Jan Paweł II i ekumenizm
John Paul II and ecumenism

Summary/Abstract: A turning point for the approach of the Catholic Church to the question of the unity of Christians was brought by the Second Vatican Council which began in 1962. Observers from Churches and separate communities were invited to participate in the Council. The events which illustrate John Paul II’s engagement toward the reconciliation of Christians i.e. the Encyclical Slavorum Apostoli (2.06.1985), The apostolic Letter Orientale lumen (2.05.1995), The Encyclical Ut unum sint (25.05.1995), The Declaration Dominus Jesus (6.08.2000). The inauguration of the Anniversary Year of 2000 in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls and the “Ecumenical Remembrance of the Witnesses of Faith of the 20th Century” as crucial events in the field of the reconciliation of Christians. The ecumenical contacts with the Orthodox Church. The first of such contacts was John Paul II’s visit to Istanbul in 1979 and the meeting with the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Dimitrios. Further meetings with the representatives of the Orthodox Church took place: in 1987 in the Vatican; in 1991 during the Synod of the Bishops of Europe; in 1994 the solemnities of the Station of the Cross on Good Friday were attended by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I; in 1999 John Paul II visited Romania. The contacts with the Russian Orthodox Church, which sometimes was not satisfied with John Paul II’s contacts with e.g. Georgia in 1999, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan in 2001. The pope never made a visit to Russia due to the lack of consent on the part of the Orthodox Church. The history of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and the Society of of Pius X. With the establishment of the Society Lefebvre started to openly oppose the decisions of the Second Vatican Council. When he began to illegally confer Holy Orders in 1976, Pope Paul VI divested him from the authority of executing episcopal duties. John Paul II is presented as an indefatigable champion of ecumenism. He was a remarkable guide in this journey, he never lost sight of his goals and he set out directions of action. His appreciation of the current situation was also accurate.

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