Ecumenism is what? History of Ecumenism

Ecumenism is the movement of Christianchurches against the disunited and hostile relations between the church forces. Ecumenism is the desire for cohesion of religious communities on a global scale. The first references to the ecumenical movement arose in the early twentieth century. Thanks to the Protestant churches of the United States and Western Europe, ecumenism has spread throughout the next half century and has been recognized by the World Assembly of Churches. This organization strongly supported ecumenical sentiments, which in the 1950s led to the creation of the World Council of Churches, the body responsible for the unification and coordination of activities carried out by ecumenical church organizations. With the help of the material presented below, having received and analyzed the information from it, you will be able to form your position on this movement and complete the proposal "Ecumenism is ..." on its own.

Definition of ecumenism

The word "ecumenism" comes from the Greekoikoumene, which means "the promised world, the Universe" in Russian. The meaning of the name of the world view fully justifies its policy aimed at creating a universal Christian belief, capable of uniting all categories of the population.

To unite we are called the main Divinethe message is the Bible. The Gospel of John (17, 21) speaks of the commandment "Let all be one." Biblical society sought to interdenominational unity of activity throughout its existence, and ecumenism is a way of translating unlimited hopes for religious integration.

The basic, doctrinal basis of ecumenismis to believe in the Triune God. "Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior" - this is how the unanimous dogmatic minimum of the ecumenical worldview sounds.

The Chronicles: The History of Ecumenism

Despite the fact that the emergence of ecumenismdate only in 1910, at the beginning of the two thousand-year history of Christianity, institutions that preached this religion were called ecumenical councils, and the Patriarch of Constantinople rewarded the heroes with an "ecumenical" title. Nevertheless, the desire for universal unity constantly rivaled religious fragmentation, which ultimately led to the emergence of such new formations as schisms, sects and branches of Christianity. So, ecumenism is a religion with a history.

The church began to search for a solution to the problem in the year 10XX century, when the Edinburgh missionary conference was held. The meeting discussed the importance and priority of interdenomination interaction in spite of any confessional borders.

The foreseeable history of ecumenism continued in 1925year. At one of the Universal Christian Conferences, the question of the general Christian position and the ways of its social, political or economic propaganda arose.

Three years later, Lausanne (a city in Switzerland) hosted the first World Conference "Faith and Order". Its theme was devoted to the founding of basic Christian unity.

With the slogans of Christian unity passed andsubsequent meetings of 1937-1938, in England and the Netherlands, respectively. During these years, the World Council of Churches was established, whose meeting because of the outbreak of World War II was only carried out after 10 years.

Holding bilateral meetings and theological dialogues of Churches with different traditions and confessions can be considered the main achievement of ecumenism.

Does ecumenism support world Christianity?

Ecumenism in the Orthodox Church was strengthened in 1961, after the Russian Orthodox Church joined the World Council of Churches.

For Catholic Christianity is characteristican ambiguous attitude towards the ecumenical movement: in spite of the fact that the representatives of the Roman Catholic faith did not declare the complete rejection of ecumenism, they are not a part of it. Although the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church seemed to take a position reminiscent of the movement against ecumenism, it emphasized the unnatural separation. "Splits disagree with the will of Christ," the decree of 1964 "On ecumenism" asserted. In addition, it should be noted that the leaders of this branch of Christianity take part in the activities of the commission "Faith and Order of the Church."

Interpretations of ecumenism

Ecumenists do not position themselves and theirmoods as a dogma, ideology or church-political movement. No, ecumenism is an idea, a striving to fight against the split between the praying Jesus Christ.

Throughout the world, the semantic burden of ecumenismis perceived in different ways, which, in turn, affects the problem of creating the final formulation of the definition of this movement. At the moment, the term "ecumenism" is divided into three semantic currents.

Interpretation No. 1. The purpose of ecumenism is the intercourse of Christian denominations

The problem of ideological and traditionaldisagreements, dogmatic differences of religious ramifications led to the absence of a dialogue between them. The ecumenical movement seeks to contribute to the development of Orthodox-Catholic relations. To deepen mutual understanding, coordinate and unite the efforts of Christian organizations in the non-Christian world in order to protect the religious sentiments and feelings of the public, to solve social problems - such are the tasks of "public" ecumenism.

Interpretation No. 2. Liberalism in Ecumenism

Ecumenism calls for a general Christianassociation. Liberalism of the current consists in striving, according to the Orthodox Church, to create by artificial means a new belief that will contradict the existing one. The negative influence of ecumenism with a liberal bias has on apostolic continuity and dogmatic teachings. The Orthodox Church hopes to see a pro-Orthodox ecumenical movement, which, based on the latest developments in the world of ecumenists, is impossible.

Interpretation No. 3. The unification of world religions as the task of ecumenism

Esoteric writers consider ecumenism inAs a method of solving the problem of interreligious wars and misunderstandings. The concept of a world dominated by a single religion is also characteristic of neo-pagans, admirers of the new-age worldview (new age). Such an ideology is a utopia not only in logical considerations: thus, such ecumenism in the Orthodox Church is not supported. And the position of the Patriarch of all Russia on the question is expressed in the complete denial of the false doctrine of creating a "universal" religion.

Orthodox ecumenism: good or evil?

In the above three main interpretationsecumenism, the common features of certain goals of the ecumenical movement were considered. However, for sure, in order to form a complete opinion on this doctrine, one should get acquainted with the position of Patriarch Kirill of all Russia.

According to the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, the impossibility of her complicity in movements with ecumenical sentiments in the 70-80s of the last century was caused by:

• a radical divergence of ecumenical statements with the teaching of the Orthodox Church (the perception of the main goals of faith in Christ is too strikingly different);
• the denial of the possibility of uniting the excellent in dogmatic and doctrinal aspects of the Churches due to the ecumenical movement;
• the proximity and affinity of ecumenism with those denied by the Russian Orthodox Church, politically-minded or secret creeds;
• complete discrepancy between the goals of the ecumenical worldview and the tasks of the Orthodox Church.

Acquaintance with ecumenism and its study in the twentieth centuryaccompanied by a call from the Russian Orthodox Church to read: “Christians throughout the world should not betray Christ and go from the true path to the Kingdom of God. Do not waste your spiritual and physical strength, time to create alternatives to the righteous Church of Christ. The mirage temptation of the ecumenical church will not solve the difficulties of the unity of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches! ”

The position of the Orthodox Church regarding ecumenism

At the moment about ecumenism Kirillprefers to respond with few words and neatly: this movement is gaining momentum in the modern religious world, but the Orthodox Church has not developed a clear attitude towards ecumenical activity. So, ecumenism and patriarch Kirill are compatible concepts?

In his interview, the Patriarch says that, following ecumenism, we do not betray Orthodoxy, as many people believe.

"Before you make unfounded allegations,should carefully understand the situation, right? With the slogans preceding the anti-ecumenical movement: “Down with the heresy of ecumenism!”, “We are against the traitors of the Orthodox world!” - It is very easy to make people think that ecumenism is part of the world revolution. In order to direct the efforts of the ecumenists in the right direction, it is necessary first of all to conduct a serious intellectual dialogue at the theological level. Loud debate will not help in solving the problem of rejection of this movement, ”is the ecumenism of Cyril.

Talk about full-fledged Eucharistic communionearly, because the real general church reconciliation as such did not happen. The churches declare the non-existence of doctrinal differences and state their readiness to make contact, but in the end ... Ecumenism is encountered in the modern religious world: Orthodox partaking of Armenians, Catholics - Orthodox, if there is a need

Is ecumenism reborn? Meeting the patriarch and the pope

In light of recent events, support for Cyrilecumenism seems to be becoming more and more pronounced. The significant meeting “Patriarch-Papa-Ecumenism”, which took place on February 12, 2016, became, according to statements by some journalists and political scientists, a point of no return. With the conclusion of the declaration, the religious world turned upside down, and it is not known what forces will be able to return it to its original position.

What happened there at the meeting?

The meeting of representatives of two such relatives, but such far-away religious denominations - Patriarch Cyril and Pope Francis - stirred the whole of humanity.

The heads of the two churches managed to discuss a lotquestions regarding the direction of development of Orthodox-Catholic relations. Ultimately, after the conversation, a declaration was signed and signed to draw the attention of mankind to the problem of Christians living in poverty in the Middle East region. “To stop the war and immediately start conducting peace settlement operations,” he calls on the text of the document.

The conclusion of the declaration and the phenomenal beginningthe dialogue between the Russian Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches is the first step towards a thriving interfaith movement. When meetings of this level occur, the future becomes brighter, and the doors open to them, leading to full-scale interfaith and interfaith cooperation. The latter will help solve global economic and social problems of civilization. The generation of mankind, in whose heart there is room for God, also has hope for peaceful coexistence, without aggression, pain and suffering.