Receptive Ecumenism and the Call to Catholic Learning: Exploring a Way for Contemporary Ecumenism. Edited by Paul D. Murray, with the assistance of Luca Badini-Confalonieri. (New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. Pp. xxxv, 534. $99.00 cloth; $45.00 paperback. ISBN 978-0-199-21645-1 cloth; ISBN 978-0-199-58798-8 paperback). The origin of the modern movement is conventionally dated to the International Missionary Conference in Edinburgh in 1910. During the twentieth century, ecumenism waxed and waned, reaching a zenith in midcentury with the establishment of the World Council of Churches (1948) and the Consultation on Church Union (1962), along with the convening of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). These events produced such an euphoria that many Christians anticipated a prompt resolution of centuries-old church separations; accordingly, many mainline church leaders and theologians entered into conversations aimed at the achievement of church union in the foreseeable future. To date, the results of these interchurch conversations have been decidedly mixed. On the one hand, dialogues have produced a surprising and substantial number of consensus statements that collectively show that some traditional church-dividing issues are not necessarily as divisive as had long been thought; nonetheless, some issues seem more entrenched than ever. On the other hand, a notable number of churches have entered into an assortment of agreements, covenants, and even unions with due diligence and sometimes with considerable enthusiasm; however, many churches, although ecumenically courteous, have been essentially cautious about formalizing partnerships. Some disappointed ecumenists speak of an ecumenical winter in which concrete progress seems frozen in its tracks. What should churches in general and the Roman Catholic Church in particular learn from decades of conversations? This was the guiding question at a symposium at Ushaw College, Durham, on January 12-17, 2006. Thirty-two papers from this symposium, along with five bible studies, are presented in this large volume with a somewhat puzzling title. First, reception refers to the process whereby ecclesiastical decisions and theological findings become part of the faith life of churches; such a process can take years, if not centuries; for example, governments in the past often blocked the receiving of papal and conciliar pronouncements through the imprimatur and exequatur. …
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Mar 5, 2014
Nigel Zimmermann 
Open Access