Religion Watch Archives

Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Archives
    • By Issue
    • By Article
    • By PDF (2008-14)
    • By PDF (1985-97)
    • All Articles
  • Sections
    • Current Research
    • Findings & Footnotes
    • On/File
  • Google Search
You are here: Home / Archive / Declining ecumenism facing new challenges

Declining ecumenism facing new challenges

July 1, 2002 by Richard Cimino

Print-friendly

There doesn’t seem to be any sign that ecumenism will recover from its doldrums, particularly as interfaith relations and a concern for coexistence now outweigh the drive for church unity among most denominations.

In an article in Ecumenical Trends magazine (June), Lutheran ecumenist William  G. Rusch offers the above prognosis on ecumenism, noting that a long term decline of energy and interest in Christian unity among most churches continues. The older goal of unity and “communion” between different churches built on a common consensus theology can be found in Pope John Paul II’s statement Ut Unum Sint. But increasingly, such groups as the World Council of Churches and other churches see ecumenism mainly as cooperation on common goals, according to Rusch.

Another concern that will detract from the interest in church unity is the pressing matter of interfaith cooperation and dialogue (particularly after Sept. 11). Because so many issues dividing the churches “appear to be insoluble in the short term…probably new and major theological breakthroughs will not occur soon,” Rusch adds. As church leaderships continue to be preoccupied with denominational survival, and many clergy focus on parish survival, ecumenism will “be perceived as an elective.”

Rusch sees a model of ecumenism in the Lutheran/Catholic joint agreement on justification by faith issued in 1999, where the method used to achieve the agreement sought new language (avoiding age-old condemnations between the churches) to clear up and transcend historic misunderstandings. The “hard slogging of committed and qualified theologians necessary for such work will not be popular in today’s church environment, concludes Rusch.

(Ecumenical Trends, P.O. Box 306, Garrison, NY 10524-0306)

Print-friendly

Filed Under: Archive

Also in this issue

  • Findings & Footnotes: July 2002
  • Serbian Orthodoxy takes ecumenical, interfaith turn
  • Islam wins converts in Chiapas, Mexico
  • Christian internet thriving around the Baltic Sea
  • Christian internet expands in Europe
  • Current Research: July 2002
  • Voucher decision bolsters faith-based groups
  • Violence and new religions: Lessons learned
  • Sex abuse scandals — Watergate for young Catholics?

Search the Site

Download the first issue of RELIGION WATCH (1980)

Download the first issue of RELIGION WATCH (1980)

Click on the image for downloading

© 2016-2023 Richard Cimino / Religioscope
·News Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress