‘Blagovijesni’ ekumenizam
„BLAGOVIJESNI” – “GOOD NEWS“ ECUMENISM

Summary/Abstract: The Archdiocese of Belgrade is, in a cultural, geographical, historical and religious sense, a “crossroads” of different religions, a “forest” of nationalities, an arena of difference, a battlefield of culture, and an encounter of ideas and interests. For this reason alone, the Archdiocese is an ideal framework and its circumstances are a real challenge for an authentic spiritual and above all concrete, living ecumenism. This local Church could be a bridge of unity, a dynamic for dialogue and a binding force at the local level and at the level of the universal Church. By its very nature Belgrade is suited to become an important and dynamic ecumenical center. The seat of the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church is there, and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, though interrupted during some periods, has been there for centuries. The unity of the Church is a complex concept, which, over time and under different influences in this region, has assumed different meanings; sometimes incomplete or one-sided meanings and sometimes distorted and even fundamentally wrong. In the communist era, the authorities, not the Church, tried to give the concept of ecumenism a political meaning, in the sense of “brotherhood and unity”, which was actually counterproductive in terms of true church ecumenism. On the other hand, even among some “church people”, work towards unity, i.e. ecumenism, was essentially an empty shell, devoid of substance or sincerity. Others viewed ecumenism as a danger to their religious identity, seeing in the essence or practice of ecumenism a tendency towards indifference, syncretism or false irenicism. A fourth group viewed ecumenism is something incidental and unimportant, certainly unnecessary and even dangerous for national identity where national identity is viewed as being sacrosanct. All the historical problems, the gratuitous war damage, the burden of nationalism have over a period of decades created an atmosphere of escape from the other and a theology of isolation. This has encouraged the consolidation of a kind of ecclesiastical self-sufficiency, a lack of concern about other communities, and a loss of any existential empathy for what is different. This complex process has substantially limited and jeopardized the development of a correct concept of unity. This process has to be reversed by clarifying and demythologizing the concept of ecclesial unity. During 80 years of ecumenical activity in the Archdiocese of Belgrade we can see a whole range of effort, from destructive and coercive through resigned to authentically ecumenical. Some initiatives have entrenched bias while others have cleared a path; all have sought out models, some seeking models of non-cooperation and others models of coexistence.

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