“We ought not to consider that ecumenism is ill, or speak of a freeze or stagnation of ecumenism”, declared Bishop Alois Kothgasser on the occasion of the recent ecumenical meeting of the Pro-Orient section of Salzburg, held during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. “A brief glance at the past is enough to grasp how profoundly the ecumenical movement and Vatican Council II have transformed the atmosphere between the Churches. What was once utterly unthinkable has now become second nature: the Churches pray together, work together, they consider themselves brothers and sisters and no longer enemies or rivals”, he declared. “The great ecumenical event of 2007, the Third European Ecumenical Assembly at Sibiu (Romania), will be a further example of this attitude which has now become natural for us today”, observed Kothgasser. “I think we need to bear in mind everything that has been achieved so far and pursue with constancy this process based on what we have in common. That’s important for common witness”, he explained, “since how is it possible for Christians to work in favour of peace and reconciliation in the world if they fail to share peace and reconciliation between each other?”. The bishop of Salzburg also admitted: “We cannot ignore the fact that theological dialogue has reached a limit”. One has therefore “the feeling that the more the Churches move towards each other, the more they fear losing their own identity in the pursuit of unity with others”. But “common growth – the bishop stressed – must be recognized as mutual enrichment” and “that goes also for certain of our own traditions that have developed either culturally or historically”. To this end we must constantly foster common trust, with an attitude of mutual willingness for dialogue.
