Pregledni rad
„Blagovijesni” – “good news“ ecumenism
Niko Ikić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5634-0387
; Univerzitet u Sarajevu - Katolički bogoslovni fakultet, Sarajevo, Bosna i Hercegovina
Sažetak
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.
Ključne riječi
unity; ecumenism; prejudice (bias); Archdiocese of Belgrade
Hrčak ID:
273444
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.6.2011.
Posjeta: 416 *