ecumenism

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Ecumenical baptism vespers as part of the reopening celebrations of Hildesheim Cathedral , August 16, 2014. - The common sacrament of baptism in the name of the Triune God is the basis of ecumenism.

In order to differentiate more precisely from ecumenism in general, the word ecumenism is used in ecclesiastical documents of the Roman Catholic Church to denote the mutual efforts of the major Christian denominations to regain the visible unity of the Church of Jesus Christ.

One of the pioneers in Germany was Max Josef Metzger in particular , who initiated the Una Sancta movement (“the one, holy (church)”). At the time when Pope Pius XI. Alfons Beil , Johannes Pinsk , Max Pribilla and Paul Couturier also paved the way for an understanding in the encyclical Mortalium Animos (1928) warned against a false " Irenik " and forbade Roman Catholic Christians to participate in the meetings of the early ecumenical movement with other faith communities.

From the Roman Catholic point of view, the Catholic Church, in its concrete, legally formulated form, is itself already identical with ecumenism, since, according to the meaning of the Greek word "Oikumene", it embodies the Church of Christ, which is actually present all over the world. That is why the Catholic Bishops' Assemblies, which, with and under the Pope, represent the highest teaching authority, are also called Ecumenical Councils in their own language (as opposed to so-called particular councils ).

In 1964, the Roman Catholic Church laid down the “Catholic principles of ecumenism” (Chapter I) and the “practical realization of ecumenism” in the Decree Unitatis redintegratio of the Second Vatican Council . Since then, it no longer categorically denies the other denominations a full or partial participation in the authentic Church of Christ. In the Catholic sense, full ecclesiasticalism presupposes, in particular, 1.) the existence of the episcopate in apostolic succession and 2.) the Eucharist validly celebrated by consecrated bishops and priests in the community of the faithful, as given in the Eastern Churches .

Denominations that lack these characteristics are referred to by the Vatican in official documents (e.g. in Dominus Iesus , 2000) as “ecclesiastical communities”. This applies above all to the Protestant churches which structured themselves during the Reformation without the historical episcopate or which, according to the Roman Catholic view, lost full apostolicity due to the separation from the papacy .

In pastoral usage in the countries affected by the division of faith in the West, however, the designation of the Reformation denominations as “churches” has established itself, as has the word “ecumenism” for ecumenism. In contrast, “ecumenism” is still in active use in Orthodoxy .

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