What is meant by the ecumencial movement?

Answer 1

The modern ecumenical movement is something very different from the traditional ecumenical movement. Both will be here outlined.

Ecumenism comes from the Greek and means "the inhabited world". This term was historically associated with the Roman Empire which, at its height, boasted that it ruled the entire civilized world. All were united by Roman rule and law. The Roman Empire collapsed even while Christianity, legalized then for almost two centuries, was growing within the empire's bosom. The Empire was shattered but the Christian Church remained and continued to convert the pagans and the invading barbarians. The Church, having established itself in Rome, the ancient capitol, resurrected the empire, reuniting it using religion rather than legions and the sword and calling it the Holy Roman Empire, bestowing the title of "emperor" on a line of Christian kings. Ecumenism was now prominently a religious word and implied oneness through conversion to Christ's sole Faith and Church. The mission of the Church was, of course, always ecumenical: to go forth and preach to all nations, uniting all humanity by uniting each person to Christ, and therefore all would become one in the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, one in Faith, Doctrine and Practice.

Vatican II introduced a new spirit of ecumenism. Most people had never really heard the word ecumenism until after the council when it became quite vogue to revisit Greek words. In It's desire to modernize and become more socially acceptable and tolerant to the world and other religions, the Vatican softened its ecumenical position until some blurred it to the point of declaring that ecumenism was a movement bent on religious understanding and communion, a kind of UN for world religions. Many Catholics, laymen through to bishops, felt that Christianity was so irreparably scattered since the advent of Protestantism that instead of looking to be separate because of differences an emphasis should be put on similarities and those things that united the denominations. This idea was further developed to include all world religions, not only Christian. The spirit of ecumenism was prevalent in the Second Vatican council even before becoming obvious in the new ecumenical movement that would eventually emerge.

Currently, many Catholics believe in the modern ecumenical movement and desire to see a cooperative worldwide religious unity by evoking an enhanced sense of shared spirituality through all the faiths, especially the three main Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. So set on this tolerant course are some members, led by Cardinal Kaspar, that even groups wishing to convert to Catholicism are being remonstrated for fear of giving the impression that conversion to a certain religion is still relevant or necessary. Because of this, ecumenism has become a huge point of contention between liberal and conservative forces within the Catholic Church.