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Ecumenism

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Brother Roger, Swiss Christian leader and monastic, who founded the ecumenical Taizé Community, and was its first prior until his murder in 2005.
Ecumenism is any interdenominational initiative aimed at greater cooperation among Christian churches.


Contents  [hide]
1 Seeking a single Church
2 Christian ecumenism and interfaith pluralism
3 Ecumenical movement
4 Three approaches to Christian unity 4.1 Roman Catholicism
4.2 Orthodoxy
4.3 Anglicanism and Protestantism
5 Contemporary developments 5.1 Catholic-Orthodox dialogue
5.2 Issues within Protestantism
6 Opposition 6.1 Opposition from some Methodists
6.2 Opposition from some Lutherans
6.3 Opposition from some Orthodox Christians
7 Popular culture
8 Ecumenical organizations
9 See also
10 References
11 Bibliography
12 Further reading
13 External links

Seeking a single Church[edit]
Ecumenism is the idea of a Christian unity in the literal meaning: that there should be a single Church. Ecumenism is separate and distinct from nondenominational Christianity, which seeks no common organizing principle.
This specific sense of the word contrasts with interfaith dialogue or interfaith pluralism aimed at unity or cooperation among diverse religions and referring to a worldwide "religious unity" by the advocacy of a greater sense of shared spirituality.
The word is derived from Greek οἰκουμένη (oikoumene), which means "the whole inhabited world", and was historically used with specific reference to the Roman Empire. The ecumenical vision comprises both the search for the visible unity of the Church (Ephesians 4:3) and the "whole inhabited earth" (Matthew 24:14) as the concern of all Christians.
In Christianity the qualification ecumenical is originally (and still) used in terms such as "Ecumenical council" and "Ecumenical patriarch" in the meaning of pertaining to the totality of the larger Church (such as the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church) rather than being restricted to one of its constituent churches or dioceses. Used in this original sense, the term carries no connotation of re-uniting the historically separated Christian denominations.
Christian ecumenism and interfaith pluralism[edit]

 

 The Christian Flag, which was designed to represent Christianity, aims at "the recovery in thought, in action, and in organization, of the true unity between the Church's mission to the world (its apostolate) and the Church's obligation to be one".[1] Thus, ecumenism is the promotion of unity or cooperation between distinct sects or denominations of Christianity.
Ecumenism is distinguished from and should not be misused to mean interfaith pluralism. The interfaith movement strives for greater mutual respect, toleration, and co-operation among the world religions. Interfaith dialogue between representatives of diverse faiths does not necessarily intend reconciling their adherents into full, organic unity with one another, but simply to promote better relations.
For some Catholics it may, but not always, have the goal of reconciling all who profess Christian faith to bring them into a single, visible organization, i.e. through union with the Roman Catholic Church.
For some Protestants, spiritual unity, and often unity on the church's teachings on central issues, suffices. According to Lutheran theologian Edmund Schlink, most important in Christian ecumenism is that people focus primarily on Christ, not on separate church organizations. In Schlink's book Ökumenische Dogmatik (1983), he says Christians who see the risen Christ at work in the lives of various Christians or in diverse churches realize that the unity of Christ's church has never been lost,[2] but has instead been distorted and obscured by different historical experiences and by spiritual myopia.
Both are overcome in renewed faith in Christ. Included in that is responding to his admonition (John 17; Philippians 2) to be one in him and love one another as a witness to the world. The result of mutual recognition would be a discernible worldwide fellowship, organized in a historically new way.[3]
An example of ecumenism is the invention of and growing usage of the Christian Flag, which was designed to represent all of Christendom.[4] The flag has a white field, with a red Latin cross inside a blue canton.[4]
Ecumenical movement[edit]
One understanding of the ecumenical movement is that it came from the Roman Catholic Church's attempts to reconcile with Christians who had become separated over theological issues.[5] Others see the 1910 World Missionary Conference as the birthplace of the ecumenical movement.[6] Others yet point to the 1920 encyclical of the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Germanos of Constantinople "To the Churches of Christ Everywhere" that suggested a "fellowship of churches" similar to the League of Nations.[7]
Nathan Söderblom, Archbishop of Uppsala, the head of the Lutheran church in Sweden, is known as the architect of the ecumenical movement of the twentieth century. During the First World War, he called on all Christian leaders to work for peace and justice. His leadership of the Christian "Life and Work" movement in the 1920s has led him to be recognised as one of the principal founders of the ecumenical movement. His was instrumental in chairing the World Conference of Life and Work in Stockholm, in 1925. At the Stockholm Conference in 1925, the culminating event in Söderblom's ecumenical work, the Anglican, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians were all present and participating, with the exception of the Catholic Church, much regretted absence. He was a close friend of the English ecumenist George Bell. In 1930 was one of the recipients of the Nobel Prize, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, for the:Cooperation between Christian Church Communities Brings Peace and the first clergyman to receive this prize.[8][9]
After World War I, which had brought much devastation to many people, the church became a source of hope to those in need. In 1948 the first meeting of the World Council of Churches took place. Despite the fact that the meeting had been postponed due to World War II, the council took place in Amsterdam with the theme of "Man’s Disorder and God’s Design".[5] The focus of the church and the council following the gathering was on the damage created by the Second World War. The council and the movement went forward to continue the efforts of unifying the church globally around the idea of helping all those in need, whether it be a physical, emotional, or spiritual need. The movement led to an understanding amongst the churches that, despite difference, they could join together to be an element of great change in the world. To be an agent of hope and peace amongst the chaos and destruction that humans seem to create. More importantly the council and the movement lead to not only ecumenism but to the forming of councils amongst the denominations that connected churches across continental lines.[5]
Today, the World Council of Churches sees its role as sharing "the legacy of the one ecumenical movement and the responsibility to keep it alive" and acting "as a trustee for the inner coherence of the movement".[10]
Three approaches to Christian unity[edit]

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For a significant part of the Christian world, one of the highest goals to be sought is the reconciliation of the various denominations by overcoming the historical divisions within Christianity. Even where there is broad agreement upon this goal, approaches to ecumenism vary. Generally, Protestants see fulfillment of the goal of ecumenism as consisting in general agreements on teachings about central issues of faith, with mutual pastoral accountability between the diverse churches regarding the teachings of salvation.
For Catholics and Orthodox on the other hand, the true unity of Christendom is treated in accordance with their more sacramental understanding of the Body of Christ; this ecclesiastical matter for them is closely linked to key theological issues (e.g. regarding the Eucharist and the historical Episcopate), and requires full dogmatic assent to the pastoral authority of the Church for full communion to be considered viable and valid. Thus, there are different answers even to the question of the church, which finally is the goal of the ecumenist movement itself. However, the desire of unity is expressed by many denominations, generally that all who profess faith in Christ in sincerity, would be more fully cooperative and supportive of one another.
For the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the process of approaching one another is formally split in two successive stages: the "dialogue of love" and the "dialogue of truth". To the former belong the mutual revocation in 1965 of the anathemas of 1054 (see below Contemporary developments), returning the relics of Sabbas the Sanctified (a common saint) to Mar Saba in the same year, and the first visit of a Pope to an Orthodox country in a millennium (Pope John Paul II accepting the invitation of the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Teoctist, in 1999), among others. The later one, involving effective theological engagement on matters of dogma, is only just commencing.
Christian ecumenism can be described in terms of the three largest divisions of Christianity: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. While this underemphasizes the complexity of these divisions, it is a useful model.
Roman Catholicism[edit]
Main article: Catholic Church and ecumenism
The Roman Catholic Church has always considered it a duty of the highest rank to seek full unity with estranged communions of fellow-Christians and, at the same time, to reject what it sees as a false union that would mean being unfaithful to or glossing over the teaching of sacred scripture and tradition.
Before the Second Vatican Council, the main stress was laid on this second aspect, as exemplified in canon 1258 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law:
1.It is illicit for the faithful to assist at or participate in any way in non-Catholic religious functions.
2.For a serious reason requiring, in case of doubt, the Bishop's approval, passive or merely material presence at non-Catholic funerals, weddings and similar occasions because of holding a civil office or as a courtesy can be tolerated, provided there is no danger of perversion or scandal.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law has no corresponding canon. It absolutely forbids Roman Catholic priests to concelebrate the Eucharist with members of communities which are not in full communion (canon 908), but allows, in certain circumstances and under certain conditions, other sharing in the sacraments. The Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, 102[11] states: "Christians may be encouraged to share in spiritual activities and resources, i.e., to share that spiritual heritage they have in common in a manner and to a degree appropriate to their present divided state."
Pope John XXIII, who convoked the council that brought this change of emphasis about, said that the council's aim was to seek renewal of the church itself, which would serve, for those separated from the See of Rome, as a "gentle invitation to seek and find that unity for which Jesus Christ prayed so ardently to his heavenly Father".[12]
Some elements of the Roman Catholic perspective on ecumenism are illustrated in the following quotations from the council's decree on ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio of 21 November 1964, and Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Ut Unum Sint of 25 May 1995.

Every renewal of the Church is essentially grounded in an increase of fidelity to her own calling. Undoubtedly this is the basis of the movement toward unity ... There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without a change of heart. For it is from renewal of the inner life of our minds, from self-denial and an unstinted love that desires of unity take their rise and develop in a mature way. We should therefore pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self-denying, humble. gentle in the service of others, and to have an attitude of brotherly generosity towards them. ... The words of St. John hold good about sins against unity: "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us". So we humbly beg pardon of God and of our separated brethren, just as we forgive them that trespass against us.[13]

Christians cannot underestimate the burden of long-standing misgivings inherited from the past, and of mutual misunderstandings and prejudices. Complacency, indifference and insufficient knowledge of one another often make this situation worse. Consequently, the commitment to ecumenism must be based upon the conversion of hearts and upon prayer, which will also lead to the necessary purification of past memories. With the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Lord's disciples, inspired by love, by the power of the truth and by a sincere desire for mutual forgiveness and reconciliation, are called to re-examine together their painful past and the hurt which that past regrettably continues to provoke even today.[14]

In ecumenical dialogue, Catholic theologians standing fast by the teaching of the Church and investigating the divine mysteries with the separated brethren must proceed with love for the truth, with charity, and with humility. When comparing doctrines with one another, they should remember that in Catholic doctrine there exists a "hierarchy" of truths, since they vary in their relation to the fundamental Christian faith. Thus the way will be opened by which through fraternal rivalry all will be stirred to a deeper understanding and a clearer presentation of the unfathomable riches of Christ.[15]

The unity willed by God can be attained only by the adherence of all to the content of revealed faith in its entirety. In matters of faith, compromise is in contradiction with God who is Truth. In the Body of Christ, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), who could consider legitimate a reconciliation brought about at the expense of the truth?...Even so, doctrine needs to be presented in a way that makes it understandable to those for whom God himself intends it.[16]

When the obstacles to perfect ecclesiastical communion have been gradually overcome, all Christians will at last, in a common celebration of the Eucharist, be gathered into the one and only Church in that unity which Christ bestowed on his Church from the beginning. We believe that this unity subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time.[17]
While some Eastern Orthodox churches commonly baptize converts from the Roman Catholic Church, thereby refusing to recognize the baptism that the converts have previously received, the Roman Catholic Church has always accepted the validity of all the sacraments administered by the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches.
The Roman Catholic Church likewise has very seldom applied the terms "heterodox" or "heretic" to the Eastern Orthodox churches or its members, though there are clear differences in doctrine, notably about the authority of the Pope, Purgatory, and the filioque clause. More often, the term "separated" or "schismatic" has been applied to the state of the Eastern Orthodox churches.
Orthodoxy[edit]

 

 The consecration of The Rt. Rev Weller as an Anglican bishop at the Cathedral of St. Paul the Apostle in the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac, with the Rt. Rev. Anthony Kozlowski of the Polish National Catholic Church and the Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow (along with his chaplains Fr. John Kochurov, and Fr. Sebastian Dabovich) of the Russian Orthodox Church present
The Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches are two distinct bodies of local churches. The churches within each body share full communion, although there is not official communion between the two bodies. Both consider themselves to be the original church, from which the West was divided in the 5th and 11th centuries, respectively (after the 3rd and 7th Ecumenical councils).
Many theologians of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxies engage in theological dialogue with each other and with some of the Western churches, though short of full communion. The Eastern Orthodox have participated in the ecumenical movement, with students active in the World Student Christian Federation since the late 19th century. Most Eastern Orthodox[18] and all Oriental Orthodox churches[19] are members of the World Council of Churches. Kallistos of Diokleia, a bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church has stated that ecumenism "is important for Orthodoxy: it has helped to force the various Orthodox Churches out of their comparative isolation, making them meet one another and enter into a living contact with non-Orthodox Christians."[20]
Historically, the relationship between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion has been congenial, with the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1922 recognising Anglican orders as valid. He wrote: "That the orthodox theologians who have scientifically examined the question have almost unanimously come to the same conclusions and have declared themselves as accepting the validity of Anglican Orders."[21] Moreover, some Eastern Orthodox bishops have assisted in the ordination of Anglican bishops; for example, in 1870, the Most Reverend Alexander Lycurgus, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Syra and Tinos, was one of the bishops who consecrated Henry MacKenzie as the Suffragan Bishop of Nottingham.[22] From 1910-1911, the era before World War I, Raphael of Brooklyn, an Eastern Orthodox bishop, "sanctioned an interchange of ministrations with the Episcopalians in places where members of one or the other communion are without clergy of their own."[23] Bishop Raphael stated that in places "where there is no resident Orthodox Priest", an Anglican (Episcopalian) priest could administer Marriage, Holy Baptism, and the Blessed Sacrament to an Orthodox layperson.[24] In 1912, however, Bishop Raphael ended the intercommunion after becoming uncomfortable with the fact that the Anglican Communion contained different churchmanships within Her, e.g. High Church, Evangelical, etc.[23] However, after WWI, the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius was organized in 1927, which much like the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association worked on ecumenism between the two Churches; both of these organisations continue their task today.[25]
In accordance with the Soviet anti-religious legislation under the state atheism of the Soviet Union, several Russian Orthodox churches and seminaries were closed.[26][27] With ecumenical aid from the Methodist Church, two Russian Orthodox seminaries were reopened; leaders of the Orthodox Church thankfully stated that "The services rendered by the American Methodists and other Christian friends will go down in history of the Orthodox Church as one of its brightest pages in that dark and trying time of the church. Our church will never forget the Samaritan service which your whole Church unselfishly rendered us. May this be the beginning of closer friendship for our Churches and nations.[28]
Anglicanism and Protestantism[edit]
For more details on the on-going dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the wider Church, see Anglican communion and ecumenism.
The members of the Anglican Communion have generally embraced the Ecumenical Movement, actively participating in such organizations as the World Council of Churches and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Most provinces holding membership in the Anglican Communion have special departments devoted to ecumenical relations; however, the influence of Liberal Christianity has in recent years caused tension within the communion, causing some to question the direction ecumenism has taken them.
Each member church of the Anglican Communion makes its own decisions with regard to intercommunion. Many of them are currently out of communion with other provinces of the Anglican Communion. The 1958 Lambeth Conference recommended "that where between two Churches not of the same denominational or confessional family, there is unrestricted communio in sacris, including mutual recognition and acceptance of ministries, the appropriate term to use is 'full communion', and that where varying degrees of relation other than 'full communion' are established by agreement between two such churches the appropriate term is 'intercommunion'."
Full communion has been established between Provinces of the Anglican Communion and these Churches:
Old Catholic Churches of Europe
Philippine Independent Church
Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Moravian Church in America, Northern and Southern Provinces
The Episcopal Church is currently engaged in dialogue with the following religious bodies:
Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC)
Eastern Orthodox Church
Roman Catholic Church
Presbyterian Church USA
United Methodist Church
Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of America
Worldwide, an estimated forty million Anglicans belong to churches that do not participate in the Anglican Communion[citation needed], a particular organization limited to one province per country. In these Anglican churches, there is strong opposition to the ecumenical movement and to membership in such bodies as the World and National Councils of Churches. Most of these churches are associated with the Continuing Anglican movement or the movement for Anglican realignment. While ecumenicalism in general is opposed, certain Anglican church bodies that are not members of the Anglican Communion—the Free Church of England and the Church of England in South Africa, for example—have fostered close and cooperative relations with other evangelical (if non-Anglican) churches, on an individual basis.


 This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)
Nicolaus Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf, (1700–1760) the renewer of the Unitas Fratrum / Moravian Church in the 18th century, was the first person to use the word "ecumenical" in this sense. His pioneering efforts to unite all Christians, regardless of denominational labels, into a "Church of God in the Spirit"—notably among German immigrants in Pennsylvania—were misunderstood by his contemporaries and 200 years before the world was ready for them.
The contemporary ecumenical movement for Protestants is often said to have started with the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference. However this conference would not have been possible without the pioneering ecumenical work of the Christian youth movements: the Young Men's Christian Association (founded 1844), the Young Women's Christian Association (founded 1855), the World Student Christian Federation (founded 1895), and the Federal Council of Churches (founded 1908), predecessor to today's National Council of Churches USA.
Led by Methodist layman John R. Mott (former YMCA staff and in 1910 the General Secretary of WSCF), the World Mission conference marked the largest Protestant gathering to that time, with the express purposes of working across denominational lines for the sake of world missions. After the First World War further developments were the "Faith and Order" movement led by Charles Henry Brent, and the "Life and Work" movement led by Nathan Soderblom. In the 1930s, the tradition of an annual World Communion Sunday to celebrate ecumenical ties was established in the Presbyterian Church and was subsequently adopted by several other denominations.
Eventually, formal organizations were formed, including the World Council of Churches in 1948, the National Council of Churches in the USA in 1950, and Churches Uniting in Christ in 2002. These groups are moderate to liberal, theologically speaking, as Protestants are generally more liberal and less traditional than Anglicans, Orthodox, and Roman Catholics.
Protestants are now involved in a variety of ecumenical groups, working in some cases toward organic denominational unity and in other cases for cooperative purposes alone. Because of the wide spectrum of Protestant denominations and perspectives, full cooperation has been difficult at times. Edmund Schlink's Ökumenische Dogmatik 1983, 1997 proposes a way through these problems to mutual recognition and renewed church unity.
In 1999, the representatives of Lutheran World Federation and Roman Catholic Church signed The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, resolving the conflict over the nature of Justification which was at the root of the Protestant Reformation, although some conservative Lutherans did not agree to this resolution. On July 18, 2006 Delegates to the World Methodist Conference voted unanimously to adopt the Joint Declaration.[29][30]
Contemporary developments[edit]

 

 Ecumenical worship service at the monastery of Taizé.
Catholic-Orthodox dialogue[edit]
The mutual anathemas (excommunications) of 1054, marking the Great Schism between Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) branches of Christianity, a process spanning several centuries, were revoked in 1965 by the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The Roman Catholic Church does not regard Orthodox Christians as excommunicated, since they personally have no responsibility for the separation of their churches. In fact, Catholic rules admit the Orthodox to communion and the other sacraments in situations where the individuals are in danger of death or no Orthodox churches exist to serve the needs of their faithful. However, Orthodox churches still generally regard Roman Catholics as excluded from the sacraments and some may even not regard Catholic sacraments such as baptism and ordination as valid.
In November 2006, Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Istanbul at the invitation of Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and participated in the feast day services of St. Andrew the First Apostle, the patron saint of the Church of Constantinople. The Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope Benedict had another historic meeting in Ravenna, Italy in 2007. The Declaration of Ravenna marked a significant rapprochement between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox positions. The declaration recognized the bishop of Rome as the Protos, or first among equals of the Patriarchs. This acceptance and the entire agreement was hotly contested by the Russian Orthodox Church. The signing of the declaration highlighted the pre-existing tensions between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Moscow Patriarchate. Besides their theological concerns, the Russian Orthodox have continuing concerns over the question of the Eastern Catholic Churches that operate in what they regard as Orthodox territory. This question has been exacerbated by disputes over churches and other property that the Communist authorities once assigned to the Orthodox Church but whose restoration these Churches have obtained from the present authorities.
A major obstacle to improved relations between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches has been the insertion of the Latin term filioque into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed in the 8th and 11th centuries.[31] This obstacle has now been effectively resolved. The Roman Catholic Church now recognizes that the Creed, as confessed at the First Council of Constantinople, did not add "and the Son", when it spoke of the Holy Spirit as proceeding from the Father. When quoting the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, as in the 6 August 2000 document Dominus Iesus, it does not include filioque.[32] It views as complementary the Eastern-tradition expression "who proceeds from the Father" (profession of which it sees as affirming that he comes from the Father through the Son) and the Western-tradition expression "who proceeds from the Father and the Son", with the Eastern tradition expressing firstly the Father's character as first origin of the Spirit, and the Western tradition giving expression firstly to the consubstantial communion between Father and Son; and it believes that, provided this legitimate complementarity does not become rigid, it does not affect the identity of faith in the reality of the same mystery confessed.[33]
Continuing dialogues at both international and national level continue between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, but major future developments will probably have to await the outcome of the 2016 Ecumenical Council of the Orthodox Church.
Issues within Protestantism[edit]
Contemporary developments in mainline Protestant churches have dealt a serious blow to ecumenism. The decision by the U.S. Episcopal Church to ordain Gene Robinson, an openly gay, non-celibate priest who advocates same-sex blessings, as bishop led the Russian Orthodox Church to suspend its cooperation with the Episcopal Church. Likewise, when the Church of Sweden decided to bless same-sex marriages, the Russian Patriarchate severed all relations with the Church, noting that "Approving the shameful practice of same-sex marriages is a serious blow to the entire system of European spiritual and moral values influenced by Christianity."[34]
Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev commented that the inter-Christian community is "bursting at the seams". He sees the great dividing line—or "abyss"—not so much between old churches and church families as between "traditionalists" and "liberals", the latter now dominating Protestantism, and predicted that other Northern Protestant Churches will follow suit and this means that the "ecumenical ship" will sink, for with the liberalism that is materializing in European Protestant churches, there is no longer anything to talk about.[35]
Organizations such as the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches USA, Churches Uniting in Christ, Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship and Christian Churches Together continue to encourage ecumenical cooperation among Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, and, at times, Roman Catholics. There are universities such as the University of Bonn in Germany that offer degree courses in "Ecumenical Studies" in which theologians of various denominations teach their respective traditions and, at the same time, seek for common ground between these traditions.
Influenced by the ecumenical movement, the "scandal of separation" and local developments, a number of United and uniting churches have formed; there are also a range of mutual recognition strategies being practiced where formal union is not feasible. An increasing trend has been the sharing of church buildings by two or more denominations, either holding separate services or a single service with elements of all traditions.
Opposition[edit]
Opposition from some Methodists[edit]
There are some in The United Methodist Church who oppose the forms of ecumenism which are "not grounded in the doctrines of the Church" due to the fear of doctrinal compromise.[36] For example, an article published in Catalyst Online: Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives for United Methodist Seminarians stated that false ecumenism might result in the "blurring of theological and confessional differences in the interests of unity".[37]
Opposition from some Lutherans[edit]
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) bars its clergy from worshiping with other faiths, holding "that church fellowship or merger between church bodies in doctrinal disagreement with one another is not in keeping with what the Bible teaches about church fellowship".[38] In practice of this: a Connecticut LCMS pastor was asked to apologize by the President of the denomination, and did so, for participating in an interfaith prayer vigil for the 26 children and adults killed at a Newtown elementary school, and a LCMS pastor in New York was suspended for praying at an interfaith vigil in 2001, 12 days after the September 11 attacks.[39]
Opposition from some Orthodox Christians[edit]
See also: Sobornost
Practically, "the whole of Eastern Orthodoxy holds membership in the World Council of Churches."[40] Ecumenical Patriarch Germanus V of Constantinople's 1920 letter "'To all the Churches of Christ, wherever they may be', urging closer co-operation among separated Christians, and suggesting a 'League of Churches', parallel to the newly founded League of Nations" was a inspiration for the founding of the World Council of Churches; as such "Constantinople, along with several of the other Orthodox Churches, was represented at the Faith and Order Conferences at Lausanne in 1927 and at Edinburgh in 1937. The Ecumenical Patriarchate also participated in the first Assembly of the WCC at Amsterdam in 1948, and has been a consistent supporter of the work of the WCC ever since."[41]
However, there exists a small group of Orthodox Christians who are vehemently opposed to ecumenism with other Christian denominations. They view ecumenism, as well as interfaith dialog, as being potentially pernicious to Orthodox Church Tradition; a "weakening" of Orthodoxy itself.[42] In the Eastern Orthodox world, the monastic community of Mount Athos, arguably the most important center of Orthodox spirituality, has voiced its concerns regarding the ecumenist movement and opposition to the participation of the Orthodox Church.[43] They regard modern ecumenism as compromising essential doctrinal stands in order to accommodate other Christians, and object to the emphasis on dialogue leading to intercommunion rather than conversion on the part of participants in ecumenical initiatives. Greek Old Calendarists also claim that the teachings of the Seven Ecumenical Councils forbid changing the church calendar through abandonment of the Julian calendar.[citation needed] The Inter-Orthodox Theological Conference entitled "Ecumenism: Origins, Expectations, Disenchantment",[44] organized in September 2004 by the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki has drawn negative conclusions on ecumenism.
Popular culture[edit]
The word ecumenical arises in the Father Ted episode Tentacles of Doom, in which Father Ted sets out to train the drunken and bad-tempered Father Jack to say two all-encompassing phrases in response to questions from three visiting bishops, namely "Yes" and "that would be an ecumenical matter".[45]
In the strategy game Europa Universalis III, the player can select "Ecumenism" as a National Idea. This increases tolerance of "heretical religions" (i.e. religions that are related to but not part of the state's religion) within the player's country.
Ecumenical organizations[edit]


Action of Churches Together in Scotland
Anglican and Eastern Churches Association
American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC)
Bose Monastic Community
Byzantine Discalced Carmelites
Campus Crusade for Christ
Canadian Council of Churches
Christian Churches Together in the USA
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
Churches Together in England
Churches Uniting in Christ

Conference of European Churches
Ecumenical Free Catholic Communion
Ecumenical Gospel Mission of India
Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue
Edinburgh Churches Together
Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius
Franciscan Hermitage of Campello, Italy
Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC/Unification Church/Unification Movement)
International Circle of Faith
Iona Community

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
New Monasticism related Communities
Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship
People of Praise
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
Prairie Centre for Ecumenism
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
Society of Ordained Scientists
Student Christian Movement (Britain)
Taizé Community
World Alliance of Reformed Churches
World Council of Churches
World Student Christian Federation
 
See also[edit]
Accord Coalition, uniting the religious & non-religious concerned about religious inclusivity in education (England and Wales)
Anonymous Christian
Ecumenical council
Inclusivism
Invisible church
One true church
One true faith
Postmodern Christianity
Religious pluralism
Socratic questioning
Syncretism
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The Calling of the Church to Mission and to Unity," Theology Today, vol. 9, no. 1 (April 1952): 15.
2.Jump up ^ Edmund Schlink, Ökumenische Dogmatik (1983), pp. 694–701; also his "Report," Dialog 1963, 2:4, 328.
3.Jump up ^ Edmund Schlink, Ökumenische Dogmatik (1983), pp. 707–708; also Skibbe, A Quiet Reformer 1999, 122–4; Schlink, The Vision of the Pope 2001.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "The Christian Flag". Prayer Foundation. Retrieved 2007-10-18. "The flag's most conspicuous symbol is the Christian cross, the most universal symbol for Christianity. The red color represents the blood of Christ and brings to mind his crucifixion. Christians believe that Jesus Christ's death and resurrection is the means God uses to save believers from their sins. The cross and blood have been used since earliest Christianity to symbolize salvation through Jesus; in the words of the Apostle Paul, "And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself;"—Colossians 1:20. The white field draws on symbolism throughout the Bible equating white clothes with purity and forgiveness. People who have been "washed white as snow" in the Bible have been cleansed from their sins (Isaiah 1:18; Psalm 51:2). In conventional vexillology (the study of flags, their history and symbolism), a white flag is linked to surrender, a reference to the Biblical description Jesus' non-violence and surrender to God's will. The symbolism behind the blue canton has been interpreted to represent Heaven, truth, or the Christian ritual of Baptism in water."
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Howard C. Kee et al., Christianity: a Social and Cultural History, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ.: Prentice Hall, 1998), 379–81.
6.Jump up ^ Latourette, Kenneth Scott. "Ecumenical Bearings of the Missionary Movement and the International Missionary Council." In "A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517-1948", edited by Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill, 353-73, 401-02. Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1954.
7.Jump up ^ Grdzelidze, Tamara. "Ecumenism, Orthodoxy and" In "The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity", edited by John Anthony McGuckin , 208-15. Wiley Blackwell, 2011.
8.Jump up ^ "Nathan Söderblom, Nobel Prize Winner". /www.nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2015.
9.Jump up ^ "nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1930/soderblom-facts". www.nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2015.
10.Jump up ^ "The WCC and the ecumenical movement". oikoumene.org. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
11.Jump up ^ Directory For The Application Of Principles And Norms On Ecumenism
12.Jump up ^ Encyclical Ad Petri cathedram
13.Jump up ^ Unitatis Redintegratio 6–7
14.Jump up ^ Encyclical Ut unum sint, 2[www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25051995_ut-unum-sint_en.html]
15.Jump up ^ Unitatis Redintegratio, 11[www.vatican.va/.../ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_unitatis-redintegratio_en.html]
16.Jump up ^ Encyclical Ut unum sint, 18-19[www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25051995_ut-unum-sint_en.html]
17.Jump up ^ Unitatis Redintegratio, 4[www.vatican.va/.../ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_unitatis-redintegratio_en.html]
18.Jump up ^ "Orthodox churches (Eastern)". oikoumene.org. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
19.Jump up ^ "Orthodox churches (Oriental)". oikoumene.org. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
20.Jump up ^ Ware, Kallistos (28 April 1993). The Orthodox Church. Penguin Adult. p. 322. ISBN 9780140146561.
21.Jump up ^ The Ecumenical Patriarch on Anglican Orders
22.Jump up ^ Redmile, Robert David (1 September 2006). The Apostolic Succession and the Catholic Episcopate in the Christian Episcopal Church of Canada. p. 239. ISBN 9781600345173. "In 1870, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Syra and Tinos, the Most Reverend Alexander Lycurgus, paid a visit to the British Isles. During his time in England, Archbishop Lycurgus was invited by the Lord Bishop of London, John Jackson, to join with him in consecrating Henry MacKenzie as the Suffragan Bishop of Nottingham. Archbishop Lycurgus agreed to assist, and on 2 February 1870, he joined in the laying on of hands with the Bishop of London at the consecration of Bishop MacKenzie. Thus the Apostolic Succession in the Greek Orthodox Church was passed on to the Bishops of the Anglican Communion, and through them to the Christian Episcopal Churches in the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada."
23.^ Jump up to: a b Herbermann, Charles (1912). The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. Robert Appleton. p. 149. "This A.E.O.C.U. is particularly active in the United States, where the existence side by side of Westerns and Easterns offers special facilities for mutual intercourse. It is due mainly to its instances that the orthodox Bishop Raphael of Brooklyn recently sanctioned an interchange of ministrations with the Episcopalians in places where members of one or the other communion are without clergy of their own-a practice which, as coming from the Orthodox side, seemed strange, but was presumably justified by the "principle of economy" which some Orthodox theologians unaccountably advocate (see Reunion Magazine, Sept., 1910)."
24.Jump up ^ Journal of the Proceedings of the One Hundred and Ninth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Rumford Press. 1910. p. 411. Retrieved 15 April 2014. "Inasmuch as there is a variance between your and our Churches in these matters, I suggest that, before any marriage Service is performed for Syrians desiring the services of the Protestant Episcopal Clergy, where there is no Orthodox Priest, that the Syrians shall first procure a license from me, their Bishop, giving them permission, and that, where there is a resident Orthodox Priest, that, the Episcopal Clergy may advise them to have such Service performed by him. Again, in the case of Holy Baptism, that, where there is no resident Orthodox Priest, that the Orthodox law in reference to the administration of the Sacrament be observed, namely immersion three times, with the advice to the parents and witnesses that, as soon as possible, the child shall be taken to an Orthodox Priest to receive Chrismation, which is absolutely binding according to the Law of the Orthodox Church. Furthermore, when an Orthodox Layman is dying, if he confesses his sins, and professes that he is dying in the full communion of the Orthodox Faith, as expressed in the Orthodox version of the Nicene Creed, and the other requirements of the said Church, and desires the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, at the hands of an Episcopal Clergyman, permission is hereby given to administer to him this Blessed Sacrament, and to be buried according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Episcopal Church. But, it is recommended that, if an Orthodox Service Book can be procured, that the Sacraments and Rites be performed as set forth in that Book. And now I pray God that He may hasten the time when the Spiritual Heads of the National Churches, of both yours and ours, may take our places in cementing the Union between the Anglican and Orthodox Churches, which we have so humbly begun; then there will be no need of suggestions, such as I have made, as to how, or by whom, Services shall be performed; and, instead of praying that we "all may be one" we shall known that we are one in Christ's Love and Faith. RAPHAEL, Bishop of Brooklyn."
25.Jump up ^ Church Quarterly Review. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. January–March 1964. "In 1927, the "Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius" was founded, becoming, like the "Anglican and Eastern Church Association", one of the chief focal points of these contacts."
26.Jump up ^ Greeley, Andrew M. Religion in Europe at the End of the Second Millennium: A Sociological Profile. Transaction Publishers. p. 89. ISBN 9781412832984. "Seminaries were closed, churches turned into museums or centers for atheist propaganda, the clergy rigidly controlled, the bishops appointed by the state."
27.Jump up ^ Gerhard Simon (1974). Church, State, and Opposition in the U.S.S.R. University of California Press. "On the other hand the Communist Party has never made any secret of the fact, either before or after 1917, that it regards 'militant atheism' as an integral part of its ideology and will regard 'religion as by no means a private matter'. It therefore uses 'the means of ideological influence to educate people in the spirit of scientific materialism and to overcome religious prejudices..' Thus it is the goal of the C.P.S.U. and thereby also of the Soviet state, for which it is after all the 'guiding cell', gradually to liquidate the religious communities."
28.Jump up ^ Rev. Thomas Hoffmann; William Alex Pridemore. "Esau’s Birthright and Jacob’s Pottage: A Brief Look at Orthodox-Methodist Ecumenism in Twentieth-Century Russia" (PDF). Demokratizatsiya. Retrieved 19 October 2009. "The Methodists continued their ecumenical commitments, now with the OC. This involved a continuance of financial assistance from European and American resources, enough to reopen two OC seminaries in Russia (where all had been previously closed). OC leaders wrote in two unsolicited statements: The services rendered... by the American Methodists and other Christian friends will go down in history of the Orthodox Church as one of its brightest pages in that dark and trying time of the church.... Our Church will never forget the Samaritan service which... your whole Church unselfishly rendered us. May this be the beginning of closer friendship for our churches and nations. (as quoted in Malone 1995, 50-51)"
29.Jump up ^ "News Archives". UMC.org. July 20, 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
30.Jump up ^ "CNS STORY: Methodists adopt Catholic-Lutheran declaration on justification". Catholicnews.com. July 24, 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
31.Jump up ^ "Cathecism of the Catholic Church, 247". Vatican.va. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
32.Jump up ^ "Dominus Iesus". Vatican.va. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
33.Jump up ^ "Article 1 of the Treaty of Brest". Ewtn.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
34.Jump up ^ Russian Orthodox Church condemns Lutheran gay weddings Pravda, 30 December 2005. Accessed 24 March 2009.
35.Jump up ^ Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: Will the Ecumenical Ship Sink? The Official Website of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Accessed 24 March 2009.
36.Jump up ^ William J. Abraham (2012). "United Methodist Evangelicals and Ecumenism" (PDF). Southern Methodist University. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
37.Jump up ^ Randall Balmer (1998). "The Future of American Protestantism". Catalyst Online: Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives for United Methodist Seminarians. Retrieved 11 November 2012.[dead link]
38.Jump up ^ "A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod" (PDF). Concordia Publishing House. 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
39.Jump up ^ "Pastor apologizes for role in prayer vigil after Connecticut massacre". Reuters. 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.[dead link]
40.Jump up ^ Fey, Harold C. (1 December 2009). A History of the Ecumenical Movement, Volume 2: 1948-1968. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 304. ISBN 9781606089101. "With the exception of the Orthodox Church of Albania the whole of Eastern Orthodoxy holds membership in the World Council of Churches."
41.Jump up ^ Ware, Kallistos (29 April 1993). The Orthodox Church. Penguin Adult. p. 322. ISBN 9780140146561. "From the beginning of the twentieth century the Ecumenical Patriarchate has shown a special concern for Christian reconciliation. At his accession in 1902, Patriarch Joachim III sent an encyclical letter to all the autocephalous Orthodox Churches, asking in particular for their opinion on relations with other Christian bodies. In January 1920 the Ecumenical Patriarchate followed this up with a bold and prophetic letter addressed 'To all the Churches of Christ, wherever they may be', urging closer co-operation among separated Christians, and suggesting a 'League of Churches', parallel to the newly founded League of Nations. Many of the ideas in this letter anticipate subsequent developments in the WCC. Constantinople, along with several of the other Orthodox Churches, was represented at the Faith and Order Conferences at Lausanne in 1927 and at Edinburgh in 1937. The Ecumenical Patriarchate also participated in the first Assembly of the WCC at Amsterdam in 1948, and has been a consistent supporter of the work of the WCC ever since."
42.Jump up ^ Patrick Barnes. "Ecumenism Awareness Introduction". Orthodox Christian Information Center. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
43.Jump up ^ The Theological Committee of the Sacred Community of Mount Athos (2007-02-18). "Memorandum on the Participation of the Orthodox Church in the World Council of Churches". orthodoxinfo.com. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
44.Jump up ^ "Conclusions of the Inter-Orthodox Theological Conference "Ecumenism: Origins Expectations Disenchantment"". orthodox.info. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
45.Jump up ^ "Father Ted" Tentacles of Doom (TV Episode 1996) - Quotes - IMDb
Bibliography[edit]
Borkowski, James D. "Middle East Ecumenism from an Anglican Perspective" Cloverdale Books (2007) ISBN 978-1-929569-23-6 [1]
Chandler, Andrew. Archbishop Fisher, 1945–1961: Church, State and World, chap. 6. The Archbishops of Canterbury Series. Farnham, U.K., and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2012.
Hedegard, David. Ecumenism and the Bible. Amsterdam: International Council of Christian Churches, 1954.
Hein, David. "The Episcopal Church and the Ecumenical Movement, 1937–1997: Presbyterians, Lutherans, and the Future." Anglican and Episcopal History 66 (1997): 4–29.
Hein, David. "Radical Ecumenism." Sewanee Theological Review 51 (June 2008): 314–328. Proposes that mainline Protestants, such as Episcopalians, have much to learn from heirs of the Radical Reformation, including the Amish.
A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517-1948, edited by Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954).
The Ecumenical Advance: A History of the Ecumenical Movement, volume 2, 1948-1968, edited by Harold E. Fey (London: S.P.C.K., 1970).
A History of the Ecumenical Movement, volume 3, 1968-2000, edited by John Briggs, Mercy Amba Oduyoye and Georges Tsetsis (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 2004).
Kasper, Walter, That They May All Be One: The Call to Unity Today (London: Burns & Oates, 2004).
Kasper, Walter, Harvesting the Fruits: Aspects of Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue (New York: Continuum, 2009).
Mackay, John A., Ecumenics: The Science of the Church Universal (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc: 1964).
Mastrantonis, George. "Augsburg and Constantinople : The Correspondence between the Tübingen Theologians and Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople on the Augsburg Confession." Holy Cross Orthodox Press (1982), reprinted (2005). ISBN 0-916586-82-0
Metzger, John Mackay, The Hand and the Road: The Life and Times of John A. Mackay (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010).
Ut Unum Sint ("That they may be one"), an encyclical by Pope John Paul II of May 25, 1995 on commitment to ecumenism.
Unitatis Redintegratio ("Restoration of Unity"), Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism, promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964.
Visser ’t Hooft, Willem Adolf, "Appendix I: The Word ‘Ecumenical’ – Its History and Use," in A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517-1948, edited by Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954), 735-740.
Weigel, Gustave, S.J., A Catholic Primer on the Ecumenical Movement (Westminster, Maryland: Newman Press, 1957).
McSorley, Harry J., C. S. P., Luther: Right or Wrong? An Ecumenical-Theological Study of Luther's Major Work, The Bondage of the Will, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Augsburg Publishing House, 1968. [2] Originally published under the German title: Luthers Lehre vom unfreien Willen: nach seiner Hauptschrift De servo arbitrio im Lichte der biblischen und kirchlichen Tradition [3] in: Beiträge zur ökumenischen Theologie, Band II, hrsg. (herausgegeben i.e. editor), H.ie%22&dq=%22Beitr%C3%A4ge+zur+%C3%B6kumenischen+Theologie%22&hl=en&ei=3hwRTc2SIYP78Aaemvi7Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA]
Antonio Calisi, L'Ecumenismo, il Rinnovamento Carismatico Cattolico e la Comunità di Gesù, Bari Chàrisma Edizioni, 2015. ISBN 9788890855948.
Further reading[edit]
Amess, Robert. One in the Truth?: the Cancer of Division in the Evangelical Church. Eastbourne, Eng.: Kingsway Publications, 1988. N.B.: Primarily concerns the quest for unity among evangelical Protestant denominations. ISBN 0-86065-439-7
Bray, Gerald L. Sacraments & Ministry in Ecumenical Perspective, in series, Latimer Studies, 18. Oxford, Eng.: Latimer House, 1984. ISBN 0-946307-17-2
Episcopal Church (U.S.A.). Ecumenical Relations Office. About the Concordat: 28 Questions about the Agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Church of America [i.e. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]. Cincinnati, Ohio: Forward Movement Publications, [1997?]. 43 p. Without ISBN
Florovsky, Georges Vasilievich, et al. La Sainte église universelle: confrontation oécuménique, in series, Cahiers théologiques de l'Actualité protestante, hors série, 4. Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Delachaux et Niestlé, 1948.
Headlam, Arthur Cayley, Bp. Christian Unity. London: Student Christian Movement Press, 1930. 157 p. N.B.: This study's orientation is Anglican (Church of England).
Mascall, Eric Lionel. The Recovery of Unity: a Theological Approach. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1958.
Waddams, Herbert. The Church and Man's Struggle for Unity, in series and subseries, Blandford History Series: Problems of History. London: Blandford Press, 1968. xii, 268 p., b&w ill. N.B.: An account of ecumenical problems and strivings within the entire history of Christianity.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ecumenism.
Ecumenism at DMOZ
The Unity of All Christians New Testament perspective
Christian Mysticism is unity with all


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Ecumenism

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Brother Roger, Swiss Christian leader and monastic, who founded the ecumenical Taizé Community, and was its first prior until his murder in 2005.
Ecumenism is any interdenominational initiative aimed at greater cooperation among Christian churches.


Contents  [hide]
1 Seeking a single Church
2 Christian ecumenism and interfaith pluralism
3 Ecumenical movement
4 Three approaches to Christian unity 4.1 Roman Catholicism
4.2 Orthodoxy
4.3 Anglicanism and Protestantism
5 Contemporary developments 5.1 Catholic-Orthodox dialogue
5.2 Issues within Protestantism
6 Opposition 6.1 Opposition from some Methodists
6.2 Opposition from some Lutherans
6.3 Opposition from some Orthodox Christians
7 Popular culture
8 Ecumenical organizations
9 See also
10 References
11 Bibliography
12 Further reading
13 External links

Seeking a single Church[edit]
Ecumenism is the idea of a Christian unity in the literal meaning: that there should be a single Church. Ecumenism is separate and distinct from nondenominational Christianity, which seeks no common organizing principle.
This specific sense of the word contrasts with interfaith dialogue or interfaith pluralism aimed at unity or cooperation among diverse religions and referring to a worldwide "religious unity" by the advocacy of a greater sense of shared spirituality.
The word is derived from Greek οἰκουμένη (oikoumene), which means "the whole inhabited world", and was historically used with specific reference to the Roman Empire. The ecumenical vision comprises both the search for the visible unity of the Church (Ephesians 4:3) and the "whole inhabited earth" (Matthew 24:14) as the concern of all Christians.
In Christianity the qualification ecumenical is originally (and still) used in terms such as "Ecumenical council" and "Ecumenical patriarch" in the meaning of pertaining to the totality of the larger Church (such as the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church) rather than being restricted to one of its constituent churches or dioceses. Used in this original sense, the term carries no connotation of re-uniting the historically separated Christian denominations.
Christian ecumenism and interfaith pluralism[edit]

 

 The Christian Flag, which was designed to represent Christianity, aims at "the recovery in thought, in action, and in organization, of the true unity between the Church's mission to the world (its apostolate) and the Church's obligation to be one".[1] Thus, ecumenism is the promotion of unity or cooperation between distinct sects or denominations of Christianity.
Ecumenism is distinguished from and should not be misused to mean interfaith pluralism. The interfaith movement strives for greater mutual respect, toleration, and co-operation among the world religions. Interfaith dialogue between representatives of diverse faiths does not necessarily intend reconciling their adherents into full, organic unity with one another, but simply to promote better relations.
For some Catholics it may, but not always, have the goal of reconciling all who profess Christian faith to bring them into a single, visible organization, i.e. through union with the Roman Catholic Church.
For some Protestants, spiritual unity, and often unity on the church's teachings on central issues, suffices. According to Lutheran theologian Edmund Schlink, most important in Christian ecumenism is that people focus primarily on Christ, not on separate church organizations. In Schlink's book Ökumenische Dogmatik (1983), he says Christians who see the risen Christ at work in the lives of various Christians or in diverse churches realize that the unity of Christ's church has never been lost,[2] but has instead been distorted and obscured by different historical experiences and by spiritual myopia.
Both are overcome in renewed faith in Christ. Included in that is responding to his admonition (John 17; Philippians 2) to be one in him and love one another as a witness to the world. The result of mutual recognition would be a discernible worldwide fellowship, organized in a historically new way.[3]
An example of ecumenism is the invention of and growing usage of the Christian Flag, which was designed to represent all of Christendom.[4] The flag has a white field, with a red Latin cross inside a blue canton.[4]
Ecumenical movement[edit]
One understanding of the ecumenical movement is that it came from the Roman Catholic Church's attempts to reconcile with Christians who had become separated over theological issues.[5] Others see the 1910 World Missionary Conference as the birthplace of the ecumenical movement.[6] Others yet point to the 1920 encyclical of the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Germanos of Constantinople "To the Churches of Christ Everywhere" that suggested a "fellowship of churches" similar to the League of Nations.[7]
Nathan Söderblom, Archbishop of Uppsala, the head of the Lutheran church in Sweden, is known as the architect of the ecumenical movement of the twentieth century. During the First World War, he called on all Christian leaders to work for peace and justice. His leadership of the Christian "Life and Work" movement in the 1920s has led him to be recognised as one of the principal founders of the ecumenical movement. His was instrumental in chairing the World Conference of Life and Work in Stockholm, in 1925. At the Stockholm Conference in 1925, the culminating event in Söderblom's ecumenical work, the Anglican, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians were all present and participating, with the exception of the Catholic Church, much regretted absence. He was a close friend of the English ecumenist George Bell. In 1930 was one of the recipients of the Nobel Prize, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, for the:Cooperation between Christian Church Communities Brings Peace and the first clergyman to receive this prize.[8][9]
After World War I, which had brought much devastation to many people, the church became a source of hope to those in need. In 1948 the first meeting of the World Council of Churches took place. Despite the fact that the meeting had been postponed due to World War II, the council took place in Amsterdam with the theme of "Man’s Disorder and God’s Design".[5] The focus of the church and the council following the gathering was on the damage created by the Second World War. The council and the movement went forward to continue the efforts of unifying the church globally around the idea of helping all those in need, whether it be a physical, emotional, or spiritual need. The movement led to an understanding amongst the churches that, despite difference, they could join together to be an element of great change in the world. To be an agent of hope and peace amongst the chaos and destruction that humans seem to create. More importantly the council and the movement lead to not only ecumenism but to the forming of councils amongst the denominations that connected churches across continental lines.[5]
Today, the World Council of Churches sees its role as sharing "the legacy of the one ecumenical movement and the responsibility to keep it alive" and acting "as a trustee for the inner coherence of the movement".[10]
Three approaches to Christian unity[edit]

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For a significant part of the Christian world, one of the highest goals to be sought is the reconciliation of the various denominations by overcoming the historical divisions within Christianity. Even where there is broad agreement upon this goal, approaches to ecumenism vary. Generally, Protestants see fulfillment of the goal of ecumenism as consisting in general agreements on teachings about central issues of faith, with mutual pastoral accountability between the diverse churches regarding the teachings of salvation.
For Catholics and Orthodox on the other hand, the true unity of Christendom is treated in accordance with their more sacramental understanding of the Body of Christ; this ecclesiastical matter for them is closely linked to key theological issues (e.g. regarding the Eucharist and the historical Episcopate), and requires full dogmatic assent to the pastoral authority of the Church for full communion to be considered viable and valid. Thus, there are different answers even to the question of the church, which finally is the goal of the ecumenist movement itself. However, the desire of unity is expressed by many denominations, generally that all who profess faith in Christ in sincerity, would be more fully cooperative and supportive of one another.
For the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the process of approaching one another is formally split in two successive stages: the "dialogue of love" and the "dialogue of truth". To the former belong the mutual revocation in 1965 of the anathemas of 1054 (see below Contemporary developments), returning the relics of Sabbas the Sanctified (a common saint) to Mar Saba in the same year, and the first visit of a Pope to an Orthodox country in a millennium (Pope John Paul II accepting the invitation of the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Teoctist, in 1999), among others. The later one, involving effective theological engagement on matters of dogma, is only just commencing.
Christian ecumenism can be described in terms of the three largest divisions of Christianity: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. While this underemphasizes the complexity of these divisions, it is a useful model.
Roman Catholicism[edit]
Main article: Catholic Church and ecumenism
The Roman Catholic Church has always considered it a duty of the highest rank to seek full unity with estranged communions of fellow-Christians and, at the same time, to reject what it sees as a false union that would mean being unfaithful to or glossing over the teaching of sacred scripture and tradition.
Before the Second Vatican Council, the main stress was laid on this second aspect, as exemplified in canon 1258 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law:
1.It is illicit for the faithful to assist at or participate in any way in non-Catholic religious functions.
2.For a serious reason requiring, in case of doubt, the Bishop's approval, passive or merely material presence at non-Catholic funerals, weddings and similar occasions because of holding a civil office or as a courtesy can be tolerated, provided there is no danger of perversion or scandal.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law has no corresponding canon. It absolutely forbids Roman Catholic priests to concelebrate the Eucharist with members of communities which are not in full communion (canon 908), but allows, in certain circumstances and under certain conditions, other sharing in the sacraments. The Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, 102[11] states: "Christians may be encouraged to share in spiritual activities and resources, i.e., to share that spiritual heritage they have in common in a manner and to a degree appropriate to their present divided state."
Pope John XXIII, who convoked the council that brought this change of emphasis about, said that the council's aim was to seek renewal of the church itself, which would serve, for those separated from the See of Rome, as a "gentle invitation to seek and find that unity for which Jesus Christ prayed so ardently to his heavenly Father".[12]
Some elements of the Roman Catholic perspective on ecumenism are illustrated in the following quotations from the council's decree on ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio of 21 November 1964, and Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Ut Unum Sint of 25 May 1995.

Every renewal of the Church is essentially grounded in an increase of fidelity to her own calling. Undoubtedly this is the basis of the movement toward unity ... There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without a change of heart. For it is from renewal of the inner life of our minds, from self-denial and an unstinted love that desires of unity take their rise and develop in a mature way. We should therefore pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self-denying, humble. gentle in the service of others, and to have an attitude of brotherly generosity towards them. ... The words of St. John hold good about sins against unity: "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us". So we humbly beg pardon of God and of our separated brethren, just as we forgive them that trespass against us.[13]

Christians cannot underestimate the burden of long-standing misgivings inherited from the past, and of mutual misunderstandings and prejudices. Complacency, indifference and insufficient knowledge of one another often make this situation worse. Consequently, the commitment to ecumenism must be based upon the conversion of hearts and upon prayer, which will also lead to the necessary purification of past memories. With the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Lord's disciples, inspired by love, by the power of the truth and by a sincere desire for mutual forgiveness and reconciliation, are called to re-examine together their painful past and the hurt which that past regrettably continues to provoke even today.[14]

In ecumenical dialogue, Catholic theologians standing fast by the teaching of the Church and investigating the divine mysteries with the separated brethren must proceed with love for the truth, with charity, and with humility. When comparing doctrines with one another, they should remember that in Catholic doctrine there exists a "hierarchy" of truths, since they vary in their relation to the fundamental Christian faith. Thus the way will be opened by which through fraternal rivalry all will be stirred to a deeper understanding and a clearer presentation of the unfathomable riches of Christ.[15]

The unity willed by God can be attained only by the adherence of all to the content of revealed faith in its entirety. In matters of faith, compromise is in contradiction with God who is Truth. In the Body of Christ, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), who could consider legitimate a reconciliation brought about at the expense of the truth?...Even so, doctrine needs to be presented in a way that makes it understandable to those for whom God himself intends it.[16]

When the obstacles to perfect ecclesiastical communion have been gradually overcome, all Christians will at last, in a common celebration of the Eucharist, be gathered into the one and only Church in that unity which Christ bestowed on his Church from the beginning. We believe that this unity subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time.[17]
While some Eastern Orthodox churches commonly baptize converts from the Roman Catholic Church, thereby refusing to recognize the baptism that the converts have previously received, the Roman Catholic Church has always accepted the validity of all the sacraments administered by the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches.
The Roman Catholic Church likewise has very seldom applied the terms "heterodox" or "heretic" to the Eastern Orthodox churches or its members, though there are clear differences in doctrine, notably about the authority of the Pope, Purgatory, and the filioque clause. More often, the term "separated" or "schismatic" has been applied to the state of the Eastern Orthodox churches.
Orthodoxy[edit]

 

 The consecration of The Rt. Rev Weller as an Anglican bishop at the Cathedral of St. Paul the Apostle in the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac, with the Rt. Rev. Anthony Kozlowski of the Polish National Catholic Church and the Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow (along with his chaplains Fr. John Kochurov, and Fr. Sebastian Dabovich) of the Russian Orthodox Church present
The Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches are two distinct bodies of local churches. The churches within each body share full communion, although there is not official communion between the two bodies. Both consider themselves to be the original church, from which the West was divided in the 5th and 11th centuries, respectively (after the 3rd and 7th Ecumenical councils).
Many theologians of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxies engage in theological dialogue with each other and with some of the Western churches, though short of full communion. The Eastern Orthodox have participated in the ecumenical movement, with students active in the World Student Christian Federation since the late 19th century. Most Eastern Orthodox[18] and all Oriental Orthodox churches[19] are members of the World Council of Churches. Kallistos of Diokleia, a bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church has stated that ecumenism "is important for Orthodoxy: it has helped to force the various Orthodox Churches out of their comparative isolation, making them meet one another and enter into a living contact with non-Orthodox Christians."[20]
Historically, the relationship between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion has been congenial, with the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1922 recognising Anglican orders as valid. He wrote: "That the orthodox theologians who have scientifically examined the question have almost unanimously come to the same conclusions and have declared themselves as accepting the validity of Anglican Orders."[21] Moreover, some Eastern Orthodox bishops have assisted in the ordination of Anglican bishops; for example, in 1870, the Most Reverend Alexander Lycurgus, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Syra and Tinos, was one of the bishops who consecrated Henry MacKenzie as the Suffragan Bishop of Nottingham.[22] From 1910-1911, the era before World War I, Raphael of Brooklyn, an Eastern Orthodox bishop, "sanctioned an interchange of ministrations with the Episcopalians in places where members of one or the other communion are without clergy of their own."[23] Bishop Raphael stated that in places "where there is no resident Orthodox Priest", an Anglican (Episcopalian) priest could administer Marriage, Holy Baptism, and the Blessed Sacrament to an Orthodox layperson.[24] In 1912, however, Bishop Raphael ended the intercommunion after becoming uncomfortable with the fact that the Anglican Communion contained different churchmanships within Her, e.g. High Church, Evangelical, etc.[23] However, after WWI, the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius was organized in 1927, which much like the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association worked on ecumenism between the two Churches; both of these organisations continue their task today.[25]
In accordance with the Soviet anti-religious legislation under the state atheism of the Soviet Union, several Russian Orthodox churches and seminaries were closed.[26][27] With ecumenical aid from the Methodist Church, two Russian Orthodox seminaries were reopened; leaders of the Orthodox Church thankfully stated that "The services rendered by the American Methodists and other Christian friends will go down in history of the Orthodox Church as one of its brightest pages in that dark and trying time of the church. Our church will never forget the Samaritan service which your whole Church unselfishly rendered us. May this be the beginning of closer friendship for our Churches and nations.[28]
Anglicanism and Protestantism[edit]
For more details on the on-going dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the wider Church, see Anglican communion and ecumenism.
The members of the Anglican Communion have generally embraced the Ecumenical Movement, actively participating in such organizations as the World Council of Churches and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Most provinces holding membership in the Anglican Communion have special departments devoted to ecumenical relations; however, the influence of Liberal Christianity has in recent years caused tension within the communion, causing some to question the direction ecumenism has taken them.
Each member church of the Anglican Communion makes its own decisions with regard to intercommunion. Many of them are currently out of communion with other provinces of the Anglican Communion. The 1958 Lambeth Conference recommended "that where between two Churches not of the same denominational or confessional family, there is unrestricted communio in sacris, including mutual recognition and acceptance of ministries, the appropriate term to use is 'full communion', and that where varying degrees of relation other than 'full communion' are established by agreement between two such churches the appropriate term is 'intercommunion'."
Full communion has been established between Provinces of the Anglican Communion and these Churches:
Old Catholic Churches of Europe
Philippine Independent Church
Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Moravian Church in America, Northern and Southern Provinces
The Episcopal Church is currently engaged in dialogue with the following religious bodies:
Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC)
Eastern Orthodox Church
Roman Catholic Church
Presbyterian Church USA
United Methodist Church
Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of America
Worldwide, an estimated forty million Anglicans belong to churches that do not participate in the Anglican Communion[citation needed], a particular organization limited to one province per country. In these Anglican churches, there is strong opposition to the ecumenical movement and to membership in such bodies as the World and National Councils of Churches. Most of these churches are associated with the Continuing Anglican movement or the movement for Anglican realignment. While ecumenicalism in general is opposed, certain Anglican church bodies that are not members of the Anglican Communion—the Free Church of England and the Church of England in South Africa, for example—have fostered close and cooperative relations with other evangelical (if non-Anglican) churches, on an individual basis.


 This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)
Nicolaus Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf, (1700–1760) the renewer of the Unitas Fratrum / Moravian Church in the 18th century, was the first person to use the word "ecumenical" in this sense. His pioneering efforts to unite all Christians, regardless of denominational labels, into a "Church of God in the Spirit"—notably among German immigrants in Pennsylvania—were misunderstood by his contemporaries and 200 years before the world was ready for them.
The contemporary ecumenical movement for Protestants is often said to have started with the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference. However this conference would not have been possible without the pioneering ecumenical work of the Christian youth movements: the Young Men's Christian Association (founded 1844), the Young Women's Christian Association (founded 1855), the World Student Christian Federation (founded 1895), and the Federal Council of Churches (founded 1908), predecessor to today's National Council of Churches USA.
Led by Methodist layman John R. Mott (former YMCA staff and in 1910 the General Secretary of WSCF), the World Mission conference marked the largest Protestant gathering to that time, with the express purposes of working across denominational lines for the sake of world missions. After the First World War further developments were the "Faith and Order" movement led by Charles Henry Brent, and the "Life and Work" movement led by Nathan Soderblom. In the 1930s, the tradition of an annual World Communion Sunday to celebrate ecumenical ties was established in the Presbyterian Church and was subsequently adopted by several other denominations.
Eventually, formal organizations were formed, including the World Council of Churches in 1948, the National Council of Churches in the USA in 1950, and Churches Uniting in Christ in 2002. These groups are moderate to liberal, theologically speaking, as Protestants are generally more liberal and less traditional than Anglicans, Orthodox, and Roman Catholics.
Protestants are now involved in a variety of ecumenical groups, working in some cases toward organic denominational unity and in other cases for cooperative purposes alone. Because of the wide spectrum of Protestant denominations and perspectives, full cooperation has been difficult at times. Edmund Schlink's Ökumenische Dogmatik 1983, 1997 proposes a way through these problems to mutual recognition and renewed church unity.
In 1999, the representatives of Lutheran World Federation and Roman Catholic Church signed The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, resolving the conflict over the nature of Justification which was at the root of the Protestant Reformation, although some conservative Lutherans did not agree to this resolution. On July 18, 2006 Delegates to the World Methodist Conference voted unanimously to adopt the Joint Declaration.[29][30]
Contemporary developments[edit]

 

 Ecumenical worship service at the monastery of Taizé.
Catholic-Orthodox dialogue[edit]
The mutual anathemas (excommunications) of 1054, marking the Great Schism between Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) branches of Christianity, a process spanning several centuries, were revoked in 1965 by the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The Roman Catholic Church does not regard Orthodox Christians as excommunicated, since they personally have no responsibility for the separation of their churches. In fact, Catholic rules admit the Orthodox to communion and the other sacraments in situations where the individuals are in danger of death or no Orthodox churches exist to serve the needs of their faithful. However, Orthodox churches still generally regard Roman Catholics as excluded from the sacraments and some may even not regard Catholic sacraments such as baptism and ordination as valid.
In November 2006, Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Istanbul at the invitation of Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and participated in the feast day services of St. Andrew the First Apostle, the patron saint of the Church of Constantinople. The Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope Benedict had another historic meeting in Ravenna, Italy in 2007. The Declaration of Ravenna marked a significant rapprochement between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox positions. The declaration recognized the bishop of Rome as the Protos, or first among equals of the Patriarchs. This acceptance and the entire agreement was hotly contested by the Russian Orthodox Church. The signing of the declaration highlighted the pre-existing tensions between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Moscow Patriarchate. Besides their theological concerns, the Russian Orthodox have continuing concerns over the question of the Eastern Catholic Churches that operate in what they regard as Orthodox territory. This question has been exacerbated by disputes over churches and other property that the Communist authorities once assigned to the Orthodox Church but whose restoration these Churches have obtained from the present authorities.
A major obstacle to improved relations between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches has been the insertion of the Latin term filioque into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed in the 8th and 11th centuries.[31] This obstacle has now been effectively resolved. The Roman Catholic Church now recognizes that the Creed, as confessed at the First Council of Constantinople, did not add "and the Son", when it spoke of the Holy Spirit as proceeding from the Father. When quoting the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, as in the 6 August 2000 document Dominus Iesus, it does not include filioque.[32] It views as complementary the Eastern-tradition expression "who proceeds from the Father" (profession of which it sees as affirming that he comes from the Father through the Son) and the Western-tradition expression "who proceeds from the Father and the Son", with the Eastern tradition expressing firstly the Father's character as first origin of the Spirit, and the Western tradition giving expression firstly to the consubstantial communion between Father and Son; and it believes that, provided this legitimate complementarity does not become rigid, it does not affect the identity of faith in the reality of the same mystery confessed.[33]
Continuing dialogues at both international and national level continue between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, but major future developments will probably have to await the outcome of the 2016 Ecumenical Council of the Orthodox Church.
Issues within Protestantism[edit]
Contemporary developments in mainline Protestant churches have dealt a serious blow to ecumenism. The decision by the U.S. Episcopal Church to ordain Gene Robinson, an openly gay, non-celibate priest who advocates same-sex blessings, as bishop led the Russian Orthodox Church to suspend its cooperation with the Episcopal Church. Likewise, when the Church of Sweden decided to bless same-sex marriages, the Russian Patriarchate severed all relations with the Church, noting that "Approving the shameful practice of same-sex marriages is a serious blow to the entire system of European spiritual and moral values influenced by Christianity."[34]
Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev commented that the inter-Christian community is "bursting at the seams". He sees the great dividing line—or "abyss"—not so much between old churches and church families as between "traditionalists" and "liberals", the latter now dominating Protestantism, and predicted that other Northern Protestant Churches will follow suit and this means that the "ecumenical ship" will sink, for with the liberalism that is materializing in European Protestant churches, there is no longer anything to talk about.[35]
Organizations such as the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches USA, Churches Uniting in Christ, Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship and Christian Churches Together continue to encourage ecumenical cooperation among Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, and, at times, Roman Catholics. There are universities such as the University of Bonn in Germany that offer degree courses in "Ecumenical Studies" in which theologians of various denominations teach their respective traditions and, at the same time, seek for common ground between these traditions.
Influenced by the ecumenical movement, the "scandal of separation" and local developments, a number of United and uniting churches have formed; there are also a range of mutual recognition strategies being practiced where formal union is not feasible. An increasing trend has been the sharing of church buildings by two or more denominations, either holding separate services or a single service with elements of all traditions.
Opposition[edit]
Opposition from some Methodists[edit]
There are some in The United Methodist Church who oppose the forms of ecumenism which are "not grounded in the doctrines of the Church" due to the fear of doctrinal compromise.[36] For example, an article published in Catalyst Online: Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives for United Methodist Seminarians stated that false ecumenism might result in the "blurring of theological and confessional differences in the interests of unity".[37]
Opposition from some Lutherans[edit]
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) bars its clergy from worshiping with other faiths, holding "that church fellowship or merger between church bodies in doctrinal disagreement with one another is not in keeping with what the Bible teaches about church fellowship".[38] In practice of this: a Connecticut LCMS pastor was asked to apologize by the President of the denomination, and did so, for participating in an interfaith prayer vigil for the 26 children and adults killed at a Newtown elementary school, and a LCMS pastor in New York was suspended for praying at an interfaith vigil in 2001, 12 days after the September 11 attacks.[39]
Opposition from some Orthodox Christians[edit]
See also: Sobornost
Practically, "the whole of Eastern Orthodoxy holds membership in the World Council of Churches."[40] Ecumenical Patriarch Germanus V of Constantinople's 1920 letter "'To all the Churches of Christ, wherever they may be', urging closer co-operation among separated Christians, and suggesting a 'League of Churches', parallel to the newly founded League of Nations" was a inspiration for the founding of the World Council of Churches; as such "Constantinople, along with several of the other Orthodox Churches, was represented at the Faith and Order Conferences at Lausanne in 1927 and at Edinburgh in 1937. The Ecumenical Patriarchate also participated in the first Assembly of the WCC at Amsterdam in 1948, and has been a consistent supporter of the work of the WCC ever since."[41]
However, there exists a small group of Orthodox Christians who are vehemently opposed to ecumenism with other Christian denominations. They view ecumenism, as well as interfaith dialog, as being potentially pernicious to Orthodox Church Tradition; a "weakening" of Orthodoxy itself.[42] In the Eastern Orthodox world, the monastic community of Mount Athos, arguably the most important center of Orthodox spirituality, has voiced its concerns regarding the ecumenist movement and opposition to the participation of the Orthodox Church.[43] They regard modern ecumenism as compromising essential doctrinal stands in order to accommodate other Christians, and object to the emphasis on dialogue leading to intercommunion rather than conversion on the part of participants in ecumenical initiatives. Greek Old Calendarists also claim that the teachings of the Seven Ecumenical Councils forbid changing the church calendar through abandonment of the Julian calendar.[citation needed] The Inter-Orthodox Theological Conference entitled "Ecumenism: Origins, Expectations, Disenchantment",[44] organized in September 2004 by the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki has drawn negative conclusions on ecumenism.
Popular culture[edit]
The word ecumenical arises in the Father Ted episode Tentacles of Doom, in which Father Ted sets out to train the drunken and bad-tempered Father Jack to say two all-encompassing phrases in response to questions from three visiting bishops, namely "Yes" and "that would be an ecumenical matter".[45]
In the strategy game Europa Universalis III, the player can select "Ecumenism" as a National Idea. This increases tolerance of "heretical religions" (i.e. religions that are related to but not part of the state's religion) within the player's country.
Ecumenical organizations[edit]


Action of Churches Together in Scotland
Anglican and Eastern Churches Association
American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC)
Bose Monastic Community
Byzantine Discalced Carmelites
Campus Crusade for Christ
Canadian Council of Churches
Christian Churches Together in the USA
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
Churches Together in England
Churches Uniting in Christ

Conference of European Churches
Ecumenical Free Catholic Communion
Ecumenical Gospel Mission of India
Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue
Edinburgh Churches Together
Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius
Franciscan Hermitage of Campello, Italy
Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC/Unification Church/Unification Movement)
International Circle of Faith
Iona Community

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
New Monasticism related Communities
Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship
People of Praise
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
Prairie Centre for Ecumenism
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
Society of Ordained Scientists
Student Christian Movement (Britain)
Taizé Community
World Alliance of Reformed Churches
World Council of Churches
World Student Christian Federation
 
See also[edit]
Accord Coalition, uniting the religious & non-religious concerned about religious inclusivity in education (England and Wales)
Anonymous Christian
Ecumenical council
Inclusivism
Invisible church
One true church
One true faith
Postmodern Christianity
Religious pluralism
Socratic questioning
Syncretism
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The Calling of the Church to Mission and to Unity," Theology Today, vol. 9, no. 1 (April 1952): 15.
2.Jump up ^ Edmund Schlink, Ökumenische Dogmatik (1983), pp. 694–701; also his "Report," Dialog 1963, 2:4, 328.
3.Jump up ^ Edmund Schlink, Ökumenische Dogmatik (1983), pp. 707–708; also Skibbe, A Quiet Reformer 1999, 122–4; Schlink, The Vision of the Pope 2001.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "The Christian Flag". Prayer Foundation. Retrieved 2007-10-18. "The flag's most conspicuous symbol is the Christian cross, the most universal symbol for Christianity. The red color represents the blood of Christ and brings to mind his crucifixion. Christians believe that Jesus Christ's death and resurrection is the means God uses to save believers from their sins. The cross and blood have been used since earliest Christianity to symbolize salvation through Jesus; in the words of the Apostle Paul, "And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself;"—Colossians 1:20. The white field draws on symbolism throughout the Bible equating white clothes with purity and forgiveness. People who have been "washed white as snow" in the Bible have been cleansed from their sins (Isaiah 1:18; Psalm 51:2). In conventional vexillology (the study of flags, their history and symbolism), a white flag is linked to surrender, a reference to the Biblical description Jesus' non-violence and surrender to God's will. The symbolism behind the blue canton has been interpreted to represent Heaven, truth, or the Christian ritual of Baptism in water."
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Howard C. Kee et al., Christianity: a Social and Cultural History, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ.: Prentice Hall, 1998), 379–81.
6.Jump up ^ Latourette, Kenneth Scott. "Ecumenical Bearings of the Missionary Movement and the International Missionary Council." In "A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517-1948", edited by Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill, 353-73, 401-02. Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1954.
7.Jump up ^ Grdzelidze, Tamara. "Ecumenism, Orthodoxy and" In "The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity", edited by John Anthony McGuckin , 208-15. Wiley Blackwell, 2011.
8.Jump up ^ "Nathan Söderblom, Nobel Prize Winner". /www.nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2015.
9.Jump up ^ "nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1930/soderblom-facts". www.nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2015.
10.Jump up ^ "The WCC and the ecumenical movement". oikoumene.org. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
11.Jump up ^ Directory For The Application Of Principles And Norms On Ecumenism
12.Jump up ^ Encyclical Ad Petri cathedram
13.Jump up ^ Unitatis Redintegratio 6–7
14.Jump up ^ Encyclical Ut unum sint, 2[www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25051995_ut-unum-sint_en.html]
15.Jump up ^ Unitatis Redintegratio, 11[www.vatican.va/.../ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_unitatis-redintegratio_en.html]
16.Jump up ^ Encyclical Ut unum sint, 18-19[www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25051995_ut-unum-sint_en.html]
17.Jump up ^ Unitatis Redintegratio, 4[www.vatican.va/.../ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_unitatis-redintegratio_en.html]
18.Jump up ^ "Orthodox churches (Eastern)". oikoumene.org. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
19.Jump up ^ "Orthodox churches (Oriental)". oikoumene.org. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
20.Jump up ^ Ware, Kallistos (28 April 1993). The Orthodox Church. Penguin Adult. p. 322. ISBN 9780140146561.
21.Jump up ^ The Ecumenical Patriarch on Anglican Orders
22.Jump up ^ Redmile, Robert David (1 September 2006). The Apostolic Succession and the Catholic Episcopate in the Christian Episcopal Church of Canada. p. 239. ISBN 9781600345173. "In 1870, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Syra and Tinos, the Most Reverend Alexander Lycurgus, paid a visit to the British Isles. During his time in England, Archbishop Lycurgus was invited by the Lord Bishop of London, John Jackson, to join with him in consecrating Henry MacKenzie as the Suffragan Bishop of Nottingham. Archbishop Lycurgus agreed to assist, and on 2 February 1870, he joined in the laying on of hands with the Bishop of London at the consecration of Bishop MacKenzie. Thus the Apostolic Succession in the Greek Orthodox Church was passed on to the Bishops of the Anglican Communion, and through them to the Christian Episcopal Churches in the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada."
23.^ Jump up to: a b Herbermann, Charles (1912). The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. Robert Appleton. p. 149. "This A.E.O.C.U. is particularly active in the United States, where the existence side by side of Westerns and Easterns offers special facilities for mutual intercourse. It is due mainly to its instances that the orthodox Bishop Raphael of Brooklyn recently sanctioned an interchange of ministrations with the Episcopalians in places where members of one or the other communion are without clergy of their own-a practice which, as coming from the Orthodox side, seemed strange, but was presumably justified by the "principle of economy" which some Orthodox theologians unaccountably advocate (see Reunion Magazine, Sept., 1910)."
24.Jump up ^ Journal of the Proceedings of the One Hundred and Ninth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Rumford Press. 1910. p. 411. Retrieved 15 April 2014. "Inasmuch as there is a variance between your and our Churches in these matters, I suggest that, before any marriage Service is performed for Syrians desiring the services of the Protestant Episcopal Clergy, where there is no Orthodox Priest, that the Syrians shall first procure a license from me, their Bishop, giving them permission, and that, where there is a resident Orthodox Priest, that, the Episcopal Clergy may advise them to have such Service performed by him. Again, in the case of Holy Baptism, that, where there is no resident Orthodox Priest, that the Orthodox law in reference to the administration of the Sacrament be observed, namely immersion three times, with the advice to the parents and witnesses that, as soon as possible, the child shall be taken to an Orthodox Priest to receive Chrismation, which is absolutely binding according to the Law of the Orthodox Church. Furthermore, when an Orthodox Layman is dying, if he confesses his sins, and professes that he is dying in the full communion of the Orthodox Faith, as expressed in the Orthodox version of the Nicene Creed, and the other requirements of the said Church, and desires the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, at the hands of an Episcopal Clergyman, permission is hereby given to administer to him this Blessed Sacrament, and to be buried according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Episcopal Church. But, it is recommended that, if an Orthodox Service Book can be procured, that the Sacraments and Rites be performed as set forth in that Book. And now I pray God that He may hasten the time when the Spiritual Heads of the National Churches, of both yours and ours, may take our places in cementing the Union between the Anglican and Orthodox Churches, which we have so humbly begun; then there will be no need of suggestions, such as I have made, as to how, or by whom, Services shall be performed; and, instead of praying that we "all may be one" we shall known that we are one in Christ's Love and Faith. RAPHAEL, Bishop of Brooklyn."
25.Jump up ^ Church Quarterly Review. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. January–March 1964. "In 1927, the "Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius" was founded, becoming, like the "Anglican and Eastern Church Association", one of the chief focal points of these contacts."
26.Jump up ^ Greeley, Andrew M. Religion in Europe at the End of the Second Millennium: A Sociological Profile. Transaction Publishers. p. 89. ISBN 9781412832984. "Seminaries were closed, churches turned into museums or centers for atheist propaganda, the clergy rigidly controlled, the bishops appointed by the state."
27.Jump up ^ Gerhard Simon (1974). Church, State, and Opposition in the U.S.S.R. University of California Press. "On the other hand the Communist Party has never made any secret of the fact, either before or after 1917, that it regards 'militant atheism' as an integral part of its ideology and will regard 'religion as by no means a private matter'. It therefore uses 'the means of ideological influence to educate people in the spirit of scientific materialism and to overcome religious prejudices..' Thus it is the goal of the C.P.S.U. and thereby also of the Soviet state, for which it is after all the 'guiding cell', gradually to liquidate the religious communities."
28.Jump up ^ Rev. Thomas Hoffmann; William Alex Pridemore. "Esau’s Birthright and Jacob’s Pottage: A Brief Look at Orthodox-Methodist Ecumenism in Twentieth-Century Russia" (PDF). Demokratizatsiya. Retrieved 19 October 2009. "The Methodists continued their ecumenical commitments, now with the OC. This involved a continuance of financial assistance from European and American resources, enough to reopen two OC seminaries in Russia (where all had been previously closed). OC leaders wrote in two unsolicited statements: The services rendered... by the American Methodists and other Christian friends will go down in history of the Orthodox Church as one of its brightest pages in that dark and trying time of the church.... Our Church will never forget the Samaritan service which... your whole Church unselfishly rendered us. May this be the beginning of closer friendship for our churches and nations. (as quoted in Malone 1995, 50-51)"
29.Jump up ^ "News Archives". UMC.org. July 20, 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
30.Jump up ^ "CNS STORY: Methodists adopt Catholic-Lutheran declaration on justification". Catholicnews.com. July 24, 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
31.Jump up ^ "Cathecism of the Catholic Church, 247". Vatican.va. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
32.Jump up ^ "Dominus Iesus". Vatican.va. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
33.Jump up ^ "Article 1 of the Treaty of Brest". Ewtn.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
34.Jump up ^ Russian Orthodox Church condemns Lutheran gay weddings Pravda, 30 December 2005. Accessed 24 March 2009.
35.Jump up ^ Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: Will the Ecumenical Ship Sink? The Official Website of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Accessed 24 March 2009.
36.Jump up ^ William J. Abraham (2012). "United Methodist Evangelicals and Ecumenism" (PDF). Southern Methodist University. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
37.Jump up ^ Randall Balmer (1998). "The Future of American Protestantism". Catalyst Online: Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives for United Methodist Seminarians. Retrieved 11 November 2012.[dead link]
38.Jump up ^ "A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod" (PDF). Concordia Publishing House. 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
39.Jump up ^ "Pastor apologizes for role in prayer vigil after Connecticut massacre". Reuters. 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.[dead link]
40.Jump up ^ Fey, Harold C. (1 December 2009). A History of the Ecumenical Movement, Volume 2: 1948-1968. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 304. ISBN 9781606089101. "With the exception of the Orthodox Church of Albania the whole of Eastern Orthodoxy holds membership in the World Council of Churches."
41.Jump up ^ Ware, Kallistos (29 April 1993). The Orthodox Church. Penguin Adult. p. 322. ISBN 9780140146561. "From the beginning of the twentieth century the Ecumenical Patriarchate has shown a special concern for Christian reconciliation. At his accession in 1902, Patriarch Joachim III sent an encyclical letter to all the autocephalous Orthodox Churches, asking in particular for their opinion on relations with other Christian bodies. In January 1920 the Ecumenical Patriarchate followed this up with a bold and prophetic letter addressed 'To all the Churches of Christ, wherever they may be', urging closer co-operation among separated Christians, and suggesting a 'League of Churches', parallel to the newly founded League of Nations. Many of the ideas in this letter anticipate subsequent developments in the WCC. Constantinople, along with several of the other Orthodox Churches, was represented at the Faith and Order Conferences at Lausanne in 1927 and at Edinburgh in 1937. The Ecumenical Patriarchate also participated in the first Assembly of the WCC at Amsterdam in 1948, and has been a consistent supporter of the work of the WCC ever since."
42.Jump up ^ Patrick Barnes. "Ecumenism Awareness Introduction". Orthodox Christian Information Center. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
43.Jump up ^ The Theological Committee of the Sacred Community of Mount Athos (2007-02-18). "Memorandum on the Participation of the Orthodox Church in the World Council of Churches". orthodoxinfo.com. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
44.Jump up ^ "Conclusions of the Inter-Orthodox Theological Conference "Ecumenism: Origins Expectations Disenchantment"". orthodox.info. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
45.Jump up ^ "Father Ted" Tentacles of Doom (TV Episode 1996) - Quotes - IMDb
Bibliography[edit]
Borkowski, James D. "Middle East Ecumenism from an Anglican Perspective" Cloverdale Books (2007) ISBN 978-1-929569-23-6 [1]
Chandler, Andrew. Archbishop Fisher, 1945–1961: Church, State and World, chap. 6. The Archbishops of Canterbury Series. Farnham, U.K., and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2012.
Hedegard, David. Ecumenism and the Bible. Amsterdam: International Council of Christian Churches, 1954.
Hein, David. "The Episcopal Church and the Ecumenical Movement, 1937–1997: Presbyterians, Lutherans, and the Future." Anglican and Episcopal History 66 (1997): 4–29.
Hein, David. "Radical Ecumenism." Sewanee Theological Review 51 (June 2008): 314–328. Proposes that mainline Protestants, such as Episcopalians, have much to learn from heirs of the Radical Reformation, including the Amish.
A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517-1948, edited by Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954).
The Ecumenical Advance: A History of the Ecumenical Movement, volume 2, 1948-1968, edited by Harold E. Fey (London: S.P.C.K., 1970).
A History of the Ecumenical Movement, volume 3, 1968-2000, edited by John Briggs, Mercy Amba Oduyoye and Georges Tsetsis (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 2004).
Kasper, Walter, That They May All Be One: The Call to Unity Today (London: Burns & Oates, 2004).
Kasper, Walter, Harvesting the Fruits: Aspects of Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue (New York: Continuum, 2009).
Mackay, John A., Ecumenics: The Science of the Church Universal (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc: 1964).
Mastrantonis, George. "Augsburg and Constantinople : The Correspondence between the Tübingen Theologians and Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople on the Augsburg Confession." Holy Cross Orthodox Press (1982), reprinted (2005). ISBN 0-916586-82-0
Metzger, John Mackay, The Hand and the Road: The Life and Times of John A. Mackay (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010).
Ut Unum Sint ("That they may be one"), an encyclical by Pope John Paul II of May 25, 1995 on commitment to ecumenism.
Unitatis Redintegratio ("Restoration of Unity"), Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism, promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964.
Visser ’t Hooft, Willem Adolf, "Appendix I: The Word ‘Ecumenical’ – Its History and Use," in A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517-1948, edited by Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954), 735-740.
Weigel, Gustave, S.J., A Catholic Primer on the Ecumenical Movement (Westminster, Maryland: Newman Press, 1957).
McSorley, Harry J., C. S. P., Luther: Right or Wrong? An Ecumenical-Theological Study of Luther's Major Work, The Bondage of the Will, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Augsburg Publishing House, 1968. [2] Originally published under the German title: Luthers Lehre vom unfreien Willen: nach seiner Hauptschrift De servo arbitrio im Lichte der biblischen und kirchlichen Tradition [3] in: Beiträge zur ökumenischen Theologie, Band II, hrsg. (herausgegeben i.e. editor), H.ie%22&dq=%22Beitr%C3%A4ge+zur+%C3%B6kumenischen+Theologie%22&hl=en&ei=3hwRTc2SIYP78Aaemvi7Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA]
Antonio Calisi, L'Ecumenismo, il Rinnovamento Carismatico Cattolico e la Comunità di Gesù, Bari Chàrisma Edizioni, 2015. ISBN 9788890855948.
Further reading[edit]
Amess, Robert. One in the Truth?: the Cancer of Division in the Evangelical Church. Eastbourne, Eng.: Kingsway Publications, 1988. N.B.: Primarily concerns the quest for unity among evangelical Protestant denominations. ISBN 0-86065-439-7
Bray, Gerald L. Sacraments & Ministry in Ecumenical Perspective, in series, Latimer Studies, 18. Oxford, Eng.: Latimer House, 1984. ISBN 0-946307-17-2
Episcopal Church (U.S.A.). Ecumenical Relations Office. About the Concordat: 28 Questions about the Agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Church of America [i.e. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]. Cincinnati, Ohio: Forward Movement Publications, [1997?]. 43 p. Without ISBN
Florovsky, Georges Vasilievich, et al. La Sainte église universelle: confrontation oécuménique, in series, Cahiers théologiques de l'Actualité protestante, hors série, 4. Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Delachaux et Niestlé, 1948.
Headlam, Arthur Cayley, Bp. Christian Unity. London: Student Christian Movement Press, 1930. 157 p. N.B.: This study's orientation is Anglican (Church of England).
Mascall, Eric Lionel. The Recovery of Unity: a Theological Approach. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1958.
Waddams, Herbert. The Church and Man's Struggle for Unity, in series and subseries, Blandford History Series: Problems of History. London: Blandford Press, 1968. xii, 268 p., b&w ill. N.B.: An account of ecumenical problems and strivings within the entire history of Christianity.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ecumenism.
Ecumenism at DMOZ
The Unity of All Christians New Testament perspective
Christian Mysticism is unity with all


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Interfaith dialogue

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"Interfaith" redirects here. For Interfaith marriage, see Interfaith marriage.

 

 (left to right) George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury (1991–2002), Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi (UK), Mustafa Cerić, Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Jim Wallis, Sojourners, USA. 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
 

 Roadside sign in the Nubra Valley, Ladkah, India
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e., "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions or beliefs to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs. Some interfaith dialogues have more recently adopted the name interbelief dialogue,[1][2][3] while other proponents have proposed the term interpath dialogue, to avoid implicitly excluding atheists, agnostics, humanists, and others with no religious faith but with ethical or philosophical beliefs, as well as to be more accurate concerning many world religions that do not place the same emphasis on "faith" as do some Western religions. Similarly, pluralistic rationalist groups have hosted public reasoning dialogues to transcend all worldviews (whether religious, cultural or political), termed transbelief dialogue.[4]
Throughout the world there are local, regional, national and international interfaith initiatives; many are formally or informally linked and constitute larger networks or federations. The often quoted [5] "There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions" was formulated by Dr Hans Küng, a Professor of Ecumenical Theology and President of the Global Ethic Foundation.
The United States Institute of Peace published works on interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding[6][7] including a Special Report on Evaluating Interfaith Dialogue[8] Interfaith dialogue forms a major role in the study of religion and peacebuilding.
To some, the term interreligious dialogue has the same meaning as interfaith dialogue. Neither are the same as Nondenominational Christianity. The World Council of Churches, though. distinguishes between 'interfaith' and 'interrreligious.' To the WCC, 'interreligious' refers to action between different Christian denominations. So, 'interfaith' refers to interaction between different faith groups such as Muslim and Christian or Hindu and Jew for example.[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Policies of religions to interfaith dialogue 2.1 Bahá'í Faith
2.2 Buddhism
2.3 Christianity
2.4 Judaism
2.5 Islam 2.5.1 Ahmadiyya
2.6 Zoroastrianism
3 Preconditions for Meaningful Interfaith Dialogue
4 Interfaith organizations
5 United Nations support
6 Criticism of interfaith dialogue
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

History[edit]

 

 Symbols representing:
Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Baha'is, Eckists, Sikhs, Jains, Wiccans, Unitarian Universalists, Shintoists, Taoists, Thelemites, Tenrikyoists, Zoroastrians
 

Temple of All Religions in Kazan, Russia
 

 Congress of Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, 1893
The history of interfaith dialogue is as ancient as religion itself. When not at war with their neighbours, human beings have made an effort to understand them (not least because understanding is a strategy for defense, but also because for as long as there is dialogue wars are delayed). History records many examples of interfaith initiatives and dialogue throughout the ages.
Interfaith dialogue and action have taken place for many centuries. The Emperor Akbar the Great, for example, encouraged tolerance in Mughal India, a diverse nation with people of various faith backgrounds, including Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Christianity.[10] Religious pluralism can also be observed in other historical contexts, including Muslim Spain. Zarmanochegas (Zarmarus) (Ζαρμανοχηγὰς) was a monk of the Sramana tradition (possibly, but not necessarily a Buddhist) from India who journeyed to Antioch and Athens while Augustus (died 14 CE) was ruling the Roman Emprire.[11][12]
Disputation of Barcelona - religious disputation between Jews and Christians in 1263. The apostate Paulus [Pablo] Christiani proposed to King James I of Aragon that a formal public religious disputation on the fundamentals of faith should be held between him and R. Moses b. Nahman (Nachmanides) whom he had already encountered in Gerona. The disputation took place with the support of the ecclesiastical authorities and the generals of the Dominican and Franciscan orders, while the king presided over a number of sessions and took an active part in the disputation. The Dominicans Raymond de Peñaforte, Raymond Martini, and Arnold de Segarra, and the general of the Franciscan order in the kingdom, Peter de Janua, were among the Christian disputants. The single representative for the Jewish side was Naḥmanides. The four sessions of the disputation took place on July 20, 27, 30, and 31, 1263 (according to another calculation, July 20, 23, 26, and 27). Naḥmanides was guaranteed complete freedom of speech in the debate; he took full advantage of the opportunity thus afforded and spoke with remarkable frankness. Two accounts of the disputation, one in Hebrew written by Naḥmanides and a shorter one in Latin, are the main sources for the history of this important episode in Judeo-Christian polemics. According to both sources the initiative for the disputation and its agenda were imposed by the Christian side, although the Hebrew account tries to suggest a greater involvement of Naḥmanides in finalizing the items to be discussed. When the ecclesiastics who saw the "not right" turn the disputation was taking, due to Nahmanides persuasive argumentation, they urged that it should be ended as speedily as possible. It was, therefore, never formally concluded, but interrupted. According to the Latin record of the proceedings, the disputation ended because Nahmanides fled prematurely from the city. In fact, however, he stayed on in Barcelona for over a week after the disputation had been suspended in order to be present in the synagogue on the following Sabbath when a conversionist sermon was to be delivered. The king himself attended the synagogue and gave an address, an event without medieval precedent. Nahmanides was permitted to reply on this occasion. The following day, after receipt of a gift of 300 sólidos from the king, he returned home.
While the Disputation may have been a great achievement for Paulus Christiani in his innovative use of rabbinic sources in Christian missionary efforts, for Naḥmanides it represented an additional example of the wise and courageous leadership which he offered his people.[13] [14] [15] [16]
There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World’s Religions, most notably the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, the first attempt to create a global dialogue of between religions. The event was celebrated by another conference on its centenary in 1993. This led to a new series of conferences under the official title "Parliament of the World's Religions".[17]
Early 20th Century - dialogue started to take place between the Abrahamic faiths - Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Bahá'í.[citation needed] The 1960s - The interfaith movement gathered interest.[citation needed]
1965 - The Roman Catholic Church issued the Vatican II document Nostra aetate, instituting major policy changes in the Catholic Church's policy towards non-Christian religions.[citation needed]
In the late 1960s interfaith groups such as the Clergy And Laity Concerned (CALC) joined around Civil Rights issues for African-Americans and later were often vocal in their opposition to the Vietnam War.[18]
September 11, 2001 - After September 11, under the leadership of James Parks Morton, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Interfaith Center of New York's mission became increasingly centered on providing assistance to immigrant and disenfranchised communities whose religious leaders were often the only source of knowledge for new immigrants about coping with a new life in an urban environment like New York City. New programs were launched that responded to the needs of these constituents, combining practical information about establishing civic connections and information about other religions with insight about common social concerns. New programs included Religious Communities and the Courts System (2003), Teacher Education in American Religious Diversity (2003), Mediation for Religious Leaders (2005), and Religious Diversity Training for Social Workers (2005).[citation needed]
On October 13, 2007 Muslims expanded their message. In A Common Word Between Us and You, 138 Muslim scholars, clerics and intellectuals unanimously came together for the first time since the days of the Prophet[s] to declare the common ground between Christianity and Islam.[citation needed]
In 2008, through the collaboration of The Hebrew Union College, Omar Foundation, and the University of Southern California Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement was created. This inter-faith think tank began to hold religious text-study programs throughout Los Angeles and has an extensive amount of resources on its website including scholarly articles about Creationism, Abraham and Human Rights.[citation needed]
July 2008 - A historic interfaith dialogue conference was initiated by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to solve world problems through concord instead of conflict. The conference was attended by religious leaders of different faiths such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism and was hosted by King Juan Carlos of Spain in Madrid.[19][20]
January 2009, at Gujarat’s Mahuva, the Dalai Lama inaugurated an interfaith "World Religions-Dialogue and Symphony" conference convened by Hindu preacher Morari Bapu from January 6 to 11th 2009. This conference explored ways and means to deal with the discord among major religions, according to Morari Bapu. Participants included Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche on Buddhism, Diwan Saiyad Zainul Abedin Ali Sahib (Ajmer Sharif) on Islam, Dr. Prabalkant Dutt on non-Catholic Christianity, Swami Jayendra Saraswathi on Hinduism and Dastur Dr. Peshtan Hormazadiar Mirza on Zoroastrianism.[21][22]
July 2009, the Vancouver School of Theology opened the Iona Pacific: Inter-Religious Centre for Social Action, Research, and Contemplative Practice under the leadership of Principal and Dean, Dr. Wendy Fletcher, and Director, Rabbi Dr. Robert Daum.[citation needed]

Policies of religions to interfaith dialogue[edit]
Bahá'í Faith[edit]
Main article: Bahá'í Faith and the unity of religion
Interfaith and multi-faith interactivity is integral to the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. Its founder Bahá'u'lláh enjoined his followers to "consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship."[23] Bahá'ís are often at the forefront of local inter-faith activities and efforts. Through the Bahá'í International Community agency, the Bahá'ís also participate at a global level in inter-religious dialogue both through and outside of the United Nations processes.
In 2002 the Universal House of Justice, the global governing body of the Bahá'ís, issued a letter to the religious leadership of all faiths in which it identified religious prejudice as one of the last remaining "isms" to be overcome, enjoining such leaders to unite in an effort to root out extreme and divisive religious intolerance.[24]
Buddhism[edit]
Buddhism has historically been open to other religions.[25] As Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda has stated:

Buddhism is a religion which teaches people to 'live and let live'. In the history of the world, there is no evidence to show that Buddhists have interfered or done any damage to any other religion in any part of the world for the purpose of introducing their religion. Buddhists do not regard the existence of other religions as a hindrance to worldly progress and peace.[26]
The 14th century Zen master Gasan Joseki indicated that the Gospels were written by an enlightened being:
"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these...Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."Gasan said: "Whoever uttered those words I consider an enlightened man." [27]
The 14th Dalai Lama has done a great deal of interfaith work throughout his life. He believes that the "common aim of all religions, an aim that everyone must try to find, is to foster tolerance, altruism and love".[28] He met with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1973. He met with Pope John Paul II in 1980 and also later in 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, and 2003. During 1990, he met in Dharamsala with a delegation of Jewish teachers for an extensive interfaith dialogue.[29] He has since visited Israel three times and met during 2006 with the Chief Rabbi of Israel. In 2006, he met privately with Pope Benedict XVI. He has also met the late Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Robert Runcie, and other leaders of the Anglican Church in London, Gordon B. Hinckley, late President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), as well as senior Eastern Orthodox Church, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Sikh officials.
In 2010, the Dalai Lama was joined by Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, and Islamic scholar Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University when Emory University's Center for the Study of Law and Religion hosted a "Summit on Happiness".[30]
Christianity[edit]


 This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2013)
Traditional Christian doctrine is Christocentric, meaning that Christ is held to be the sole full and true revelation of the will of God for humanity. In a Christocentric view, the elements of truth in other religions are understood in relation to the fullness of truth found in Christ. God is nevertheless understood to be free of human constructions. Therefore, God the Holy Spirit is understood as the power who guides non-Christians in their search for truth, which is held to be a search for the mind of Christ, even if "anonymously," in the phrase of Catholic theologian Karl Rahner. For those who support this view, anonymous Christians belong to Christ now and forever and lead a life fit for Jesus' commandment to love, even though they never explicitly understand the meaning of their life in Christian terms.
While the conciliar document Nostra aetate has fostered widespread dialogue, the declaration Dominus Iesus nevertheless reaffirms the centrality of the person of Jesus Christ in the spiritual and cultural identity of Christians, rejecting various forms of syncretism.
Pope John Paul II was a major advocate of interfaith dialogue, promoting meetings in Assisi in the 1980s. Pope Benedict XVI took a more moderate and cautious approach, stressing the need for intercultural dialogue, but reasserting Christian theological identity in the revelation of Jesus of Nazareth in a book published with Marcello Pera in 2004. In 2013, Pope Francis became the first Catholic leader to call for "sincere and rigorous" interbelief dialogue with atheists, both to counter the assertion that Christianity is necessarily an "expression of darkness of superstition that is opposed to the light of reason," and to assert that "dialogue is not a secondary accessory of the existence of the believer" but instead is a "profound and indispensable expression ... [of] faith [that] is not intransigent, but grows in coexistence that respects the other."[31][32]
In traditional Christian doctrine, the value of inter-religious dialogue had been confined to acts of love and understanding toward others either as anonymous Christians or as potential converts.
In mainline liberal Protestant traditions, however, as well as in the emerging church, these doctrinal constraints have largely been cast off. Many theologians, pastors, and lay people from these traditions do not hold to uniquely Christocentric understandings of how God was in Christ. They engage deeply in interfaith dialogue as learners, not converters, and desire to celebrate as fully as possible the many paths to God.
Much focus in Christian interfaith dialogue has been put on Christian–Jewish reconciliation. One of the oldest successful dialogues between Jews and Christians has been taking place in Mobile, Alabama. It began in the wake of the call of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) of the Roman Catholic Church for increased understanding between Christians and Jews. The organization has recently moved its center of activity to Spring Hill College, a Catholic, Jesuit institution of higher learning located in Mobile. Reconciliation has been successful on many levels, but has been somewhat complicated by the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East, where a significant minority of Arabs are Christian.
Judaism[edit]
Main article: Jewish views on religious pluralism
The Modern Orthodox movement allows narrow exchanges on social issues, while warning to be cautious in discussion of doctrine.[33] Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism and Conservative Judaism encourage interfaith dialogue.
Islam[edit]


 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2010)


 This section improperly uses one or more religious texts as primary sources without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them. Please help improve this article by adding references to reliable secondary sources, with multiple points of view. (June 2015)
Islam has long encouraged dialogue to reach truth. Dialogue is particularly encouraged amongst the People of the Book (Jews, Christians and Muslims) as Qur'an states, "Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah ." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]."[3:64][34]".
Many traditional and religious texts and customs of the faith have encouraged this, including specific verses in the Quran, such as: "O people! Behold, we have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware." [Qur'an 49:13]
In recent times, Muslim theologians have advocated inter-faith dialogue on a large scale, something which is new in a political sense. The declaration A Common Word of 2007 was a public first in Christian-Islam relations, trying to work out a moral common ground on many social issues.
Relations between Muslims and Jews remain quite difficult, exacerbated by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are inter-Muslim issues in between Sunnis and Shiites that are very much unresolved in the Middle East. Also, relations between Muslims and Hindus in India and Pakistan could theoretically be much better if interfaith efforts were more successful.
Ahmadiyya[edit]
According to the Ahmadiyya understanding, interfaith dialogues are an integral part of developing inter-religious peace and the establishment of peace. The Ahmadiyya Community has been organising interfaith events locally and nationally in various parts of the world in order to develop a better atmosphere of love and understanding between faiths. Various speakers are invited to deliver a talk on how peace can be established from their own or religious perspectives.[35]
Zoroastrianism[edit]
Zoroastrianism has long encouraged interfaith, all the way from Cyrus the Great's speech in Babylon, which permitted the population to keep following their own religion and keep speaking their own language. Cyrus did not enforce the state religion unto the people. As well, Cyrus freed all the Jewish slaves from Babylon, which earned him a place in the Jewish scriptures. Zoroastrians believe that all religions are equal, and that their religion is not superior to other religions. They believed that the Prophet Zoroaster implied the religion unto them, and did not convert each of them. Therefore, they do not even accept converts into their religion[citation needed]. All adherents must be born into the religion[citation needed].
Preconditions for Meaningful Interfaith Dialogue[edit]
A Boston College theologian, Catherine Cornille, identifies five preconditions for any meaningful interfaith dialogue: humility (causes a disturbance of one's view of other religions), commitment (causes a commitment to faith that simultaneously rejects intolerance to other faiths), interconnection (causes the recognition of shared common challenges such as the breakdown of families), empathy (causes one to view another religion from its own perspective), and most importantly hospitability (like the tent of Abraham, that was open on all four sides as a sign of hospitality to any new comer). Breaking down the walls that divides faiths while respecting the uniqueness of each tradition requires the courageous embrace of all these preconditions. [36]
Interfaith organizations[edit]
Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA) was established in 2001 and works to build genuine coexistence and sustainable peace, through joint community building on the grassroots level, using interactive interfaith dialogue as its vehicle. The a-political and all-inclusive approach of the organization and its activities continuously form the human infrastructure for peace in the Holy Land and the Middle East. In its ten years of existence, the IEA have held – in its three regional focuses: in Israel, between Israelis and Palestinians and in the larger Middle East – more than 1600 programs, with thousands of participants. A most significant fact is that the participants in IEA programs include people of all political and religious views, as well as all ages, genders, walks of life etc.; and that the vast majority of them have met 'the other' for the first time through IEA. The IEA have formed till now 58 on-going community-groups of interfaith encounter – from the Upper Galilee to Eilat, including 10 groups that bring together on a regular basis Israelis and West Bank Palestinians. Among the latter we maintain the three only groups in the country that bring together Palestinians with Settlers. IEA maintains working relations with 7 Palestinian organizations, across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and is a founding partner of the Middle East Abrahamic Forum, with additional organizations from Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey.
Messiah Foundation International is an interfaith organisation which aims to promote mutual love, peace and understanding between members of all religions and faiths through the spiritual sciences taught by Ra Gohar Shahi. MFI has centres across the globe, including in the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Japan.
Project Interfaith is a non-profit organization that aims to grow understanding, respect and relationships among people of all faiths, beliefs and cultures. The goals of the organization are approached through online media resources (particularly RavelUnravel) as well as community-building programs that educate and engage a variety of audiences on issues of faith, religion, identity, interfaith relations, and religious and cultural diversity.
Insight Film Festival is a biennual interfaith Community Interest Company that exists to encourage filmmakers throughout the world to make films about ‘faith’. It creates events and spaces where such films can be displayed, discussed and celebrated. It welcomes participants from all faith backgrounds and none, and focuses particularly on young filmmakers. In doing so, it wants to make positive contributions to understanding, respect and community cohesion.[37]
While there are many essentially religious organisations geared towards working on interfaith issues (see Interreligious organisations) there is also a less common attempt by some governmental institutions to specifically address the diversity of religions (see Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau for one example).
United Religions Initiative (URI) was founded in 2000 to promote daily, lasting interfaith cooperation, end religiously motivated violence, and create cultures of peace, justice, and healing for the Earth and all living beings. With hundreds of thousands of members in 80+ countries representing over 200 religions and indigenous traditions, URI uses "cooperation circles" to promote dialogue and action.
The Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center is a Jordanian non-governmental organization for promoting peaceful religious coexistence. It fosters grassroots interfaith dialogue and works on creating interreligious harmony.
United Nations support[edit]
On December 2, 2008, Anwarul Karim Chowdhury said:
"Interfaith dialogue is absolutely essential, relevant, and necessary. ... If 2009 is to truly be the Year of Interfaith Cooperation, the U.N. urgently needs to appoint an interfaith representative at a senior level in the Secretariat."[38]
The Republic of the Philippines will host a Special Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development from March 16 to 18 in Manila. During the meeting, to be attended by ministers of foreign affairs of the NAM member countries, a declaration in support of interfaith dialogue initiatives will be adopted. An accompanying event will involve civil society activities.[39]
In 2010, HM King Abdullah II addressed the 65th UN General Assembly and proposed the idea for a ‘World Interfaith Harmony Week’ to further broaden his goals of faith-driven world harmony by extending his call beyond the Muslim and Christian community to include people of all beliefs, those with no set religious beliefs as well. A few weeks later, HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad presented the proposal to the UN General Assembly, where it was adopted unanimously as a UN Observance Event.[40]
The first week of February, every year, has been declared a UN World Interfaith Harmony Week. The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre released a document which summarises the key events leading up to the UN resolution as well as documenting some Letters of Support and Events held in honour of the week.[41]
Criticism of interfaith dialogue[edit]
The group Hizb ut-Tahrir rejects the concept of interfaith dialogue, stating that it is a western tool to enforce non-Islamic policies in the Islamic world.[42]
Many Traditionalist Catholics, not merely Sedevacantists or the Society of St. Pius X, are critical of interfaith dialogue as a harmful novelty arising after the Second Vatican Council, which is said to have altered the previous notion of the Catholic Church's supremacy over other religious groups or bodies, as well as demoted traditional practices associated with traditional Roman Catholicism. In addition, these Catholics contend that, for the sake of collegial peace, tolerance and mutual understanding, interreligious dialogue devalues the divinity of Jesus Christ and the revelation of the Triune God by placing Christianity on the same footing as other religions that worship other deities.
In the case of Hinduism, it has been argued that the so-called interfaith "dialogue ... has [in fact] become the harbinger of violence. This is not because ‘outsiders’ have studied Hinduism or because the Hindu participants are religious ‘fundamentalists’ but because of the logical requirements of such a dialogue." With a detailed analysis of "two examples from Hinduism studies", S.N. Balagangadhara and Sarah Claerhout argue that, "in certain dialogical situations, the requirements of reason conflict with the requirements of morality".[43]
See also[edit]
A Common Word Between Us and You
Buddhism and Jainism
Buddhism and Hinduism
Buddhism and Christianity
Centre for Dialogue
Daughters of Abraham
Ecumenism (Christian)
Esalen Institute
The Elijah Interfaith Institute
Fethullah Gülen
Galip Hassan Kuscuoglu
Galibi Order
Gülen movement
Interfaith Center of New York
International Center for Religion & Diplomacy
Jewish views of religious pluralism
Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center
Multifaith space
Parliament of the World's Religions
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding
Relations between Catholicism and Judaism
Religions for Peace
Roland de Corneille
Saltley Gate Peace Group
Scriptural Reasoning
Seventh-day Adventist interfaith relations
Subud
Temple of Understanding
Temple of All Religions
United Religions Initiative
United States Institute of Peace
World Council of Churches
World Interfaith Harmony Week
World Religion Day
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The Morning Buzz," Public Religion Research Institute, July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ "Minnesota Interfaith Group Changes Its Name to Become More Inclusive of Atheists," Hemant Mehta, The Friendly Atheist, July 9, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ "St. Paul's atheists are coming out of the closet," Bob Shaw, St. Paul Pioneer Press, August 4, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
4.Jump up ^ "Promising Practice: Finding Common Ground Through Difference," Harvard Pluralism Project. Retrieved November 02, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ Musser, D & Sunderland, D., War or Words: Interreligious Dialogue as an Instrument of Peace Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, (2005) 1.
6.Jump up ^ Smock, D. (ed), (2002)Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding Washington, DC: US Institute of Peace Press
7.Jump up ^ Abu Nimer, M., et al, (2007) Unity in Diversity: Interfaith Dialogue in the Middle East Washington, DC: US Institute of Peace Press
8.Jump up ^ Renee Garfinkel,What Works: Evaluating Interfaith Dialogue, United State Institute of Peace, Special Report #123, (2004)
9.Jump up ^ "Interreligious Dialogue". World Council of Chruches. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
10.Jump up ^ Progressive Scottish Muslims: Learning Interfaith from the Mughals: Akbar the Great (1556-1605)
11.Jump up ^ Strabo, xv, 1, on the immolation of the Sramana in Athens (Paragraph 73).
12.Jump up ^ Dio Cassius, liv, 9.
13.Jump up ^ Jewish Virtual Library
14.Jump up ^ A History of the Jews in Christian Spain, Volume 1 ISBN 978-1-5904-5112-0
15.Jump up ^ Gleanings : Essays in Jewish History, Letters, and Art by Cecil Roth. Published by Hermon Press for Bloch Publishing Company, 1967
16.Jump up ^ REFLECTIONS ON THE TEXT AND CONTEXT OF THE DISPUTATION OF BARCELONA, [M.A. Cohen, Article Hebrew Union College Annual Vol. 35, (1964), pp. 157-192].
17.Jump up ^ http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm?n=1&sn=4
18.Jump up ^ Give Peace a Chance: Exploring the Vietnam Antiwar Movement ISBN 978-0-8156-2559-9
19.Jump up ^ http://www.saudiembassy.net/press-releases/press07170801.aspx Saudi Embassy - Saudi King Abdullah Commences Interfaith Dialogue Conference in Madrid, Spain
20.Jump up ^ Saudi Gazette - Let concord replace conflict – Abdullah
21.Jump up ^ Dalai Lama inaugurates 6-day world religions meet at Mahua
22.Jump up ^ Dalai Lama to inaugurate inter-faith conference
23.Jump up ^ Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, page 22, Bahá'u'lláh, From the "Bishárát" (Glad-Tidings).
24.Jump up ^ Catharine Cookson, ed. (2003). Encyclopedia of religious freedom. Taylor & Francis. p. 9.
25.Jump up ^ The Buddhist View toward Other Religions
26.Jump up ^ The Buddhist Attitude Towards Other Religions
27.Jump up ^ 101 Zen Stories; #16
28.Jump up ^ Tibetan Buddhism
29.Jump up ^ Kamenetz,Rodger (1994)The Jew in the Lotus Harper Collins: 1994.
30.Jump up ^ Top 10 Things Religious Leaders Say about Happiness
31.Jump up ^ "Pope urges dialogue with nonbelievers in letter to high profile atheist," Francis X. Rocca, Catholic Herald, September 12, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
32.Jump up ^ "Pope Francis' Letter to the Founder of 'La Repubblica' Italian Newspaper," Vatican City, September 11, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
33.Jump up ^ A Modern Orthodox Approach to Interfaith Dialogue
34.Jump up ^ http://quran.com/3
35.Jump up ^ "Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to hold Peace Conference in Malta". Ahmadiyya times. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
36.Jump up ^ Balcomb, Michael W. "Religion As An Obstacle To Peace?." Dialogue & Alliance 26.2 (2012): 40-49. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
37.Jump up ^ [1]
38.Jump up ^ [2]
39.Jump up ^ About the Meeting
40.Jump up ^ How It Began
41.Jump up ^ The First UN World Interfaith Harmony Week Booklet
42.Jump up ^ The Inevitability of Clash of Civilisation
43.Jump up ^ Balagangadhara, S.N; Claerhout, Sarah (2008). "Are Dialogues Antidotes to Violence? Two Recent Examples from Hinduism Studies". Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 7 (9): 118–143.
Further reading[edit]
Hick, John, ed. Truth and Dialogue: the Relationship between World Religions, in series, Studies in Philosophy and Religion. London: Sheldon Press, 1974. 164 p. N.B.: Also published in the U.S.A. under slightly divergent title, Truth and Dialogue in World Religions. ISBN 0-85969012-1.
Momen, Moojan (2009) [Originally published as The Phenomenon of Religion in 1999]. Understanding Religion: A Thematic Approach. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1-85168-599-8.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interfaith.
Interfaith at DMOZ
Council on Foreign Relations Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative
Institute of Interfaith Dialogue
Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue
Nonprofit Research Collection on Interfaith Organizing Published on IssueLab
The Interfaith Observer
Interfaith.org
  


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Interfaith dialogue

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"Interfaith" redirects here. For Interfaith marriage, see Interfaith marriage.

 

 (left to right) George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury (1991–2002), Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi (UK), Mustafa Cerić, Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Jim Wallis, Sojourners, USA. 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
 

 Roadside sign in the Nubra Valley, Ladkah, India
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e., "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions or beliefs to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs. Some interfaith dialogues have more recently adopted the name interbelief dialogue,[1][2][3] while other proponents have proposed the term interpath dialogue, to avoid implicitly excluding atheists, agnostics, humanists, and others with no religious faith but with ethical or philosophical beliefs, as well as to be more accurate concerning many world religions that do not place the same emphasis on "faith" as do some Western religions. Similarly, pluralistic rationalist groups have hosted public reasoning dialogues to transcend all worldviews (whether religious, cultural or political), termed transbelief dialogue.[4]
Throughout the world there are local, regional, national and international interfaith initiatives; many are formally or informally linked and constitute larger networks or federations. The often quoted [5] "There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions" was formulated by Dr Hans Küng, a Professor of Ecumenical Theology and President of the Global Ethic Foundation.
The United States Institute of Peace published works on interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding[6][7] including a Special Report on Evaluating Interfaith Dialogue[8] Interfaith dialogue forms a major role in the study of religion and peacebuilding.
To some, the term interreligious dialogue has the same meaning as interfaith dialogue. Neither are the same as Nondenominational Christianity. The World Council of Churches, though. distinguishes between 'interfaith' and 'interrreligious.' To the WCC, 'interreligious' refers to action between different Christian denominations. So, 'interfaith' refers to interaction between different faith groups such as Muslim and Christian or Hindu and Jew for example.[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Policies of religions to interfaith dialogue 2.1 Bahá'í Faith
2.2 Buddhism
2.3 Christianity
2.4 Judaism
2.5 Islam 2.5.1 Ahmadiyya
2.6 Zoroastrianism
3 Preconditions for Meaningful Interfaith Dialogue
4 Interfaith organizations
5 United Nations support
6 Criticism of interfaith dialogue
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

History[edit]

 

 Symbols representing:
Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Baha'is, Eckists, Sikhs, Jains, Wiccans, Unitarian Universalists, Shintoists, Taoists, Thelemites, Tenrikyoists, Zoroastrians
 

Temple of All Religions in Kazan, Russia
 

 Congress of Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, 1893
The history of interfaith dialogue is as ancient as religion itself. When not at war with their neighbours, human beings have made an effort to understand them (not least because understanding is a strategy for defense, but also because for as long as there is dialogue wars are delayed). History records many examples of interfaith initiatives and dialogue throughout the ages.
Interfaith dialogue and action have taken place for many centuries. The Emperor Akbar the Great, for example, encouraged tolerance in Mughal India, a diverse nation with people of various faith backgrounds, including Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Christianity.[10] Religious pluralism can also be observed in other historical contexts, including Muslim Spain. Zarmanochegas (Zarmarus) (Ζαρμανοχηγὰς) was a monk of the Sramana tradition (possibly, but not necessarily a Buddhist) from India who journeyed to Antioch and Athens while Augustus (died 14 CE) was ruling the Roman Emprire.[11][12]
Disputation of Barcelona - religious disputation between Jews and Christians in 1263. The apostate Paulus [Pablo] Christiani proposed to King James I of Aragon that a formal public religious disputation on the fundamentals of faith should be held between him and R. Moses b. Nahman (Nachmanides) whom he had already encountered in Gerona. The disputation took place with the support of the ecclesiastical authorities and the generals of the Dominican and Franciscan orders, while the king presided over a number of sessions and took an active part in the disputation. The Dominicans Raymond de Peñaforte, Raymond Martini, and Arnold de Segarra, and the general of the Franciscan order in the kingdom, Peter de Janua, were among the Christian disputants. The single representative for the Jewish side was Naḥmanides. The four sessions of the disputation took place on July 20, 27, 30, and 31, 1263 (according to another calculation, July 20, 23, 26, and 27). Naḥmanides was guaranteed complete freedom of speech in the debate; he took full advantage of the opportunity thus afforded and spoke with remarkable frankness. Two accounts of the disputation, one in Hebrew written by Naḥmanides and a shorter one in Latin, are the main sources for the history of this important episode in Judeo-Christian polemics. According to both sources the initiative for the disputation and its agenda were imposed by the Christian side, although the Hebrew account tries to suggest a greater involvement of Naḥmanides in finalizing the items to be discussed. When the ecclesiastics who saw the "not right" turn the disputation was taking, due to Nahmanides persuasive argumentation, they urged that it should be ended as speedily as possible. It was, therefore, never formally concluded, but interrupted. According to the Latin record of the proceedings, the disputation ended because Nahmanides fled prematurely from the city. In fact, however, he stayed on in Barcelona for over a week after the disputation had been suspended in order to be present in the synagogue on the following Sabbath when a conversionist sermon was to be delivered. The king himself attended the synagogue and gave an address, an event without medieval precedent. Nahmanides was permitted to reply on this occasion. The following day, after receipt of a gift of 300 sólidos from the king, he returned home.
While the Disputation may have been a great achievement for Paulus Christiani in his innovative use of rabbinic sources in Christian missionary efforts, for Naḥmanides it represented an additional example of the wise and courageous leadership which he offered his people.[13] [14] [15] [16]
There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World’s Religions, most notably the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, the first attempt to create a global dialogue of between religions. The event was celebrated by another conference on its centenary in 1993. This led to a new series of conferences under the official title "Parliament of the World's Religions".[17]
Early 20th Century - dialogue started to take place between the Abrahamic faiths - Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Bahá'í.[citation needed] The 1960s - The interfaith movement gathered interest.[citation needed]
1965 - The Roman Catholic Church issued the Vatican II document Nostra aetate, instituting major policy changes in the Catholic Church's policy towards non-Christian religions.[citation needed]
In the late 1960s interfaith groups such as the Clergy And Laity Concerned (CALC) joined around Civil Rights issues for African-Americans and later were often vocal in their opposition to the Vietnam War.[18]
September 11, 2001 - After September 11, under the leadership of James Parks Morton, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Interfaith Center of New York's mission became increasingly centered on providing assistance to immigrant and disenfranchised communities whose religious leaders were often the only source of knowledge for new immigrants about coping with a new life in an urban environment like New York City. New programs were launched that responded to the needs of these constituents, combining practical information about establishing civic connections and information about other religions with insight about common social concerns. New programs included Religious Communities and the Courts System (2003), Teacher Education in American Religious Diversity (2003), Mediation for Religious Leaders (2005), and Religious Diversity Training for Social Workers (2005).[citation needed]
On October 13, 2007 Muslims expanded their message. In A Common Word Between Us and You, 138 Muslim scholars, clerics and intellectuals unanimously came together for the first time since the days of the Prophet[s] to declare the common ground between Christianity and Islam.[citation needed]
In 2008, through the collaboration of The Hebrew Union College, Omar Foundation, and the University of Southern California Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement was created. This inter-faith think tank began to hold religious text-study programs throughout Los Angeles and has an extensive amount of resources on its website including scholarly articles about Creationism, Abraham and Human Rights.[citation needed]
July 2008 - A historic interfaith dialogue conference was initiated by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to solve world problems through concord instead of conflict. The conference was attended by religious leaders of different faiths such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism and was hosted by King Juan Carlos of Spain in Madrid.[19][20]
January 2009, at Gujarat’s Mahuva, the Dalai Lama inaugurated an interfaith "World Religions-Dialogue and Symphony" conference convened by Hindu preacher Morari Bapu from January 6 to 11th 2009. This conference explored ways and means to deal with the discord among major religions, according to Morari Bapu. Participants included Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche on Buddhism, Diwan Saiyad Zainul Abedin Ali Sahib (Ajmer Sharif) on Islam, Dr. Prabalkant Dutt on non-Catholic Christianity, Swami Jayendra Saraswathi on Hinduism and Dastur Dr. Peshtan Hormazadiar Mirza on Zoroastrianism.[21][22]
July 2009, the Vancouver School of Theology opened the Iona Pacific: Inter-Religious Centre for Social Action, Research, and Contemplative Practice under the leadership of Principal and Dean, Dr. Wendy Fletcher, and Director, Rabbi Dr. Robert Daum.[citation needed]

Policies of religions to interfaith dialogue[edit]
Bahá'í Faith[edit]
Main article: Bahá'í Faith and the unity of religion
Interfaith and multi-faith interactivity is integral to the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. Its founder Bahá'u'lláh enjoined his followers to "consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship."[23] Bahá'ís are often at the forefront of local inter-faith activities and efforts. Through the Bahá'í International Community agency, the Bahá'ís also participate at a global level in inter-religious dialogue both through and outside of the United Nations processes.
In 2002 the Universal House of Justice, the global governing body of the Bahá'ís, issued a letter to the religious leadership of all faiths in which it identified religious prejudice as one of the last remaining "isms" to be overcome, enjoining such leaders to unite in an effort to root out extreme and divisive religious intolerance.[24]
Buddhism[edit]
Buddhism has historically been open to other religions.[25] As Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda has stated:

Buddhism is a religion which teaches people to 'live and let live'. In the history of the world, there is no evidence to show that Buddhists have interfered or done any damage to any other religion in any part of the world for the purpose of introducing their religion. Buddhists do not regard the existence of other religions as a hindrance to worldly progress and peace.[26]
The 14th century Zen master Gasan Joseki indicated that the Gospels were written by an enlightened being:
"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these...Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."Gasan said: "Whoever uttered those words I consider an enlightened man." [27]
The 14th Dalai Lama has done a great deal of interfaith work throughout his life. He believes that the "common aim of all religions, an aim that everyone must try to find, is to foster tolerance, altruism and love".[28] He met with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1973. He met with Pope John Paul II in 1980 and also later in 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, and 2003. During 1990, he met in Dharamsala with a delegation of Jewish teachers for an extensive interfaith dialogue.[29] He has since visited Israel three times and met during 2006 with the Chief Rabbi of Israel. In 2006, he met privately with Pope Benedict XVI. He has also met the late Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Robert Runcie, and other leaders of the Anglican Church in London, Gordon B. Hinckley, late President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), as well as senior Eastern Orthodox Church, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Sikh officials.
In 2010, the Dalai Lama was joined by Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, and Islamic scholar Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University when Emory University's Center for the Study of Law and Religion hosted a "Summit on Happiness".[30]
Christianity[edit]


 This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2013)
Traditional Christian doctrine is Christocentric, meaning that Christ is held to be the sole full and true revelation of the will of God for humanity. In a Christocentric view, the elements of truth in other religions are understood in relation to the fullness of truth found in Christ. God is nevertheless understood to be free of human constructions. Therefore, God the Holy Spirit is understood as the power who guides non-Christians in their search for truth, which is held to be a search for the mind of Christ, even if "anonymously," in the phrase of Catholic theologian Karl Rahner. For those who support this view, anonymous Christians belong to Christ now and forever and lead a life fit for Jesus' commandment to love, even though they never explicitly understand the meaning of their life in Christian terms.
While the conciliar document Nostra aetate has fostered widespread dialogue, the declaration Dominus Iesus nevertheless reaffirms the centrality of the person of Jesus Christ in the spiritual and cultural identity of Christians, rejecting various forms of syncretism.
Pope John Paul II was a major advocate of interfaith dialogue, promoting meetings in Assisi in the 1980s. Pope Benedict XVI took a more moderate and cautious approach, stressing the need for intercultural dialogue, but reasserting Christian theological identity in the revelation of Jesus of Nazareth in a book published with Marcello Pera in 2004. In 2013, Pope Francis became the first Catholic leader to call for "sincere and rigorous" interbelief dialogue with atheists, both to counter the assertion that Christianity is necessarily an "expression of darkness of superstition that is opposed to the light of reason," and to assert that "dialogue is not a secondary accessory of the existence of the believer" but instead is a "profound and indispensable expression ... [of] faith [that] is not intransigent, but grows in coexistence that respects the other."[31][32]
In traditional Christian doctrine, the value of inter-religious dialogue had been confined to acts of love and understanding toward others either as anonymous Christians or as potential converts.
In mainline liberal Protestant traditions, however, as well as in the emerging church, these doctrinal constraints have largely been cast off. Many theologians, pastors, and lay people from these traditions do not hold to uniquely Christocentric understandings of how God was in Christ. They engage deeply in interfaith dialogue as learners, not converters, and desire to celebrate as fully as possible the many paths to God.
Much focus in Christian interfaith dialogue has been put on Christian–Jewish reconciliation. One of the oldest successful dialogues between Jews and Christians has been taking place in Mobile, Alabama. It began in the wake of the call of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) of the Roman Catholic Church for increased understanding between Christians and Jews. The organization has recently moved its center of activity to Spring Hill College, a Catholic, Jesuit institution of higher learning located in Mobile. Reconciliation has been successful on many levels, but has been somewhat complicated by the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East, where a significant minority of Arabs are Christian.
Judaism[edit]
Main article: Jewish views on religious pluralism
The Modern Orthodox movement allows narrow exchanges on social issues, while warning to be cautious in discussion of doctrine.[33] Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism and Conservative Judaism encourage interfaith dialogue.
Islam[edit]


 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2010)


 This section improperly uses one or more religious texts as primary sources without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them. Please help improve this article by adding references to reliable secondary sources, with multiple points of view. (June 2015)
Islam has long encouraged dialogue to reach truth. Dialogue is particularly encouraged amongst the People of the Book (Jews, Christians and Muslims) as Qur'an states, "Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah ." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]."[3:64][34]".
Many traditional and religious texts and customs of the faith have encouraged this, including specific verses in the Quran, such as: "O people! Behold, we have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware." [Qur'an 49:13]
In recent times, Muslim theologians have advocated inter-faith dialogue on a large scale, something which is new in a political sense. The declaration A Common Word of 2007 was a public first in Christian-Islam relations, trying to work out a moral common ground on many social issues.
Relations between Muslims and Jews remain quite difficult, exacerbated by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are inter-Muslim issues in between Sunnis and Shiites that are very much unresolved in the Middle East. Also, relations between Muslims and Hindus in India and Pakistan could theoretically be much better if interfaith efforts were more successful.
Ahmadiyya[edit]
According to the Ahmadiyya understanding, interfaith dialogues are an integral part of developing inter-religious peace and the establishment of peace. The Ahmadiyya Community has been organising interfaith events locally and nationally in various parts of the world in order to develop a better atmosphere of love and understanding between faiths. Various speakers are invited to deliver a talk on how peace can be established from their own or religious perspectives.[35]
Zoroastrianism[edit]
Zoroastrianism has long encouraged interfaith, all the way from Cyrus the Great's speech in Babylon, which permitted the population to keep following their own religion and keep speaking their own language. Cyrus did not enforce the state religion unto the people. As well, Cyrus freed all the Jewish slaves from Babylon, which earned him a place in the Jewish scriptures. Zoroastrians believe that all religions are equal, and that their religion is not superior to other religions. They believed that the Prophet Zoroaster implied the religion unto them, and did not convert each of them. Therefore, they do not even accept converts into their religion[citation needed]. All adherents must be born into the religion[citation needed].
Preconditions for Meaningful Interfaith Dialogue[edit]
A Boston College theologian, Catherine Cornille, identifies five preconditions for any meaningful interfaith dialogue: humility (causes a disturbance of one's view of other religions), commitment (causes a commitment to faith that simultaneously rejects intolerance to other faiths), interconnection (causes the recognition of shared common challenges such as the breakdown of families), empathy (causes one to view another religion from its own perspective), and most importantly hospitability (like the tent of Abraham, that was open on all four sides as a sign of hospitality to any new comer). Breaking down the walls that divides faiths while respecting the uniqueness of each tradition requires the courageous embrace of all these preconditions. [36]
Interfaith organizations[edit]
Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA) was established in 2001 and works to build genuine coexistence and sustainable peace, through joint community building on the grassroots level, using interactive interfaith dialogue as its vehicle. The a-political and all-inclusive approach of the organization and its activities continuously form the human infrastructure for peace in the Holy Land and the Middle East. In its ten years of existence, the IEA have held – in its three regional focuses: in Israel, between Israelis and Palestinians and in the larger Middle East – more than 1600 programs, with thousands of participants. A most significant fact is that the participants in IEA programs include people of all political and religious views, as well as all ages, genders, walks of life etc.; and that the vast majority of them have met 'the other' for the first time through IEA. The IEA have formed till now 58 on-going community-groups of interfaith encounter – from the Upper Galilee to Eilat, including 10 groups that bring together on a regular basis Israelis and West Bank Palestinians. Among the latter we maintain the three only groups in the country that bring together Palestinians with Settlers. IEA maintains working relations with 7 Palestinian organizations, across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and is a founding partner of the Middle East Abrahamic Forum, with additional organizations from Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey.
Messiah Foundation International is an interfaith organisation which aims to promote mutual love, peace and understanding between members of all religions and faiths through the spiritual sciences taught by Ra Gohar Shahi. MFI has centres across the globe, including in the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Japan.
Project Interfaith is a non-profit organization that aims to grow understanding, respect and relationships among people of all faiths, beliefs and cultures. The goals of the organization are approached through online media resources (particularly RavelUnravel) as well as community-building programs that educate and engage a variety of audiences on issues of faith, religion, identity, interfaith relations, and religious and cultural diversity.
Insight Film Festival is a biennual interfaith Community Interest Company that exists to encourage filmmakers throughout the world to make films about ‘faith’. It creates events and spaces where such films can be displayed, discussed and celebrated. It welcomes participants from all faith backgrounds and none, and focuses particularly on young filmmakers. In doing so, it wants to make positive contributions to understanding, respect and community cohesion.[37]
While there are many essentially religious organisations geared towards working on interfaith issues (see Interreligious organisations) there is also a less common attempt by some governmental institutions to specifically address the diversity of religions (see Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau for one example).
United Religions Initiative (URI) was founded in 2000 to promote daily, lasting interfaith cooperation, end religiously motivated violence, and create cultures of peace, justice, and healing for the Earth and all living beings. With hundreds of thousands of members in 80+ countries representing over 200 religions and indigenous traditions, URI uses "cooperation circles" to promote dialogue and action.
The Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center is a Jordanian non-governmental organization for promoting peaceful religious coexistence. It fosters grassroots interfaith dialogue and works on creating interreligious harmony.
United Nations support[edit]
On December 2, 2008, Anwarul Karim Chowdhury said:
"Interfaith dialogue is absolutely essential, relevant, and necessary. ... If 2009 is to truly be the Year of Interfaith Cooperation, the U.N. urgently needs to appoint an interfaith representative at a senior level in the Secretariat."[38]
The Republic of the Philippines will host a Special Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development from March 16 to 18 in Manila. During the meeting, to be attended by ministers of foreign affairs of the NAM member countries, a declaration in support of interfaith dialogue initiatives will be adopted. An accompanying event will involve civil society activities.[39]
In 2010, HM King Abdullah II addressed the 65th UN General Assembly and proposed the idea for a ‘World Interfaith Harmony Week’ to further broaden his goals of faith-driven world harmony by extending his call beyond the Muslim and Christian community to include people of all beliefs, those with no set religious beliefs as well. A few weeks later, HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad presented the proposal to the UN General Assembly, where it was adopted unanimously as a UN Observance Event.[40]
The first week of February, every year, has been declared a UN World Interfaith Harmony Week. The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre released a document which summarises the key events leading up to the UN resolution as well as documenting some Letters of Support and Events held in honour of the week.[41]
Criticism of interfaith dialogue[edit]
The group Hizb ut-Tahrir rejects the concept of interfaith dialogue, stating that it is a western tool to enforce non-Islamic policies in the Islamic world.[42]
Many Traditionalist Catholics, not merely Sedevacantists or the Society of St. Pius X, are critical of interfaith dialogue as a harmful novelty arising after the Second Vatican Council, which is said to have altered the previous notion of the Catholic Church's supremacy over other religious groups or bodies, as well as demoted traditional practices associated with traditional Roman Catholicism. In addition, these Catholics contend that, for the sake of collegial peace, tolerance and mutual understanding, interreligious dialogue devalues the divinity of Jesus Christ and the revelation of the Triune God by placing Christianity on the same footing as other religions that worship other deities.
In the case of Hinduism, it has been argued that the so-called interfaith "dialogue ... has [in fact] become the harbinger of violence. This is not because ‘outsiders’ have studied Hinduism or because the Hindu participants are religious ‘fundamentalists’ but because of the logical requirements of such a dialogue." With a detailed analysis of "two examples from Hinduism studies", S.N. Balagangadhara and Sarah Claerhout argue that, "in certain dialogical situations, the requirements of reason conflict with the requirements of morality".[43]
See also[edit]
A Common Word Between Us and You
Buddhism and Jainism
Buddhism and Hinduism
Buddhism and Christianity
Centre for Dialogue
Daughters of Abraham
Ecumenism (Christian)
Esalen Institute
The Elijah Interfaith Institute
Fethullah Gülen
Galip Hassan Kuscuoglu
Galibi Order
Gülen movement
Interfaith Center of New York
International Center for Religion & Diplomacy
Jewish views of religious pluralism
Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center
Multifaith space
Parliament of the World's Religions
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding
Relations between Catholicism and Judaism
Religions for Peace
Roland de Corneille
Saltley Gate Peace Group
Scriptural Reasoning
Seventh-day Adventist interfaith relations
Subud
Temple of Understanding
Temple of All Religions
United Religions Initiative
United States Institute of Peace
World Council of Churches
World Interfaith Harmony Week
World Religion Day
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The Morning Buzz," Public Religion Research Institute, July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ "Minnesota Interfaith Group Changes Its Name to Become More Inclusive of Atheists," Hemant Mehta, The Friendly Atheist, July 9, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ "St. Paul's atheists are coming out of the closet," Bob Shaw, St. Paul Pioneer Press, August 4, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
4.Jump up ^ "Promising Practice: Finding Common Ground Through Difference," Harvard Pluralism Project. Retrieved November 02, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ Musser, D & Sunderland, D., War or Words: Interreligious Dialogue as an Instrument of Peace Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, (2005) 1.
6.Jump up ^ Smock, D. (ed), (2002)Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding Washington, DC: US Institute of Peace Press
7.Jump up ^ Abu Nimer, M., et al, (2007) Unity in Diversity: Interfaith Dialogue in the Middle East Washington, DC: US Institute of Peace Press
8.Jump up ^ Renee Garfinkel,What Works: Evaluating Interfaith Dialogue, United State Institute of Peace, Special Report #123, (2004)
9.Jump up ^ "Interreligious Dialogue". World Council of Chruches. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
10.Jump up ^ Progressive Scottish Muslims: Learning Interfaith from the Mughals: Akbar the Great (1556-1605)
11.Jump up ^ Strabo, xv, 1, on the immolation of the Sramana in Athens (Paragraph 73).
12.Jump up ^ Dio Cassius, liv, 9.
13.Jump up ^ Jewish Virtual Library
14.Jump up ^ A History of the Jews in Christian Spain, Volume 1 ISBN 978-1-5904-5112-0
15.Jump up ^ Gleanings : Essays in Jewish History, Letters, and Art by Cecil Roth. Published by Hermon Press for Bloch Publishing Company, 1967
16.Jump up ^ REFLECTIONS ON THE TEXT AND CONTEXT OF THE DISPUTATION OF BARCELONA, [M.A. Cohen, Article Hebrew Union College Annual Vol. 35, (1964), pp. 157-192].
17.Jump up ^ http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm?n=1&sn=4
18.Jump up ^ Give Peace a Chance: Exploring the Vietnam Antiwar Movement ISBN 978-0-8156-2559-9
19.Jump up ^ http://www.saudiembassy.net/press-releases/press07170801.aspx Saudi Embassy - Saudi King Abdullah Commences Interfaith Dialogue Conference in Madrid, Spain
20.Jump up ^ Saudi Gazette - Let concord replace conflict – Abdullah
21.Jump up ^ Dalai Lama inaugurates 6-day world religions meet at Mahua
22.Jump up ^ Dalai Lama to inaugurate inter-faith conference
23.Jump up ^ Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, page 22, Bahá'u'lláh, From the "Bishárát" (Glad-Tidings).
24.Jump up ^ Catharine Cookson, ed. (2003). Encyclopedia of religious freedom. Taylor & Francis. p. 9.
25.Jump up ^ The Buddhist View toward Other Religions
26.Jump up ^ The Buddhist Attitude Towards Other Religions
27.Jump up ^ 101 Zen Stories; #16
28.Jump up ^ Tibetan Buddhism
29.Jump up ^ Kamenetz,Rodger (1994)The Jew in the Lotus Harper Collins: 1994.
30.Jump up ^ Top 10 Things Religious Leaders Say about Happiness
31.Jump up ^ "Pope urges dialogue with nonbelievers in letter to high profile atheist," Francis X. Rocca, Catholic Herald, September 12, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
32.Jump up ^ "Pope Francis' Letter to the Founder of 'La Repubblica' Italian Newspaper," Vatican City, September 11, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
33.Jump up ^ A Modern Orthodox Approach to Interfaith Dialogue
34.Jump up ^ http://quran.com/3
35.Jump up ^ "Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to hold Peace Conference in Malta". Ahmadiyya times. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
36.Jump up ^ Balcomb, Michael W. "Religion As An Obstacle To Peace?." Dialogue & Alliance 26.2 (2012): 40-49. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
37.Jump up ^ [1]
38.Jump up ^ [2]
39.Jump up ^ About the Meeting
40.Jump up ^ How It Began
41.Jump up ^ The First UN World Interfaith Harmony Week Booklet
42.Jump up ^ The Inevitability of Clash of Civilisation
43.Jump up ^ Balagangadhara, S.N; Claerhout, Sarah (2008). "Are Dialogues Antidotes to Violence? Two Recent Examples from Hinduism Studies". Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 7 (9): 118–143.
Further reading[edit]
Hick, John, ed. Truth and Dialogue: the Relationship between World Religions, in series, Studies in Philosophy and Religion. London: Sheldon Press, 1974. 164 p. N.B.: Also published in the U.S.A. under slightly divergent title, Truth and Dialogue in World Religions. ISBN 0-85969012-1.
Momen, Moojan (2009) [Originally published as The Phenomenon of Religion in 1999]. Understanding Religion: A Thematic Approach. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1-85168-599-8.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interfaith.
Interfaith at DMOZ
Council on Foreign Relations Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative
Institute of Interfaith Dialogue
Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue
Nonprofit Research Collection on Interfaith Organizing Published on IssueLab
The Interfaith Observer
Interfaith.org
  


Categories: Interfaith
Intersectionality
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