How does the Catholic Church define ecumenism?
A. That question is better answered by quoting paragraph # 820 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: C.C.C. # 820 “Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time.” [UR 4 # 3.] Christ always gives his Church the gift of unity, but the Church must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce, and perfect the unity that Christ wills for her. This is why Jesus himself prayed at the hour of his Passion, and does not cease praying to his Father, for the unity of his disciples: “That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us,… so that the world may know that you have sent me.” [Jn 17:21; cf. Heb 7:25.] The desire to recover the unity of all Christians is a gift of Christ and a call of the Holy Spirit. [Cf. UR 1.
