Ecclesiastical vocation of the UGCC in the light of the theological teaching of John Paul II on the unity of Christian churches

Abstract

The author of the article, on the basis of the theological teaching of John Paul II on the unity of Christian Churches, reveals the subject of the ecclesiastical vocation of the UGCC in the modern era of interchurch relations of Christianity. The object of research is the theological and ecumenical works (encyclicals, epistles, speeches) of John Paul II, Pope in 1978-2000. The immediate subject of research is his theological and historical reflection on the ecclesiastical nature of the UGCC and the mission of this Eastern Catholic Church for the entire universal Church of Christ. Taking into account the above, the purpose of this study is to highlight the theological and historical views of John Paul II regarding the ecclesial mission of the UGCC in the context of modern ecumenical dialogue between the Churches of East and West. Thanks to the critical-historical method and theological analysis of the teachings of John Paul II about the beginnings of the birth of the Kievan Church, its medieval activity in the historical search for the restoration of unity between the Christian East and West, and contemporary for her perspectives of the ecumenical movement in the process of research, a theological synthesis of judgments, ideas and proposals was formed. The main conclusions of the article are: 1) the ecumenical views of John Paul II on the unity of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches remain relevant for Christians of the 21st century and are programmatic for theologians working on new ways to restore unity between East and West; 2) an assessment of past historical attempts to restore the unity of the Church, in particular the Union of Brest (1596), should be based on the then ecclesial context and illuminated as local attempts to search for the unity of the Church, thanks to which the Church received a unique practical experience in implementing the ideas of unity between East and West; 3) the UGCC, which was born as a result of the Union of Brest and today is developing as one of the Eastern Catholic Churches, is a great treasure for Christianity, because it unites Catholic and Orthodox elements in its ecclesiology; 4) in search of new forms of unity between the Eastern and Western Churches, the UGCC receives its own ecclesiastical vocation, to open to the Western Church a world of Eastern tradition and to the Eastern Church a world of Catholic tradition.