scholarly journals Importance of the Sacrament of Baptism for the Contemporary World

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-99
Author(s):  
Adrian George Boldisor
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
Difficult Dialogues ◽  
Common Understanding

Baptism has been a focus of significant discussion in the ecumenical movement, as the different churches seek a common understanding of Baptism, with the goal of mutual recognition. The Orthodox Church has been involved in these conversations from the beginning. The present article is an attempt to trace the participation of the Orthodox representatives in these dialogues on Baptism, both at the level of the World Council of Churches and in bilateral dialogues. It explains the Orthodox understanding of Baptism as a Sacrament, how this understanding is reflected (or not) in ecumenical agreements on Baptism. It will also review official Orthodox responses to some of these agreements. The author attempts to demonstrate that the Orthodox Church’s contributions to these sometimes-difficult dialogues have shown a commitment to seeking a common understanding of Baptism. Finally, this paper will examine the present state of ecumenical dialogue on Baptism, and evaluate its prospects for the future.

THE EMERGENCE OF RESISTANCE TO ECUMENISM IN THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (ROC) IN THE POST-PERESTROIKA PERIOD OF RUSSIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 74-93
Author(s):  
V.A. LIVTSOV ◽  
◽  
A.V. LEPILIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
International Level ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Emergence Of Resistance

The main purpose of the article is to analyze the emergence of opposition to ecumenism in the Rus-sian Orthodox Church (ROC) in the post-perestroika period of Russia. The article examines the issues of interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), the aspects of opposition to the ecumenist movement in the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet realities. The author comes to the conclusion that in the post-perestroika period, a number of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church were negatively disposed towards ecu-menism and considered this movement a heresy. The issues of this kind caused disagreement not only at the international level, but also within the structure of the ROC itself.

“Although We Cannot Fully Meet” the Roman Catholic Response to Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry

1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-267
Author(s):  
Peter R. Cross
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Church

The publication of Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry by the World Council of Churches in 1982 was the culmination of more than fifty years of ecumenical discussion. The document was designed to elicit official comment from the churches involved in its production and also to involve a wide membership of the churches in the process of reception of the text by taking its insights into their spiritual, pastoral and theological life. This present article analyses the response of the Roman Catholic Church. The response is largely positive, but the methodology of the document reveals unresolved tensions concerning theological reformulation while the wider issue touching reception in the life of the Church is avoided.

IN CAMMINO… UN ANNO DI ESPERIENZE ECUMENICHE LOCALI E NON LOCALI DALLA VISITA DI PAPA FRANCESCO A GINEVRA

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (24) ◽  
pp. 247
Author(s):  
Riccardo Burigana
Keyword(s):  
70Th Anniversary ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
Significant Step ◽  
The Way

La visita di papa Francesco a Ginevra rappresenta una tappa significativa nel dialogo ecumenico per le parole e gesti che hanno caratterizzato la visita del papa al Consiglio Ecumenico delle Chiese in occasione del 70° anniversario della sua fondazione. La visita del papa ha acquistato un valore ancora più rilevante alla luce dei tanti eventi ecumenici che l’autore descrive, soffermandosi su alcuni temi condivisi; questi eventi hanno testimoniato la vitalità della stagione che sta vivendo l’ecumenismo a livello globale, nonostante il dibattito nel mondo ortodosso riguardo alla Chiesa Ucraina. ON THE WAY…. A YEAR OF ECUMENICAL LOCAL AND NOT LOCAL EXPERIENCES FROM POPE FRANCIS’ VISIT TO GENEVAAbstractPope Francis' visit to Geneva represents a significant step in the ecumenical dialogue for the words and deeds which characterized Pope’s visit to the World Council of Churches in occasion of 70th anniversary of its foundation. Pope’s visit gained even more value in light of so many ecumenical events which the author describes, by focusing some shared topics. They testified to the vitality of the season that the ecumenism lives, despite the debate inside the Orthodox world about the Ukrainian Church.

Baptism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan K. Wood
Keyword(s):  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter surveys commonalities and divergences with regard to the theology and practice of baptism that are reflected in the World Council of Churches convergence document on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, and considers in particular the Anabaptist, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Orthodox, Quaker, and Reformed traditions. Major topics treated include: the role of faith with regard to baptism, interconnections between baptism, faith, and justification; the relationship between baptism and patterns of initiation in various traditions; and elements of the ancient catechumenate in contemporary rites. The chapter argues that in the expansive theology of baptism in the catechumenal tradition baptism is understood to be transformative and regenerative, eucharistic in orientation and meaning, eschatological in orientation, and ecclesial in context. The chapter finally summarizes the achievements of ecumenical dialogue and identifies remaining issues.

Where We Dwell in Common

Horizons ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (02) ◽  
pp. 332-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Haight
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
World War ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Protestant Churches ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Many ◽  
Common Understanding ◽  
The Church

The great surge of Christian missionary activity during the course of the nineteenth century elicited a new concern for church unity. Was this missionary activity, after all, spreading division? In 1910 representatives of Protestant churches came together to respond to that question in Edinburgh at The World Missionary Conference. The conference in its turn channeled the concern to the sending churches. Although somewhat slowed down by World War I, the ecumenical movement grew and was punctuated by landmark events in The Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work (Stockholm, 1925) and The World Conference of Faith and Order (Lausanne, 1927). The report of this second conference included a description of what the churches assembled in their representatives shared in common and the many things that distinguished and sometimes divided them. When the World Council of Churches came into existence in August of 1948, the Faith and Order movement was integrated into it as a distinct agency whose concern was the doctrinal unity of the churches. Its signal achievement thus far has been the document entitled Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, frequently referred to as the Lima document, which sketches a proposal for a common understanding of these three aspects of the church across the churches. This document is the best example of what I will call “transdenominational ecclesiology,” and the fact that it has received so much attention from the churches indicates that it plays some important role in the whole church.

scholarly journals Eastern Orthodox Churches and Ecumenism according to the Holy Pan-Orthodox Council of Crete (2016)

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iuliu-Marius Morariu
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Official Document ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Official Position ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Future ◽  
World Council

Starting from the investigation of the documents issued by the Bishops who participated in the Holy Pan-Orthodox Council held in June 2016 in Crete, the author speaks in this research about the way in which ecumenism is understood from the perspective of this important event. The article tries to answer the question ‘How did the event influence the Orthodox attitude towards ecumenism?’ analysing documents, Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World and Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World, he shows that the dialogue entailed by ecumenism is perceived nowadays, according to the documents of the World Council of Churches, like a pilgrimage of justice and peace, and he highlights the main topics of this perception. Therefore, he shows that, according to the documents, a real and fruitful dialogue with other Christian faiths must be based on the Trinitarian witness, the Bible, the Tradition, the Creed and the teaching of the Seven Councils and that, among its main topics, one must definitely mention the witness, love, dialogue, the fight against discrimination or the care for the future of the Earth. The relevance of the ecclesiological background and of its understanding for the future of this dialogue is also mentioned. The documents are investigated in a deductive and comparative-analytic way by the author. If before the Council there was no official general attitude of the Orthodox space regarding ecumenism, nor an official document on this topic – although between 1968 and 1998 (the year when the Georgian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches withdrew from the WCC), all the Orthodox Churches were members of the WCC – after this event, there is an official position and a list of main topics that could be developed and principles that should be respected for a fruitful dialogue in the future, at least for the Churches that took part in the Council. By analysing the aforementioned topics, by correlating them with other texts dedicated to the Council of Crete, and also by emphasising the perception of the Orthodox Church about ecumenical dialogue and its developments starting from the aforementioned event, the research brings into attention a sensitive topic and highlights some of its important, but not enough highlighted, aspects.

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