks are under way between some independent Old Catholic bishops and Utrecht.
The
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
movement takes form as the result of spiritual renewal efforts in the anglophone world in the 18th century. According to religion scholar, social activist, and politician
Randall Balmer
Randall Herbert Balmer (born October 22, 1954) is an American historian of American religion. He taught at Barnard College and Columbia University for twenty-seven years before moving to Dartmouth College in 2012, where he was named the Mandel Fami ...
, Evangelicalism resulted "from the confluence of Pietism, Presbyterianism, and the vestiges of Puritanism. Evangelicalism picked up the peculiar characteristics from each strain – warmhearted spirituality from the Pietists (for instance), doctrinal precisionism from the Presbyterians, and individualistic introspection from the Puritans". Historian
Mark Noll
Mark Allan Noll (born 1946) is an American historian specializing in the history of Christianity in the United States. He holds the position of Research Professor of History at Regent College, having previously been Francis A. McAnaney Professor ...
adds to this list
High Church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
Anglicanism, which contributed to Evangelicalism a legacy of "rigorous spirituality and innovative organization".
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement is likewise born out of this context, and traditionally traces its origins to what it describes as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on 1 January 1901 in
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...
, at the
Bethel Bible College
Bethel Bible College or Bethel Gospel School was a Bible college founded in 1900 by Charles Parham in Topeka, Kansas, United States. The school is credited with starting the Pentecostal movement due to a series of fasting days that ended in what w ...
. Subsequent charismatic revivals in
Wales in 1904 and the
Azusa Street Revival
The Azusa Street Revival was a historic series of revival meetings that took place in Los Angeles, California. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African-American preacher. The revival began on April 9, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915. O ...
in 1906 are held as the beginnings of the Pentecostal movement. These started just a few hours after
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
led a prayer ''Veni Spiritus Sanctus'' during an ''
Urbi et Orbi
''Urbi et Orbi'' ('to the city f Romeand to the world') denotes a papal address and apostolic blessing given by the pope on certain solemn occasions.
Etymology
The term ''Urbi et Orbi'' evolved from the consciousness of the ancient Roman Empir ...
'' message, consecrating the 20th century to the
Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
and through this prayer to the reunion of Christianity.
Three approaches to Christian unity
For some
Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
, spiritual unity, and often unity on the church's teachings on central issues, suffices. According to
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
theologian
Edmund Schlink
Edmund Schlink (3 March 1903 – 20 May 1984) was a German-Lutheran pastor and theologian. Between 1946 and his retirement in 1971 he was a professor of dogmatic and ecumenical theology at Heidelberg University.
Biography
Schlink was born in ...
, most important in Christian ecumenism is that people focus primarily on
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
, not on separate church organizations. In Schlink's book ''Ökumenische Dogmatik'' (1983), he says Christians who see the risen Christ at work in the lives of various Christians or in diverse churches realize that the unity of Christ's church has never been lost, but has instead been distorted and obscured by different historical experiences and by spiritual myopia. Both are overcome in renewed faith in Christ. Included in that is responding to his admonition (John 17; Philippians 2) to be one in him and love one another as a witness to the world. The result of mutual recognition would be a discernible worldwide fellowship, organized in a historically new way.
For a significant part of the Christian world, one of the highest goals to be sought is the reconciliation of the various denominations by overcoming the historical divisions within Christianity. Even where there is broad agreement upon this goal, approaches to ecumenism vary. Generally, Protestants see fulfillment of the goal of ecumenism as consisting in general agreements on teachings about central issues of faith, with mutual pastoral accountability between the diverse churches regarding the teachings of salvation.
For Catholics and Orthodox on the other hand, the true unity of
Christendom
Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
is treated in accordance with their more sacramental understanding of the
Body of Christ
In Christian theology, the term Body of Christ () has two main but separate meanings: it may refer to Jesus' words over the bread at the celebration of the Jewish feast of Passover that "This is my body" in (see Last Supper), or it may refer to ...
; this ecclesiastical matter for them is closely linked to key theological issues (e.g. regarding the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
and the
historical Episcopate
The historic or historical episcopate comprises all episcopates, that is, it is the collective body of all the bishops of a church who are in valid apostolic succession. This succession is transmitted from each bishop to their successors by the r ...
), and requires full dogmatic assent to the
pastoral authority of the Church for
full communion
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but ...
to be considered viable and valid. Thus, there are different answers even to the ''
question of the church'', which finally is the goal of the ecumenist movement itself. However, the desire of unity is expressed by many denominations, generally that all who profess faith in Christ in sincerity, would be more fully cooperative and supportive of one another.
For the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the process of approaching one another can be described as formally split in two successive stages: the "dialogue of love" and the "dialogue of truth". Examples of acts belonging to the former include the mutual revocation in 1965 of the
anathema
Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
s of 1054, returning the relics of
Sabbas the Sanctified
SabasPatrich (1995). (439–532), in Church parlance Saint Sabas or Sabbas the Sanctified ( el, Σάββας ο Ηγιασμένος), was a Cappadocian Greek monk, priest and saint, who was born in Cappadocia and lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. ...
(a common saint) to
Mar Saba
The Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas, known in Arabic and Syriac as Mar Saba ( syr, ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܣܒܐ, ar, دير مار سابا; he, מנזר מר סבא; el, Ἱερὰ Λαύρα τοῦ Ὁσίου Σάββα τοῦ Ἡγιασμέ ...
in the same year, and the first visit of a Pope to an Orthodox country in a millennium (
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
accepting the invitation of the
Patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
of the
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...
,
Teoctist, in 1999), among others.
Christian ecumenism can be described in terms of the three largest divisions of Christianity: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. While this underemphasizes the complexity of these divisions, it is a useful model.
Catholicism
![Te Deum Ecuménico 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Te_Deum_Ecum%C3%A9nico_2009.jpg)
The 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 what it sees as a false union that would mean being unfaithful to or glossing over the teaching of sacred scripture and tradition.
Before the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
, the main stress was laid on this second aspect, as exemplified in canon 1258 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law:
# It is illicit for the faithful to assist at or participate in any way in non-Catholic religious functions.
# For a serious reason requiring, in case of doubt, the Bishop's approval, passive or merely material presence at non-Catholic funerals, weddings and similar occasions because of holding a civil office or as a courtesy can be tolerated, provided there is no danger of perversion or scandal.
The 1983
Code of Canon Law Code of Canon Law () may refer to:
* ''Corpus Juris Canonici'' ('Body of Canon Law'), a collection of sources of canon law of the Catholic Church applicable to the Latin Church until 1918
* 1917 Code of Canon Law, code of canon law for the Catholi ...
has no corresponding canon. It absolutely forbids Catholic priests to concelebrate the Eucharist with members of communities which are not in full communion (canon 908), but allows, in certain circumstances and under certain conditions, other sharing in the sacraments. The ''Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism'', 102 states: "Christians may be encouraged to share in spiritual activities and resources, i.e., to share that spiritual heritage they have in common in a manner and to a degree appropriate to their present divided state."
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
, 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
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese 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 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
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
's encyclical, ''
Ut Unum Sint
''Ut unum sint'' (Latin: ' That they may be one') is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II of 25 May 1995. It was one of 14 encyclicals issued by John Paul II. Cardinal Georges Cottier, Theologian emeritus of the Pontifical Household, was influe ...
'' of 25 May 1995.
While some Eastern Orthodox churches commonly rebaptize 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 Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches.
The Catholic Church likewise has very seldom applied the terms "
heterodox
In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , "other, another, different" + , "popular belief") means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". Under this definition, heterodoxy is similar to unorthodoxy, w ...
" or "
heretic
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
" to the Eastern Orthodox churches or its members, although there are clear differences in doctrine, notably about the authority of the Pope, Purgatory, and the
filioque
( ; ) is a Latin term ("and from the Son") added to the original Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (commonly known as the Nicene Creed), and which has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. It is a term ...
clause. More often, the term "separated" or "
schism
A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
atic" has been applied to the state of the Eastern Orthodox churches.
Orthodoxy
![Fond-du-lac-circus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Fond-du-lac-circus.preview.jpg)
The
Oriental Orthodox
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...
and Eastern Orthodox churches are two distinct bodies of local churches. The churches within each body share
full communion
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but ...
, although there is not official communion between the two bodies. Both consider themselves to be the original church, from which the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
was divided in the 5th and 11th centuries, respectively (after the 3rd and 7th
Ecumenical council
An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are ...
s).
Many theologians of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxies engage in theological dialogue with each other and with some of the Western churches, though short of full communion. The Eastern Orthodox have participated in the ecumenical movement, with students active in the
World Student Christian Federation
The World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) is a federation of autonomous national Student Christian Movements (SCM) forming the youth and student arm of the global ecumenical movement. The Federation includes Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic, Pe ...
since the late 19th century. Most Eastern Orthodox and all Oriental Orthodox churches are members of the World Council of Churches.
Kallistos of Diokleia
Kallistos Ware (born Timothy Richard Ware, 11 September 1934 – 24 August 2022) was an English bishop and theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church. From 1982, he held the titular bishopric of Diokleia in Phrygia ( gr, Διόκλεια Φρυ ...
, a bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church has stated that ecumenism "is important for Orthodoxy: it has helped to force the various Orthodox Churches out of their comparative isolation, making them meet one another and enter into a living contact with non-Orthodox Christians."
Historically, the relationship between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion has been congenial, with the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1922 recognising Anglican
orders
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
as valid. He wrote: "That the orthodox theologians who have scientifically examined the question have almost unanimously come to the same conclusions and have declared themselves as accepting the validity of Anglican Orders." Moreover, some Eastern Orthodox bishops have assisted in the ordination of Anglican bishops; for example, in 1870, the Most Reverend Alexander Lycurgus, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Syra and Tinos, was one of the bishops who consecrated
Henry MacKenzie
Henry Mackenzie FRSE (August 1745 – 14 January 1831, born and died in Edinburgh) was a Scottish lawyer, novelist and writer sometimes seen as the Addison of the North. While remembered mostly as an author, his main income came from legal role ...
as the
Suffragan Bishop of Nottingham.
From 1910–1911, the era before
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
,
Raphael of Brooklyn
Raphael of Brooklyn ( ar, قديس رافائيل من بروكلين), born Rufāʾīl Hawāwīnī (Raphael Hawaweeny; ar, رفائيل هواويني; November 20, 1860 – February 27, 1915), was bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, auxi ...
, an Eastern Orthodox bishop, "sanctioned an interchange of ministrations with the
Episcopalians
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
in places where members of one or the other communion are without clergy of their own".
Bishop Raphael stated that in places "where there is no resident Orthodox Priest", an Anglican (Episcopalian) priest could administer Marriage, Holy Baptism, and the Blessed Sacrament to an Orthodox layperson.
In 1912, however, Bishop Raphael ended the intercommunion after becoming uncomfortable with the fact that the Anglican Communion contained different
churchmanship
Churchmanship (or churchpersonship; or tradition in most official contexts) is a way of talking about and labelling different tendencies, parties, or schools of thought within the Church of England and the sister churches of the Anglican Commun ...
s within Her, e.g. High Church, Evangelical, etc.
However, after World War I, the
Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius
The Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius is a Christian ecumenical society founded in 1928 to foster contact between Christians, especially those of the Anglican and Orthodox traditions. It is named in honour of Saint Alban, the Christian p ...
was organized in 1927, which much like the
Anglican and Eastern Churches Association
The Anglican and Eastern Churches Association is a religious organisation founded as the Eastern Church Association in 1864 by John Mason Neale and others and of which Athelstan Riley was a leading member. The purpose for which it was founded is to ...
worked on ecumenism between the two Churches; both of these organisations continue their task today.
In accordance with the
Soviet anti-religious legislation
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country
This is a list of countries with territory that straddles more than one continent, known as transcontinental states or int ...
under the
state atheism
State atheism is the incorporation of positive atheism or non-theism into political regimes. It may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments. It is a form of religion-state relationship that is usually ideologically li ...
of the Soviet Union, several
Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...
churches and seminaries were closed.
With ecumenical aid from
Methodists in the United States two Russian Orthodox seminaries were reopened, and hierarchs of the Orthodox Church thankfully made the following statement: "The services rendered by the American Methodists and other Christian friends will go down in history of the Orthodox Church as one of its brightest pages in that dark and trying time of the church. Our Church will never forget the Samaritan service which your whole Church unselfishly rendered us. May this be the beginning of closer friendship for our churches and nations."
Protestantism
Protestants are involved in a variety of ecumenical groups, working in some cases toward organic denominational unity and in other cases for cooperative purposes alone. Because of the wide spectrum of Protestant denominations and perspectives, full cooperation has been difficult at times.
Edmund Schlink
Edmund Schlink (3 March 1903 – 20 May 1984) was a German-Lutheran pastor and theologian. Between 1946 and his retirement in 1971 he was a professor of dogmatic and ecumenical theology at Heidelberg University.
Biography
Schlink was born in ...
's ''Ökumenische Dogmatik'' (1983, 1997) proposes a way through these problems to mutual recognition and renewed church unity.
Lutheranism
![2bishopsReformation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/2bishopsReformation.jpg)
The
Lutheran World Federation
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...
has several ongoing dialogues with respect to ecumenism:
* Lutheran-Anglican
* Lutheran-Mennonite-Roman Catholic
* Lutheran-Orthodox
* Lutheran-Reformed
*
Lutheran-Roman Catholic
In 1999, the representatives of Lutheran World Federation and Catholic Church signed the
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
The ''Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification'' (JDDJ) is a document created and agreed to by the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999 as a result of exte ...
, resolving the conflict over the nature of
Justification which was at the root of the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. On July 18, 2006, delegates to the
World Methodist Conference voted unanimously to adopt the Joint Declaration. The
World Communion of Reformed Churches
The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...
(representing the "80 million members of Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed, United, Uniting, and Waldensian churches"), adopted the ''Declaration'' in 2017.
On
Reformation Day
Reformation Day is a Protestant Christian religious holiday celebrated on 31 October, alongside All Hallows' Eve (Halloween) during the triduum of Allhallowtide, in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation.
According to Philip Melanchtho ...
in 2016,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
of the Catholic Church travelled to Sweden (where the Lutheran Church is the
national Church
A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...
) to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation at
Lund Cathedral
Lund Cathedral ( sv, Lunds domkyrka) is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Sweden in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the Bishop of Lund and the main church of the Diocese of Lund. It was built as the Catholic cathedral of the archiepi ...
, which serves as the cathedra for the
Bishop of Lund
List of (arch)bishops of Lund. Until the Danish Reformation the centre of a great Latin (arch)bishopric, Lund has been in Sweden since the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The Diocese of Lund is now one of thirteen in the Church of Sweden.
Cathol ...
of the
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...
, a Lutheran Church.
An official press release from the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
stated:
An ecumenical service was presided over by
Bishop Munib Younan, the president of the Lutheran World Federation, , the General Secretary of the LWF, as well as Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church. Representatives from the Anglican Communion, Baptist World Alliance, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Salvation Army also participated in the predominantly Lutheran and Roman Catholic event.
Pope Francis, in a joint statement with Bishop Munib A. Younan, stated that "With gratitude we acknowledge that the Reformation helped give a greater centrality to sacred Scripture in the Church's life".
Susan Wood, a
Sister of Charity
Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...
, who is a systematic theology professor and chair of the theology department at Marquette University and a former president of the
Catholic Theological Society of America The Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) is a professional association of Catholic theologians founded in 1946 to promote studies and research in theology within the Catholic tradition. Its members are primarily in the United States and C ...
, stated that "Since Vatican II, we have acknowledged an imperfect communion between Lutheran and Catholics" and that "There is no substantial difference in Lutheran and Catholic belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist".
Wood stated that in the near future intercommunion could happen in places "where people can't get out, like nursing homes and prisons."
The
Porvoo Communion
The Porvoo Communion is a communion of 15 predominantly northern European Anglican and Evangelical Lutheran churches, with a couple of far-southwestern European (in the Iberian Peninsula) church bodies of the same denomination. It was establishe ...
is a
communion that established
altar and pulpit fellowship
Altar and pulpit fellowship describes an ecumenical collaboration between two Christian organizations, and is a Lutheran term for full communion, or ''communio in sacris.'' ''Altar'' refers to the altar in Christian churches, which holds the sac ...
between Churches of the Lutheran and Anglican tradition.
Anglicanism
The members of the Anglican Communion have generally embraced the Ecumenical Movement, actively participating in such organizations as the World Council of Churches and the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
. Most provinces holding membership in the Anglican Communion have special departments devoted to ecumenical relations; however, the influence of
Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, also known as Liberal Theology and historically as Christian Modernism (see Catholic modernism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 bill ...
has in recent years caused tension within the communion, causing some to question the direction ecumenism has taken them.
Each member church of the Anglican Communion makes its own decisions with regard to
intercommunion
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but ...
. The 1958
Lambeth Conference
The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867.
As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...
recommended "that where between two Churches not of the same denominational or confessional family, there is unrestricted ''
communio in sacris'', including mutual recognition and acceptance of ministries, the appropriate term to use is '
full communion
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but ...
', and that where varying degrees of relation other than 'full communion' are established by agreement between two such churches the appropriate term is '
intercommunion
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but ...
'."
Full communion has been established between Provinces of the Anglican Communion and these Churches:
* Old Catholic Churches of Europe
*
Philippine Independent Church
, native_name_lang = fil
, icon = Logo of the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan Church).svg
, icon_width = 80px
, icon_alt = Coat of arms of the Philippine Independent Church
, image ...
*
Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar
The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...
*
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...
*
Moravian Church
The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...
in America, Northern and Southern Provinces
Full communion has been established between the Anglican Churches of Europe (
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and
Gibraltar in Europe) and the Lutheran Churches of Northern Europe (
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
,
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
,
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and the
Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad) with the
Porvoo Communion
The Porvoo Communion is a communion of 15 predominantly northern European Anglican and Evangelical Lutheran churches, with a couple of far-southwestern European (in the Iberian Peninsula) church bodies of the same denomination. It was establishe ...
.
The
Episcopal Church is currently engaged in dialogue with the following religious bodies:
*
Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC)
*
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
*
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
*
Presbyterian Church USA
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...
*
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...
*
Reformed Episcopal Church
The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is an Anglican church of evangelical Episcopalian heritage. It was founded in 1873 in New York City by George David Cummins, a former bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The REC is a founding member of ...
and the
Anglican Province of America
The Anglican Province of America (APA) is a Continuing Anglican church in the United States. The church was founded by former members of the Episcopal Church in the United States in order to follow what they consider to be a more truly Christian, ...
Worldwide, an estimated forty million Anglicans belong to churches that do not participate in the Anglican Communion , a particular organization limited to one province per country. In these Anglican churches, there is strong opposition to the ecumenical movement and to membership in such bodies as the World and National Councils of Churches. Most of these churches are associated with the
Continuing Anglican movement
The Continuing Anglican Movement, also known as the Anglican Continuum, encompasses a number of Christian churches, principally based in North America, that have an Anglican identity and tradition but are not part of the Anglican Communion.
The ...
or the movement for
Anglican realignment
The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States ...
. While ecumenicalism in general is opposed, certain Anglican church bodies that are not members of the Anglican Communion—the
Free Church of England
The Free Church of England (FCE) is an episcopal church based in England. The church was founded when a number of congregations separated from the established Church of England in the middle of the 19th century.
The doctrinal basis of the F ...
and the
Church of England in South Africa
The Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (REACH-SA), known until 2013 as the Church of England in South Africa (CESA), is a Christian denomination in South Africa. It was constituted in 1938 as a federation of churches. It appo ...
, for example—have fostered close and cooperative relations with other evangelical (if non-Anglican) churches, on an individual basis.
Modern ecumenical movement
One understanding of the ecumenical movement is that it came from the Catholic Church's attempts to reconcile with Christians who had become separated over theological issues.
[Howard C. Kee et al., ''Christianity: a Social and Cultural History'', 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ.: Prentice Hall, 1998), 379–81.] Others see the
1910 World Missionary Conference
The 1910 World Missionary Conference, or the Edinburgh Missionary Conference, was held on 14 to 23 June 1910. Some have seen it as both the culmination of nineteenth-century Protestant Christian missions and the formal beginning of the modern Prot ...
as the birthplace of the ecumenical movement. Others yet point to the 1920 encyclical of the Eastern Orthodox
Ecumenical Patriarch
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
Germanus V "To the Churches of Christ Everywhere" that suggested a "fellowship of churches" similar to the League of Nations.
Earlier, Nicolaus Ludwig, Count von
Zinzendorf
Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (26 May 1700 – 9 May 1760) was a German religious and social reformer, bishop of the Moravian Church, founder of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, Christian mission pioneer and a major figu ...
, (1700–1760) the renewer of the Moravian Church in the 18th century, was the first person to use the word "ecumenical" in this sense. His pioneering efforts to unite all Christians, regardless of denominational labels, into a "Church of God in the Spirit"—notably among
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
immigrants in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
—were misunderstood by his contemporaries.
Nathan Söderblom
Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom (; 15 January 1866 – 12 July 1931) was a Swedish clergyman. He was the Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala between 1914 and 1931, and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize. He is commemorated in the Calen ...
,
Archbishop of Uppsala
The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate (bishop), primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward un ...
, the head of the Lutheran
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...
, is known as the architect of the ecumenical movement of the twentieth century. During the First World War, he called on all Christian leaders to work for peace and justice. His leadership of the Christian "
Life and Work" movement in the 1920s has led him to be recognised as one of the principal founders of the ecumenical movement. His was instrumental in chairing the
World Conference of Life and Work in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in 1925. At the Stockholm Conference in 1925, the culminating event in Söderblom's ecumenical work, Protestant and Orthodox Christians from the major Christian denominations, such as the Lutheran and Anglican Churches, were all present and participating, with the exception of the Catholic Church, which was a much regretted absence. He was a close friend of the English ecumenist
George Bell George Bell may refer to:
Law and politics
* George Joseph Bell (1770–1843), Scottish jurist and legal author
* George Alexander Bell (1856–1927), Canadian pioneer and Saskatchewan politician
* George Bell (Canadian politician) (1869–1940) ...
. In 1930 was one of the
recipients of the
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
,
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
laureate, for the:''Cooperation between Christian Church Communities Brings Peace'' and the first clergyman to receive this prize.
The contemporary ecumenical movement gained speed through the 1910
Edinburgh Missionary Conference
The 1910 World Missionary Conference, or the Edinburgh Missionary Conference, was held on 14 to 23 June 1910. Some have seen it as both the culmination of nineteenth-century Protestant Christian missions and the formal beginning of the modern Prot ...
. However this conference would not have been possible without the pioneering ecumenical work of the Christian youth movements: the
Young Men's Christian Association
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
(founded 1844), the
Young Women's Christian Association
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries.
The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...
(founded 1855), the
World Student Christian Federation
The World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) is a federation of autonomous national Student Christian Movements (SCM) forming the youth and student arm of the global ecumenical movement. The Federation includes Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic, Pe ...
(founded 1895), and the Federal Council of Churches (founded 1908), predecessor to today's
National Council of Churches USA
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Uni ...
. Led by Methodist layman
John R. Mott
John Raleigh Mott (May 25, 1865 – January 31, 1955) was an evangelist and long-serving leader of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for hi ...
(former YMCA staff and in 1910 the General Secretary of WSCF), the World Mission conference marked the largest Protestant gathering to that time, with the express purposes of working across denominational lines for the sake of
world missions. After the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
further developments were the "
Faith and Order
The Faith and Order Commission is an assembly group within the World Council of Churches founded in 1948 which has made numerous and significant contributions to the ecumenical movement.
The commission has been successful in working toward cons ...
" movement led by
Charles Henry Brent
Charles Henry Brent (April 9, 1862 – March 27, 1929) was the Episcopal Church's first Missionary Bishop of the Philippine Islands (1902–1918); Chaplain General of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I (1917–1918); and Bishop of th ...
, and the "
Life and Work" movement led by
Nathan Soderblom
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
*Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
*Nathan (surname)
*Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
* Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David an ...
. In the 1930s, the tradition of an annual
World Communion Sunday World Communion Sunday is a celebration observed by several Christian denominations, taking place on the first Sunday of every October, that promotes Christian unity and ecumenical cooperation.[Presbyterian Church
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...]
and was subsequently adopted by several other denominations.
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, which had brought much devastation to many people, the church became a source of hope to those in need. In 1948, the first meeting of the World Council of Churches took place. Despite the fact that the meeting had been postponed due to World War II, the council took place in Amsterdam with the theme of "Man’s Disorder and God’s Design".
The focus of the church and the council following the gathering was on the damage created by the Second World War. The council and the movement went forward to continue the efforts of unifying the church globally in the mission of helping all those in need, whether it be a physical, emotional, or spiritual need. The movement led to an understanding amongst the churches that, despite difference, they could join together to be an element of great change in the world. To be an agent of hope and peace amongst the chaos and destruction that humans seem to create. More importantly the council and the movement lead to not only ecumenism but to the forming of councils amongst the denominations that connected churches across continental lines.
Today, the World Council of Churches sees its role as sharing "the legacy of the one ecumenical movement and the responsibility to keep it alive" and acting "as a trustee for the inner coherence of the movement". Some scholars, such as
Antoaneta Sabău, think that ”the features that ecumenism may display today could testify against the idea of a diminished interest in ecumenical matters, and rather for the fact that essential concepts of ecumenism have already become integrative parts of contemporary theologies.”
Contemporary developments
Catholic–Orthodox dialogue
The mutual
anathema
Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
s (excommunications) of 1054, marking the Great Schism between Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) branches of Christianity, a process spanning several centuries, were revoked in 1965 by Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The Catholic Church does not regard Orthodox Christians as excommunicated, since they personally have no responsibility for the separation of their churches. In fact, Catholic rules admit the Orthodox to communion and the other sacraments in situations where the individuals are in danger of death or no Orthodox churches exist to serve the needs of their faithful. However, Orthodox churches still generally regard Roman Catholics as excluded from the sacraments and some may even not regard Catholic sacraments such as baptism and ordination as valid.
In November 2006,
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
traveled to Istanbul at the invitation of
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
Bartholomew I ( el, Βαρθολομαῖος Αʹ, , tr, I. Bartholomeos; born 29 February 1940) is
the 270th archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, since 2 November 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the '' ...
and participated in the feast day services of St. Andrew the First Apostle, the patron saint of the Church of Constantinople. The Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope Benedict had another historic meeting in Ravenna, Italy in 2007. The
Declaration of Ravenna
The Declaration of Ravenna is a Roman Catholic–Eastern Orthodox document issued on 13 October 2007, re-asserting that the bishop of Rome is indeed the first ( el, link=no, πρώτος, translit=''protos'') among the patriarchs, although fu ...
marked a significant rapprochement between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox positions. The declaration recognized the bishop of Rome as the Protos, or first among equals of the Patriarchs. This acceptance and the entire agreement was hotly contested by the Russian Orthodox Church. The signing of the declaration highlighted the pre-existing tensions between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Moscow Patriarchate. Besides their theological concerns, the Russian Orthodox have continuing concerns over the question of the
Eastern Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...
that operate in what they regard as Orthodox territory. This question has been 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.
A major obstacle to improved relations between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches has been the insertion of the Latin term
filioque
( ; ) is a Latin term ("and from the Son") added to the original Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (commonly known as the Nicene Creed), and which has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. It is a term ...
into the
Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed
The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
in the 8th and 11th centuries. This obstacle has now been effectively resolved. The Catholic Church now recognizes that the Creed, as confessed at the
First Council of Constantinople
The First Council of Constantinople ( la, Concilium Constantinopolitanum; grc-gre, Σύνοδος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) was a council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in AD 381 b ...
, did not add "and the Son", when it spoke of the Holy Spirit as proceeding from the Father. When quoting the
Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed
The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
, as in the 6 August 2000 document ''
Dominus Iesus
( en, The Lord Jesus) is a declaration by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (previously known as the "Holy Office"), approved in a plenary meeting of the Congregation and signed by its then prefect, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later ...
'', it does not include ''filioque''. It views as complementary the Eastern-tradition expression "who proceeds from the Father" (profession of which it sees as affirming that he comes from the Father through the Son) and the Western-tradition expression "who proceeds from the Father and the Son", with the Eastern tradition expressing firstly the Father's character as first origin of the Spirit, and the Western tradition giving expression firstly to the consubstantial communion between Father and Son; and it believes that, provided this legitimate complementarity does not become rigid, it does not affect the identity of faith in the reality of the same mystery confessed.
Continuing dialogues at both international and national level continues between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches. A particularly close relationship has grown up between Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Both church leaders have in particular emphasized their common concern for refugees and persecuted Christians in the Middle East. The 2016
Pan-Orthodox Council
The Pan-Orthodox Council, officially referred to as the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church ( grc-gre, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Σύνοδος τῆς Ὀρθοδόξου Ἐκκλησίας; that was held in Crete aroused great expectations for advances in Church unity. However, not all Orthodox churches participated and, as a result, the Russian Patriarch refused to recognize the council as a truly ecumenical gathering. A major milestone in the growing rapprochement between the Catholic and Orthodox churches was the 12 February 2016 meeting held in Havana, Cuba between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis. The two church leaders issued a
Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill
The Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, also known as the Havana Declaration, was issued following the first meeting in February 2016 between Pope Francis, who as the Bishop of Rome is the pontiff of the Catholic Church, and ...
at the conclusion of their discussions.
Episcopal–Russian Orthodox dialogue
The decision by the U.S.
Episcopal Church to ordain
Gene Robinson
Vicky Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is a former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson was elected bishop coadjutor in 2003 and succeeded as bishop diocesan in March 2004. Before becoming bishop, he served as Canon to th ...
, an openly gay, non-celibate priest who advocates same-sex blessings, as bishop led the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
to suspend its cooperation with the Episcopal Church. Likewise, when the
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...
decided to bless same-sex marriages, the Russian Patriarchate severed all relations with the Church, noting that "Approving the shameful practice of same-sex marriages is a serious blow to the entire system of European spiritual and moral values influenced by Christianity."
Inter-Christian
Bishop
Hilarion Alfeyev
Hilarion (secular name Grigory Valerievich Alfeyev, russian: Григо́рий Вале́риевич Алфе́ев; 24 July 1966) is a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church and the current metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary. He is also a no ...
commented that the inter-Christian community is "bursting at the seams". He sees the great dividing line—or "abyss"—not so much between old churches and church families as between "traditionalists" and "liberals", the latter now dominating Protestantism, and predicted that other Northern Protestant Churches will follow suit and this means that the "ecumenical ship" will sink, for with the liberalism that is materializing in European Protestant churches, there is no longer anything to talk about.
Organizations such as the
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
, the
National Council of Churches USA
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Uni ...
,
Churches Uniting in Christ,
Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship and
Christian Churches Together
Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) is an organization formed in 2006 to "broaden and expand fellowship, unity and witness among the diverse expressions of Christian traditions in the USA."
Christian Churches Together was created as a ...
continue to encourage ecumenical cooperation among Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, and, at times, Roman Catholics. There are universities such as the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...
in Germany that offer degree courses in "Ecumenical Studies" in which theologians of various denominations teach their respective traditions and, at the same time, seek for common ground between these traditions.
The Global Christian Forum (GCF) was founded in 1998 following the proposal of the then General Secretary of the WCC, Rev. Konrad Raiser, that a new, independent space should be created where participants could meet on an equal basis to foster mutual respect and to explore and address together common concerns through a
postmodern approach.
Influenced by the ecumenical movement, the "scandal of separation" and local developments, a number of
United and uniting churches
A united church, also called a uniting church, is a church formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestant Christian denominations.
Historically, unions of Protestant churches were enforced by the state ...
have formed; there are also a range of mutual recognition strategies being practiced where formal union is not feasible. 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
Catholics
Most
Traditionalist Catholics
Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions, and presentations of Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church before the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1 ...
(such as
Society of Saint Pius X
The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X; FSSPX) is an international fraternity of traditionalist Catholic priests founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a leading traditionalist voice at the Sec ...
,
Society of Saint Pius V
The Society of Saint Pius V (SSPV; lat, Societas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii Quinti), is a Traditionalist Catholicism, traditionalist Catholic society of priests, formed in 1983, and based in Oyster Bay Cove, New York, Oyster Bay Cove, New York (stat ...
,
Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen ( la, Congregatio Mariae Reginae Immaculatae; CMRI) is a sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation. The CMRI is dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fátima and the devo ...
,
Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary refers to a number of different religious communities which all trace their roots to the St. Benedict Center, founded in 1940 by Catherine Goddard Clarke in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1945, L ...
etc.) are almost universally opposed to ecumenism with other faith groups. Critics in the Catholic church are often critical of Vatican II documents that promote ecumenism, such as ''
Nostra aetate
(from Latin: "In our time") is the incipit of the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council. Passed by a vote of 2,221 to 88 of the assembled bishops, this declaration was promulgated o ...
'' and ''
Unitatis redintegratio''. Catholic opponents to ecumenism often cite preceding papal documents such as ''Mortalium Animos'' (1928) by
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...
, who considered the position that the Church of Christ can be divided into sections and that the Unity of the Church has not been achieved as a false opinion. Considering these notions, Pius XI continued "
e Apostolic See cannot on any terms take part in
on-Catholicassemblies, nor is it anyway lawful for Catholics either to support or to work for such enterprises; for if they do so they will be giving countenance to a false Christianity, quite alien to the one Church of Christ. Shall We suffer, what would indeed be iniquitous, the truth, and a truth divinely revealed, to be made a subject for compromise? For here there is question of defending revealed truth." Many traditional-leaning Catholics often strictly interpret the teaching of ''
Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus
The Latin phrase (meaning "outside the Church here isno salvation" or "no salvation outside the Church")[Robert Sarah
Robert Sarah (; born 15 June 1945) is a Guinean prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since 20 November 2010, he was prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 23 November 2014 to 20 February ...]
and Bishop
Athanasius Schneider
Athanasius Schneider, ORC (born Anton Schneider on 7 April 1961) is a Catholic prelate, serving as the Auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra. He is known for championing th ...
reacted to the pope's comments saying it would almost never be acceptable for a non-Catholic to receive communion.
On the matter of inter-communion Sarah said "Inter-communion is not permitted between Catholics and non-Catholics. You must confess the Catholic Faith. A non-Catholic cannot receive Communion. That is very, very clear. It’s not a matter of following your conscience."
In early 2019
Barry C. Knestout
Barry Christopher Knestout (born June 11, 1962) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Knestout has been serving as the 13th bishop of the Diocese of Richmond in Virginia since 2017.
Previously, Knestout served as the priest sec ...
, the 13th bishop of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond
The Diocese of Richmond ( la, Diœcesis Richmondiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its current territory encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, Hampton Roads, ...
, gave permission to the
Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia
Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America located in the southeast area of Virginia. It is in Province III (for the Middle Atlantic region). The diocese includes the Hampton Roa ...
to ordain Susan B. Haynes as the new bishop at St. Bede Catholic Church in
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...
. The Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia does not have a cathedral and usually rotates where it hosts ordinations and other events. However the announcement was met with opposition by many Catholics who objected to holding a non-Catholic worship service and
women's bishop ordination in a Catholic church. Over 3,000 people signed an internet petition objecting to the event. On 17 January the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia announced it would no longer hold Haynes' ordination at St. Bede.
Methodists
There are some members of the
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...
who oppose ecumenical efforts which are "not grounded in the doctrines of the Church" due to concerns over theological compromise. For example, an article published in ''Catalyst Online: Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives for United Methodist Seminarians'' stated that false ecumenism might result in the "blurring of theological and confessional differences in the interests of unity".
The
Evangelical Wesleyan Church
The Evangelical Wesleyan Church, formerly known as the Evangelical Wesleyan Church of North America, is a Methodist denomination in the conservative holiness movement.
The formation of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church is a part of the history of ...
, a Methodist connexion in the
conservative holiness movement
The conservative holiness movement is a loosely defined group of theologically conservative Christian denominations with the majority being Methodists whose teachings are rooted in the theology of John Wesley, and a minority being Quakers (Frie ...
, teaches in its
Book of Discipline
A Book of Discipline (or in its shortened form Discipline) is a book detailing the beliefs, standards, doctrines, canon law, and polity of a particular Christian denomination. They are often re-written by the governing body of the church concerned ...
that ecumenism with denominations that teach doctrines which contradict
Wesleyan-Arminian theology
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles We ...
should be avoided:
Lutherans
Most churches following the doctrine of
Confessional Lutheranism
Confessional Lutheranism is a name used by Lutheranism, Lutherans to designate those who believe in the doctrines taught in the ''Book of Concord'' of 1580 (the Lutheran confessional documents) in their entirety. Confessional Lutherans maintain th ...
are generally strongly opposed to ecumenical activities. Most notably the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...
(LCMS) bars its clergy from worshiping with other faiths, contending "that church fellowship or merger between church bodies in doctrinal disagreement with one another is not in keeping with what the Bible teaches about church fellowship." In keeping with this position, a Connecticut LCMS pastor was asked to apologize by the president of the denomination, and did so, for participating in an interfaith prayer vigil for the 26 children and adults
killed at a Newtown elementary school; and a LCMS pastor in New York was suspended for praying at an interfaith vigil in 2001, twelve days after the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
. Another conservative Lutheran body, the
American Association of Lutheran Churches
The American Association of Lutheran Churches (AALC, also known as The AALC) is an American Lutheran church body. It was formed on November 7, 1987, as a continuation of the American Lutheran Church denomination, the majority of which merged with t ...
, is strongly opposed to ecumenical (more accurately,
interfaith
Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...
) dialogue with non-Christian religions and with denominations it identifies as cults.
Reformed Christians
When the
Manhattan Declaration Manhattan Declaration can refer to:
* Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience, an American Christian cross-denominational declaration addressing a number of political issues in 2009
* Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change, a d ...
was released, many prominent
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
figures – particularly of the
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
Reformed tradition – opposed it, including
John F. MacArthur
John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. (born June 19, 1939) is an American Protestant pastor and author known for his internationally syndicated Christian teaching radio and television program ''Grace to You''. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Chu ...
,
D. James Kennedy
Dennis James Kennedy (November 3, 1930 – September 5, 2007) was an American pastor, evangelist, Christian broadcaster, and author. He was the senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from 1960 until hi ...
,
Alistair Begg
Alistair Begg (born May 22, 1952) is the senior pastor of Cleveland's Parkside Church (located in Bainbridge Township, Geauga County, Ohio), a position he has held since 1983. He is the voice behind the Truth For Life Christian radio preaching a ...
,
R. C. Sproul
Robert Charles Sproul ( ; February 13, 1939 – December 14, 2017) was an American Reformed theologian and ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. He was the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries (named for the Ligonier Va ...
, and
Arminian
Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...
Protestant teacher and televangelist
John Ankerberg
John Ankerberg (born December 10, 1945) is an American Christian television host, author, and speaker. He is an ordained Baptist minister and has authored or coauthored more than 150 books and study guides. He is the producer and host of the int ...
.
Anglicans/Episcopalians
William David Walker
William David Walker (June 29, 1839 – May 2, 1917) was consecrated as the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church's Missionary District of North Dakota on December 20, 1883. He became the third bishop of Western New York in 1897 and he ...
, who was the first bishop of
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
(1883–1896), and
Western New York
Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...
(1897–1917), was strongly opposed to dialogue with other denominations. In his address to the 1914 Convention of the Diocese of Western New York, Walker said that "in my opinion while divided Christendom remains, separated sects are better apart—each peaceably working out its own salvation."
Eastern Orthodox Christians
Practically, "the whole of Eastern Orthodoxy holds membership in the World Council of Churches".
Ecumenical Patriarch Germanus V of Constantinople's 1920 letter To all the Churches of Christ, wherever they may be', urging closer co-operation among separated Christians, and suggesting a 'League of Churches', parallel to the newly founded League of Nations" was an inspiration for the founding of the World Council of Churches. As such "Constantinople, along with several of the other Orthodox Churches, was represented at the Faith and Order Conferences at Lausanne in 1927 and at Edinburgh in 1937. The Ecumenical Patriarchate also participated in the first Assembly of the WCC at Amsterdam in 1948, and has been a consistent supporter of the work of the WCC ever since."
However, many of the Eastern Orthodox laity vehemently oppose ecumenism with other Christian denominations. Such people view ecumenism, as well as interfaith dialogue, as potentially pernicious to Eastern Orthodox Church tradition - as a "weakening" of Eastern Orthodoxy itself. In the Eastern Orthodox world, the Theological Committee of the Sacred Community of
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
, arguably the most important center of Orthodox spirituality, has voiced its concerns regarding the ecumenist movement and has expressed opposition to the participation of the Eastern Orthodox Church. They regard modern ecumenism as compromising essential doctrinal stands in order to accommodate other Christians, and object to the emphasis on dialogue leading to intercommunion rather than conversion on the part of participants in ecumenical initiatives.
Greek Old Calendarists
Old Calendarists (Greek: ''palaioimerologitai'' or ''palaioimerologites''), also known as Old Feasters (''palaioeortologitai''), Genuine Orthodox Christians or True Orthodox Christians (GOC; ), are traditionalist groups of Eastern Orthodox Chri ...
also claim that the teachings of the
Seven Ecumenical Councils forbid changing the church calendar through abandonment of the
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...
. The Inter-Eastern Orthodox Theological Conference entitled "Ecumenism: Origins, Expectations, Disenchantment", organized in September 2004 by the
Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, drew negative conclusions on ecumenism. Russian Orthodox bishop
Tikhon (Shevkunov)
Metropolitan Tikhon (russian: Митрополит Тихон, secular name Georgiy Alexandrovich Shevkunov, russian: Георгий Александрович Шевкунов; born 2 July 1958 in Moscow) is a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Churc ...
has strongly criticised ecumenism, especially with the Catholic Church, saying "Catholics are not even a church and as a result not even Christian."
The issue of ecumenism in the Eastern Orthodox Church is tenuous. As Fr. Timothy Evangelinidis of th
Orthodox Research Institutenotes, "Orthodoxy also sees itself in a fragile position within the Ecumenical Movement. It is neither completely at home within ecumenism, nor is closed to other Christian groups wishing to dialogue with it." Opposition to ecumenism in the Orthodox Church has its roots in the teachings of many modern-day saints and monastics. For example, the popular
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
Saint,
Elder Ephraim of Katounakia (died 1998), said when asked about ecumenism, "I went to my cell and prayed, asking Christ to inform me what Ecumenism is. I received his reply, which was that Ecumenism has a spirit of wickedness and is dominated by unclean spirits." Similarly, the well-known Saint
Paisios of Mount Athos
Saint Paisios of Mount Athos ( el, Ὅσιος Παΐσιος ὁ Ἁγιορείτης, ; secular name: Arsenios Eznepidis ( el, Αρσένιος Εζνεπίδης); 1924–1994), was a well-known Greek Eastern Orthodox ascetic from Mount A ...
(died 1994) gave many teachings about ecumenism. In a private letter to a priest named Fr. Haralambos on 23 January,1969, Elder Paisios wrote, "With sadness I must write that among all the unionists
cumenistsI’ve met, never have I seen them to have either a drop or shred of spirituality." Opposition to ecumenism comes not only from the laity and from monastics, but also from the
Orthodox clergy. The popular
ROCOR
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (russian: Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей, lit=Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, translit=Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey), also called Ru ...
metropolitan
Philaret of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
(died 1985) wrote a series of three "sorrowful"
epistle
An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as par ...
s from 1969 to 1975 against ecumenism, in which he called ecumenism an "error". The anti-ecumenical words of such prominent and highly-respected figures in the Orthodox Church garners attention from many members of the clergy and laity. Nevertheless, not all Orthodox Christians share such views - some Orthodox retain a more open stance to ecumenism - similar to that of the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Seventh-day Adventism
Some
Seventh-day Adventist
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...
s express a visceral rejection of ecumenism -
apparently linked to a traditional Adventist dislike of the Roman Catholic Church.
Ecumenical organizations
Councils of churches
*
Action of Churches Together in Scotland
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
*
Canadian Council of Churches
The Canadian Council of Churches (French: ''Conseil canadien des Églises'') is a broad and inclusive ecumenical body, now representing 26 member churches including Anglican; Eastern and Roman Catholic; Evangelical; Free Church; Eastern and Orient ...
*
Caribbean Conference of Churches
The Caribbean Conference of Churches is a regional ecumenical body with 33 member churches in 34 territories across the Dutch, English, French and Spanish speaking territories of the Caribbean. It was founded in 1973.
Member Churches
*African Me ...
*
Christian Churches Together
Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) is an organization formed in 2006 to "broaden and expand fellowship, unity and witness among the diverse expressions of Christian traditions in the USA."
Christian Churches Together was created as a ...
in the USA
*
Christian Conference of Asia
The Christian Conference of Asia is a regional ecumenical organisation representing 15 National Councils and over 100 denominations (churches) in New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos ...
*
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) is an ecumenical organisation. The members include most of the major churches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. CTBI is registered at Companies House with number 05661787. Its office is in Cen ...
*
Churches Together in England
*
Communion of Churches in Indonesia
The Communion of Churches in Indonesia ( id, Persekutuan Gereja-gereja di Indonesia) is a national ecumenical body in Indonesia. It was founded in 1950. It is a member of the World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a w ...
*
Conference of European Churches
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions.
In its commitment to Europe as a who ...
*
Conference of Secretaries of World Christian Communions
A conference is a meeting of two or more Expert, experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the ...
*
Council of Churches of Malaysia
The Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) is an ecumenical fellowship of Churches and Christian organisations in Malaysia. It is one of the three constituent members of the Christian Federation of Malaysia.
It is affiliated with the Commission o ...
*
*
Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa
The Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa (FECCIWA) is a Christian ecumenical organization founded in 1994. It is a member of the World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian i ...
*
Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches of Central Africa
*
Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa
The Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCCISA) is an international ecumenical organization. Founded in 1980 as the Fellowship of Christian Councils in East and Southern Africa, it changed to its current name in 1999. It is a memb ...
*
Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches
*
Hong Kong Christian Council
The Hong Kong Christian Council (Also known as HKCC; ) is a Protestant Christian ecumenical organization founded in Hong Kong in 1954. It is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia. The current general secret ...
*
Latin American Council of Churches
The Latin American Council of Churches (Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias) is a regional ecumenical body with 139 member churches and organizations in 19 countries, representing some two million Christians. The head office of the organization is ...
*
Middle East Council of Churches
The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) was inaugurated in May 1974 at its First General Assembly in Nicosia, Cyprus, and now has its headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. Initially it consisted of three "families" of Christian Churches in the Mid ...
* Myanmar Council of Churches
*
National Christian Council in Japan
*
National Council of Churches in Bangladesh
*
National Council of Churches in Korea
The National Council of Churches in Korea ( ko, 한국 기독교 교회 협의회; NCCK) is a Christian ecumenical organization founded in Korea in 1924 as the National Christian Council in Korea. It is a member of the World Council of Churches and ...
*
National Council of Churches in the Philippines
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP; tl, Sangguniáng Pambansâ ng mga Simbahan sa Pilipinas) is a fellowship of ten Protestant and non Roman Catholic Churches in the Philippines denominations, and ten service-oriented organ ...
*
National Council of Churches of Nepal
*
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
*
Pacific Conference of Churches
The 'Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC)'' is an ecumenical organization representing Christian churches in the Pacific region. It seeks the visible unity of the church on issues of justice, peace and integrity of creation, initiatives on capacit ...
*
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
*
World Evangelical Alliance
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is an interdenominational organization of evangelical Christian churches, serving more than 600 million evangelicals, founded in 1846 in London, England, United Kingdom to unite evangelicals worldwide. WEA i ...
Ecumenical institutes and offices
*
Anglican and Eastern Churches Association
The Anglican and Eastern Churches Association is a religious organisation founded as the Eastern Church Association in 1864 by John Mason Neale and others and of which Athelstan Riley was a leading member. The purpose for which it was founded is to ...
*
Centro Pro Unione, Rome
*
Canadian Centre for Ecumenism
The Canadian Centre For Ecumenism (CCE) is a non-profit organization whose main focus is interfaith dialogues and is established in Montreal, Québec, Canada. The centre is supported by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. It promotes con ...
, Montreal (Canada)
*
Churches Uniting in Christ, USA
*
Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue The Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue (EISD), formerly called ''Study Center for Religion and Society'', is an institute located in Colombo, Sri Lanka that is devoted to the study and interpretation of religious and social movements of p ...
, Sri Lanka
*
Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius
The Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius is a Christian ecumenical society founded in 1928 to foster contact between Christians, especially those of the Anglican and Orthodox traditions. It is named in honour of Saint Alban, the Christian p ...
*
Groupe des Dombes
*
Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg
*
International Ecumenical Fellowship
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
*
Irish School of Ecumenics
The Irish School of Ecumenics (ISE) is an institute of Trinity College Dublin, dedicated to the study and promotion of peace and reconciliation in Ireland and throughout the world. The school is located in Dublin and Belfast, and consists of eight ...
, Dublin
*
Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches
*
North American Academy of Ecumenists
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
*
North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
*
Porvoo Communion
The Porvoo Communion is a communion of 15 predominantly northern European Anglican and Evangelical Lutheran churches, with a couple of far-southwestern European (in the Iberian Peninsula) church bodies of the same denomination. It was establishe ...
*
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, previously named the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), is a dicastery whose origins are associated with the Second Vatican Council which met intermittently from 1962 to 1965.
Po ...
*
Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry
*
Tantur Ecumenical Institute
Tantur Ecumenical Institute is an international ecumenical institute for advanced theological research in Jerusalem.
Goals and objectives
"No one climbs up to Tantur except to follow a vocation, the same vocation that led on the pioneers of ecum ...
, Jerusalem
*
Washington Theological Consortium The Washington Theological Consortium is an ecumenical organization of Christian theological schools and interfaith partners located in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Members cooperate to deepen ecumenical unity in theological ...
Ecumenical monastic communities and orders
*
Benedictine Women of Madison
*
Bose Monastic Community
The Bose Monastic Community () is an ecumenical community founded by Enzo Bianchi in 1965 at Bose, a frazione in the commune of Magnano, Italy. In 2020 the Holy See ordered four members, including Bianchi, to separate from the community.
Histor ...
*
Focolare
The Focolare Movement is an international organization that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood. Founded in Trent, northern Italy, in 1943 by Chiara Lubich as a Catholic movement, it remains largely Roman Catholic but has s ...
Movement
*
Iona Community
The Iona Community, founded in 1938 by George MacLeod, is an ecumenical Christian community of men and women from different walks of life and different traditions within Christianity.
It and its publishing house, Wild Goose Publications, are hea ...
*
L'Arche
L'Arche is an international federation of non-profits working to create networks of community where people with and without intellectual disabilities live and work together. Founded in 1964 by Jean Vanier, Raphaël Simi, and Philip Seux, L'Arc ...
*
New Monasticism New Monasticism is a diverse movement, not limited to a specific religious denomination or church and including varying expressions of contemplative life. These include evangelical Christian communities such as " Simple Way Community" and Jonathan ...
related Communities
*
Order of Ecumenical Franciscans
*
Order of Saint Lazarus
The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, also known as the Leper Brothers of Jerusalem or simply as Lazarists, was a Catholic military order (monastic society), military order founded by crusaders around 1119 at a leprosy, leper hospital in Jerus ...
*
Order of Saint Luke
The Order of Saint Luke (OSL) is a religious order begun within the Methodist Church (USA), Methodist Church in the United States that is dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice.
As a Christianity, Christian ...
*
Priory of St. Wigbert
*
Society of Ordained Scientists
The Society of Ordained Scientists (SOSc) is an international religious order of priest-scientists within the Anglican Communion. The organisation was founded at the University of Oxford by biologist-theologian Arthur Peacocke following the establi ...
*
Taizé Community
The Taizé Community is an ecumenical Christian monastic fraternity in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of more than one hundred brothers, from Catholic and Protestant traditions, who originate from about thirty countrie ...
Interdenominational ministries
*
American Bible Society
American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...
*
Church World Service
Church World Service (CWS) was founded in 1946 and is a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations and communions, providing sustainable self-help, development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance around the world. The CWS mission is ...
*
Cru, formerly "Campus Crusade for Christ"
*
Girls' Brigade
The Girls' Brigade is an international, interdenominational Christian youth organisation. It was founded in 1893 in Dublin, Ireland. The modern organization was formed as the result of the amalgamation of three like-minded and similarly structur ...
*
Green Churches Network
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...
Canada
*
Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship
*
People of Praise
People of Praise is a network of lay Christian intentional communities. As a parachurch apostolate, membership is open to any baptized Christian who affirms the Nicene Creed and agrees to the community's covenant. The majority of its members ...
*
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
*
Student Christian Movement (Britain)
*
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an ecumenical Christian observance in the Christian calendar that is celebrated internationally. It is kept annually between Ascension Day and Pentecost in the Southern Hemisphere and between 18 January and ...
*
World Communion Sunday World Communion Sunday is a celebration observed by several Christian denominations, taking place on the first Sunday of every October, that promotes Christian unity and ecumenical cooperation.[World Student Christian Federation
The World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) is a federation of autonomous national Student Christian Movements (SCM) forming the youth and student arm of the global ecumenical movement. The Federation includes Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic, Pe ...]
*
Boys' Brigade
The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values. Following its inception ...
Political parties
The
state atheism
State atheism is the incorporation of positive atheism or non-theism into political regimes. It may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments. It is a form of religion-state relationship that is usually ideologically li ...
of the former Eastern Bloc, which brought about a
persecution of Christians
The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point of b ...
, caused a rise in
Christian nationalism
Christian nationalism is Christianity-affiliated religious nationalism. Christian nationalists primarily focus on internal politics, such as passing laws that reflect their view of Christianity and its role in political and social life. In count ...
in the West, as well as ecumenical cooperation among Christians across
denominational lines.
For example, the United States, in 1956, adopted "
In God We Trust
"In God We Trust" (also rendered as "In God we trust") is the United States national motto, official motto of the United States and of the U.S. state of Florida. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, replacing ("Out of many, one"), whic ...
" as its official motto "to differentiate itself from the Soviet Union, its Cold War enemy that was widely seen as promoting atheism."
During this time,
Christian human rights non-governmental organisations, such as
Voice of the Martyrs
The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend the human rights of persecuted Christians.
History
The organization was founded in 1967 by Richard Wurmbrand, a Lutheran priest, also a Pente ...
, were founded in order to provide support to Christians persecuted in the Communist Bloc, also engaging in activities such as
Bible smuggling. In the 1990s, the period surrounding the
collapse of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
led "a surge in the activity of religious groups and interests among broad segments of the population".
The revival of the Church occurred in these formerly Communist areas;
Christian missionaries
A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
also entered the former Eastern Bloc in order to engage in
evangelism
In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...
there, winning people back to Christianity.
Christian democracy
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
is a centrist political ideology inspired by
Catholic social teaching
Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state (polity), state, subsidiarity, social o ...
and
Neo-Calvinist
Neo-Calvinism, a form of Dutch Calvinism, is a theological movement initiated by the theologian and former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper. James Bratt has identified a number of different types of Dutch Calvinism: The Seceders, split into ...
theology.
Christian democratic political parties came to prominence after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
after Roman Catholics and Protestants worked together to help rebuild war-torn Europe.
From its inception, Christian Democracy fosters an "ecumenical unity achieved on the religious level against the
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
of the government in the Communist countries".
Ecumenical symbols
Ecumenical symbol
The ecumenical symbol pre-dates the World Council of Churches (WCC), formed in 1948, but is incorporated into the official logo of the WCC and many other ecumenical organizations.
Christian flag
![Christian flag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Christian_flag.svg)
Although originating in the Wesleyan tradition, and most popular among mainline and evangelical Protestant churches, the "Christian Flag" stands for no creed or denomination, but for Christianity. With regard to the
Christian symbolism
Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas.
The symbolism of the early Church was characterized by bei ...
of the flag:
An ecumenical Christian organization, the
Federal Council of Churches
The Federal Council of Churches, officially the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, was an ecumenical association of Christian denominations in the United States in the early twentieth century. It represented the Anglican, Baptist, Ea ...
(now succeeded by the
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Uni ...
and Christian Churches Together), adopted the flag on 23 January 1942.
See also
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Gamaliel's principle
Gamaliel's principle,Brown, Raymond E. (1994). A once-and-coming Spirit at Pentecost: essays on the liturgical readings between Easter and Pentecost, taken from the Acts of the Apostles and from the Gospel according to John'. Collegeville, Minn.: ...
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Inclusivism
Inclusivism is one of several approaches in religious studies, anthropology, or civics to understand the relationship between different religions, societies, cultures, political factions etc. It asserts that there is beauty in the variety of di ...
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Invisible church
The church invisible, invisible church, mystical church or church mystical, is a theological concept of an "invisible" Christian Church of the elect who are known only to God, in contrast to the "visible church"—that is, the institutional body ...
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Irenicism Irenicism in Christian theology refers to attempts to unify Christian apologetical systems by using reason as an essential attribute. The word is derived from the Greek word ''ειρήνη (eirene)'' meaning peace. It is a concept related to a commu ...
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One true church
The expression "one true church" refers to an ecclesiological position asserting that Jesus gave his authority in the Great Commission solely to a particular visible Christian institutional church—what is commonly called a denomination. This ...
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One true faith
Religious exclusivism, or exclusivity, is the doctrine or belief that only one particular religion or belief system is true. This is in contrast to religious pluralism.
Buddhism
Some attempts have been made to portray Buddhism in an exclusivist ...
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Postdenominationalism
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Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following:
* Recognizing and tolerating the religious diversity of a society or countr ...
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Rimé movement
The Rimé movement is a movement or tendency in Tibetan Buddhism which promotes non-sectarianism and universalism.Sam van Schaik (2011). ''Tibet: A History'', pp. 161-162. Yale University Press. Teachers from all branches of Tibetan Buddhism - ...
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Sectarianism
Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...
References
Bibliography
* Amess, Robert. ''One in the Truth?: the Cancer of Division in the Evangelical Church''. Eastbourne, Eng.: Kingsway Publications, 1988. .
* Avis, Paul. ''Reshaping Ecumenical Theology: The Church made Whole?'' Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2010.
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* Bartholomew I. ''Patriarchal and Synodal Encyclical on Orthodoxy Sunday 2010''. Prot. No. 213. Istanbul: Ecumenical Patriarchate, 2010.
* van Beek, Huibert, ed. ''A Handbook of Churches and Councils: Profiles of Ecumenical Relationships''. Geneva: World Council of Churches, 2006
* Borkowski, James D. "Middle East Ecumenism from an Anglican Perspective" Cloverdale Books (2007)
* Bray, Gerald L. ''Sacraments & Ministry in Ecumenical Perspective'', in series, ''Latimer Studies'', 18. Oxford, Eng.: Latimer House, 1984. .
* Briggs, John; Mercy Amba Oduyoye and Georges Tsetsis, eds. ''A History of the Ecumenical Movement, volume 3, 1968–2000'' (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 2004).
* Cunningham, Lawrence, ed. Ecumenism: Present Realities and Future Prospects. Papers Read at the Tantur Ecumenical Center, Jerusalem 1997. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1999.
* Episcopal Church (U.S.A.). Ecumenical Relations Office. ''About the Concordat: 28 Questions about the Agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Church of America
.e. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America'. Cincinnati, Ohio: Forward Movement Publications,
997? 43 p. Without ISBN
* Fey, Harold E. ''The Ecumenical Advance: A History of the Ecumenical Movement, volume 2, 1948–1968'' (London: S.P.C.K., 1970).
* Florovsky, Georges Vasilievich, et al. ''La Sainte église universelle: confrontation oécuménique'', in series, ''Cahiers théologiques de l'Actualité protestante, hors série'', 4. Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Delachaux et Niestlé, 1948.
* Goosen, Gideon. ''Bringing Churches Together: A Popular Introduction to Ecumenism, 2nd ed''. Geneva: WCC Publications, 2001.
* Harrison, Simon. ''Conceptions of Unity in Recent Ecumenical Discussion: A Philosophical Analysis''. Oxford, Peter Lang, 2000
* Hawkey, Jill. ''Mapping the Oikoumene: A Study of Current Ecumenical Structures and Relationships''. Geneva: WCC Publications, 2004
* Headlam, Arthur Cayley, Bp. ''Christian Unity''. London: Student Christian Movement Press, 1930. 157 p. ''N.B''.: This study's orientation is Anglican (Church of England).
* Hedegard, David. ''Ecumenism and the Bible''. Amsterdam: International Council of Christian Churches, 1954.
* Hein, David. "The Episcopal Church and the Ecumenical Movement, 1937–1997: Presbyterians, Lutherans, and the Future." ''Anglican and Episcopal History'' 66 (1997): 4–29.
* Hein, David. "Radical Ecumenism." ''Sewanee Theological Review'' 51 (June 2008): 314–328. Proposes that mainline Protestants, such as Episcopalians, have much to learn from heirs of the Radical Reformation, including the Amish.
* John Paul II, Encyclical Letter ''
Ut Unum Sint
''Ut unum sint'' (Latin: ' That they may be one') is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II of 25 May 1995. It was one of 14 encyclicals issued by John Paul II. Cardinal Georges Cottier, Theologian emeritus of the Pontifical Household, was influe ...
'' ("That they may be one"), 25 May 1995.
* Kasper, Walter, ''That They May All Be One: The Call to Unity Today'' (London: Burns & Oates, 2004).
* Kasper, Walter, ''Harvesting the Fruits: Aspects of Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue'' (New York: Continuum, 2009).
* Kinnamon, Michael. ''Can a Renewal Movement be Renewed? Questions for the Future of Ecumenism''. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2014.
* Kinnamon, Michael. The Vision Of The Ecumenical Movement And How It Has Been Impoverished By Its Friends. St Louis: Chalice Press, 2003
* Lossky, Nicholas, et al., ''Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement''. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2002
* Mackay, John A., ''Ecumenics: The Science of the Church Universal'' (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.: 1964).
* Mascall, Eric Lionel. ''The Recovery of Unity: a Theological Approach''. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1958.
* Mastrantonis, George. "Augsburg and Constantinople : The Correspondence between the Tübingen Theologians and Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople on the Augsburg Confession." Holy Cross Orthodox Press (1982), reprinted (2005).
* Meyer, Harding. ''That All May Be One: Perceptions and Models of Ecumenicity''. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1999.
* McSorley, Harry J.,
C. S. P., ''Luther: Right or Wrong? An Ecumenical-Theological Study of Luther's Major Work,
The Bondage of the Will'', Minneapolis, Minnesota, Augsburg Publishing House, 1968.
* Metzger, John Mackay, ''The Hand and the Road: The Life and Times of John A. Mackay'' (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010).
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* O’Gara, Margaret. ''No Turning Back: The Future of Ecumenism''. Glazier Press, 2014.
* Riggs, Ann; Eamon McManus, Jeffrey Gros, ''Introduction to Ecumenism''. New York: Paulist Press, 1998.
* Rouse, Ruth and Stephen Charles Neill''A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517–1948'' (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954).
* Second Vatican Council, ''
Unitatis Redintegratio'': Decree on Ecumenism, 21 November 1964.
* Visser ’t Hooft, Willem Adolf, "Appendix I: The Word ‘Ecumenical’ – Its History and Use," in ''A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517–1948'', edited by Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954), 735–740.
* Waddams, Herbert. ''The Church and Man's Struggle for Unity'', in series and subseries, ''Blandford History Series: Problems of History''. London: Blandford Press, 1968. xii, 268 p., b&w ill.
* Weigel, Gustave, S.J., ''A Catholic Primer on the Ecumenical Movement'' (Westminster, Maryland: Newman Press, 1957).
External links
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