The Nature and Purpose of Ecumenical Dialogue

Ecumenical Review, The, July, 2000 by Konrad Raiser

More recent statements

This concern for the vertical and spiritual dimension of dialogue is placed in the centre of the reflection on ecumenical dialogue in the famous encyclical of Pope John Paul II Ut Unum Sint. In fact, the whole encyclical deals with the question of the nature and purpose of ecumenical dialogue, and its third chapter discusses extensively the fruits of ecumenical dialogues carded on over the last thirty years. Before addressing the practice and the results of dialogue, however, the encyclical focuses on the very basis and nature of dialogue as a way towards renewal and conversion. The encyclical places dialogue into the context of profound anthropological insights: dialogue is not only a way of exchanging ideas, but represents a mutual, reciprocal giving of oneself as an existential act. The encyclical wants to nurture this "spirit of dialogue" and to contribute to the emergence of a culture of dialogue.

Thus, before speaking about dialogue as a way to overcome disagreements, the encyclical underlines the need for an examination of conscience, that is, for the purification of the heart, and it calls for a mutual acknowledgment of the personal as well as social and structural "sins against unity". Dialogue must be permeated by the spirit of conversion, and thus become truly a "dialogue of conversion". It does not take place merely on a horizontal level, but has a vertical thrust in the common turning to God in Christ.

   This vertical aspect of dialogue lies in our acknowledgment, jointly and to
   each other, that we are men and women who have sinned. It is precisely this
   acknowledgment which creates in brothers and sisters living in communities,
   not in full communion with one another, that interior space where Christ,
   the source of the church's unity, can effectively act, with all the power
   of his Spirit, the Paraclete ( [sections] 35).

The encyclical thus takes seriously the call for "spiritual ecumenism", that change of heart and mind which is required for any true progress towards unity. It is this emphasis on the vertical and spiritual dimension of dialogue which is the most distinctive contribution of the encyclical to this renewed discussion about the nature and purpose of ecumenical dialogue. The subsequent indications of the encyclical about the conditions and methods of dialogue restate earlier explanations without, however, becoming more explicit about the underlying hermeneutical issues.

In the same year (1995), the JWG issued a study document concerning "Ecumenical Dialogue on Moral Issues", which was reprinted in the seventh report of the JWG. The document is an expression of wisdom and experience gained in ecumenical dialogue about potentially church-divisive moral and ethical issues. It strongly underlines the need to acknowledge the common basis which helps to place the differences in their proper perspective. One particularly important insight is the recognition of different "path-ways", that is, coherent frameworks of understanding, mentality and ethos which condition moral judgments. This insight is of great significance for any reflection about the hermeneutics of dialogue, and points to the need to take the contextual and historical dimensions more seriously than has hitherto been the case.