Ecumenism Case

1. What is ecumenism?

According to catholicculture.org, ecumenism refers to all of the activities and initiatives of the Church and her members to promote mutual understanding and, ultimately, unity among all Christians. Ecumenism is based on the unity and universality of the Church, which possesses all the goods given by God for salvation, and on the Church's proper relationship with non-Catholic Christian bodies, which share some of these goods, including baptism.

It has three principles:

1. Christ established the Church on the Apostles and their episcopal successors, whose visible head and principle of unity became Peter and his successor the Bishop of Rome;

2. Since the first century there have been divisions in Christianity, but many persons now separated from visible unity with the successors of the Apostles under Peter are nevertheless Christians who possess more or less of the fullness of grace available in the Roman Catholic Church;

3. Catholics are to do everything possible to foster the ecumenical movement, which comprehends all "the initiatives and activities, planned and undertaken to promote Christian unity, according to the Church's various needs and as opportunities offer"

2. How has the church promoted ecumenism?

The Second Vatican Council made the Decree on Ecumenism, which has a latin name of Unitatis Redintegratio that means "the restoration of unity," on May 21, 1964. After 30 years, Pope John Paul II wrote the Ut Unum Sint, which means in English "may they be one." The Ut Unum Sint, is the longer and deeper document on the subject matter of ecumenism in 1995. According to Father John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, These documents deals with the Catholic principles on ecumenism, the practice of ecumenism, and the churches and ecclesiastical communities separated from the Roman Apostolic See. A careful distinction is made between spiritual ecumenism, mainly through prayer and the practice of virtue, and practical ecumenism, which actively fosters the reunification of Christianity. Also the faithful are told to recognize various levels of nearness to the Catholic Church, in descending order, the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants.

3. What are the challenges in forging unity among different religions?

In the first place, we will not be having different religions if all of the people have the same beliefs, culture, experience, and history, so people developed their own concept of moral value. Furthermore, it is hard for people to follow a certain religion if they feel that they do not have the same beliefs. As they say, birds of the same feathers flock together, those who believe in something, they go along with people who believe in the