The Irrevocable Ecumenical Responsibility, Obligation and Commitment of the Bishop

Abstract

The irrevocable commitment, urgent obligation and responsibility of the bishop to foster ecumenism in pastoral ministry today in his diocese in congruence with the Code of Canon Law 755 and the most recent document of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity entitled “The Bishop and Christian Unity: an Ecumenical Vademecum” is of primordial and utmost capital importance in the Catholic Church. This recent document on ecumenism, in congruence with the Second Vatican Council, (1962–65), the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, which was convocated by Pope John XXIII on January 25, 1959, as a means of spiritual renewal for the church and as an occasion for Christians separated from Rome to join in a search for Christian unity just as Christ prayed in John 17:21: “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” The ecumenical vademecum offers as an aid to diocesan bishops to help them better understand and fulfill their ecumenical responsibility. The need for the Bishop to promote ecumenism is not an option, but rather an obligation and responsibility. Therefore, this article seeks to remind and raise this important awareness to bishops, clergy, religious and lay faithful who are directly or indirectly involved in pastoral ministry in the various dioceses in Asia, in particular, and other continents, in general.

---