Ecumenical what does it mean

To be rooted in a particular Christian tradition: To know it well, and to be able to present the coherency of that tradition's response to the Gospel to others. The genuine ecumenists are not at the margin of their church's life, but at the heart of it. They know what is important in the Christian life, and can recognize those elements in other churches even if they may be differently expressed. To take an active part in the careful and honest appraisal of whatever needs to be done for the renewal of one's own church: Ecumenism is not a specialty within the church, but an expression of every dimension of its life.

It helps the church to be more the church and to be faithful to her calling. Dialogue is the meeting of churches. The purpose of dialogue is to help one another renew the churches in order to carry out Christ's mission for his one Church.

To be fascinated and curious about that which is different: To risk peeping out of our provincial perspectives and opening ourselves to the bigger picture. Ecumenism is a way of living that dares to think globally and live trustfully with differences in community.

To be willing to learn: Truth is seldom discovered in isolation but rather through dialogue in diverse community. Each Christian tradition has preserved better than others one or more aspects of the mystery of God's work in Christ. The work of unity aims at restoring the fullness of our common appreciation of that mystery. To cultivate an historical consciousness: We're on a journey.

The church we have is not the church God wants. An ecumenically minded person refuses to worship false gods, and the present expression of the church is not God.

Thus, in the third, fourth and fifth general sessions it was enacted, with characteristic precipitation, that an ecumenical council could not be dissolved or set aside by the pope, without its consent: the corollary to which was, that the present council, notwithstanding the flight of John XXIII.

All rights reserved. Filters 0. Of worldwide scope or applicability; universal. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Definition of ecumenical. Examples of ecumenical in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web Privately, Abbas struggled to reconcile this ecumenical approach with religious strictures. Kishkovsky sought to bridge divides not only between denominations but between ideologies.

First Known Use of ecumenical circa , in the meaning defined at sense 2. Learn More About ecumenical. Time Traveler for ecumenical The first known use of ecumenical was circa See more words from the same year.

There was also a guarantee of full liberty for future conclaves and ecumenical councils. The constitutio de fide has been adopted by the Ecumenical Council, nemine contradicente. Our present problems are said to be waiting for the next Ecumenical Council. Why not call an ecumenical council, appoint a commission to see to such things, and then forget the sacrilege? As an ecclesiastical title it was used to imply, not universal ecumenical , but a great and widespread jurisdiction.