Vatican City, 18 November 2014 (VIS) –
On 21 November 1964, after a long and laborious process, the Council
Fathers approved the decree on ecumenism, “Unitatis Redintegratio”
by 2,137 votes to 11. The document, which undoubtedly marked a
qualitative leap in the relations between the Catholic Church and the
other Churches and ecclesial Communities, continues to represent an
indispensable point of reference for the Catholic Church in her
commitment to ecumenism.
The Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity will commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the
promulgation of the decree with two events. On Thursday, 20 November,
in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, Vespers will be
celebrated, open to all, and attended by the members and consultors
of this Council and the representatives of the Churches and ecclesial
communities present in Rome, to give thanks to God for the fruits
already gathered along the path of ecumenism during these last fifty
years, and to invoke His blessing for the road that still lies ahead.
On 21 November a meeting will take
place in the Great Hall of the Pontifical Gregorian University,
during which the Pastors and theologians of the Catholic Church and
other Churches and ecclesial communities will reread the Council
decree, each from his own point of view, discussing today's
ecumenical challenges and those that await us in the future. The
moderator of the event will be Professor Giovanni Maria Vian, editor
of L'Osservatore Romano, and the speakers will be Cardinal Kurt Koch,
president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity;
Bishop Irinej Bulovic of Backa, the Serb Orthodox Patriarch;
Professor Timothy George of the Baptist World Alliance; Fr. William
Henn, O.F.M. Cap., of the Pontifical Gregorian University; Teny Pirri
Simonian of the Armenian Orthodox Church, Catholicosate of Cilicia;
and Friederike Nussel of the Lutheran Church.
The meeting will conclude the Council's
plenary session, which will take place from 18 to 21 November and
will focus on the theme: “The aim of ecumenism: principles,
opportunities and challenges, fifty years after 'Unitatis
Redintegratio'”. Fifty years after its promulgation, the dicastery
considers it useful to examine how the Council degree continues to
inspire the ecumenical efforts of the Catholic Church in a changing
landscape.
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