Ecumenical impulses in the documents of the International Theological Commission

Abstract

Since the Catholic Church has entered the current of modern ecumenism, her ecumenical commitment has become of utmost importance. However, the most significant manifestations of the ecumenical attitude – apart from the lively participation in it of the entire ecclesial community – should be sought primarily in those institutions that are paramount in shaping the doctrine of the Church, pointing out prospects for development and stimulating appropriate action. One such institution is the International Theological Commission, which, despite its auxiliary character, represents the theological circles of the Catholic Church from all over the world, has great scientific potential and is able to show the perspectives of faith in the context of the rapidly changing and constantly evolving modern world. Building Church unity is an extremely important and difficult, so necessary is to examine the ecumenical inspirations contained in the documents of this Commission. To do this it is first necessary to identify these impulses from the content of the documents and then to bring them together in a systematic way in order to arrive at a holistic picture, evaluation and reception of the results.