Opposition to Ecumenism
While the frequency of ecumenical dialogues has been awe inspiring, major divisions between Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox continue. The issues of papal primacy, the Marian dialogues (relating to Mary's Immaculate Conception and Assumption), and apostolic succession remain as important doctrinal differences.
One group opposed to the ecumenical movement is the traditional Orthodox Church, which insists there is but one church and that church is orthodox. Leading the antiecumenical movement in the 1980s was the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Christian ecumenism comprises the three largest divisions of Christianity: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. While the Roman Catholic Church has always desired full unity with estranged communities of fellow Christians, it also has rejected what it saw as a promiscuous and false union that would mean being unfaithful to or glossing over the teaching of Sacred Scripture and tradition. In 1964, Pope Paul VI stressed that unity cannot be bought at the expense of truth. That is, in matters of faith, “compromise is in contradiction with God who is Truth.”
Some Eastern Orthodox churches commonly baptize converts from the Catholic Church, thereby refusing to recognize the previous baptism of the converts. By contrast, the Catholic Church has always accepted the validity of all the sacraments administered by the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
What is an ecumenical council?
It is a conference of bishops of the entire Christian Church who are brought together to discuss and resolve issues of church doctrine and practice. For many, the Second Vatican Council — the twenty-first such council — is the one that forever changed the Church's relation to the modern world.
Aside from differences in doctrine, another substantial obstacle to union is found in the differences between Protestant and Catholic churches over ethics. There are seemingly unconquerable differences between the churches over abortion, the death penalty and euthanasia, active homosexuality, premarital sex, women's rights, birth control and new reproductive technologies, and economic and peace issues.
North American Protestants regard pluralism, freedom for theological inquiry, and a regard for democratic decision making as important values. Rome, in the view of Protestants, has been authoritative and rigid and threatens to grind the ecumenical movement to a complete halt. James A. Nash, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, summed up how dim matters now stand: “In the absence of structural changes, what kind of unity, if any, is possible for relatively democratic and pluralistic church with a church that stresses hierarchy and homogeneity?”
