{"id":327914,"date":"2016-01-18T04:00:13","date_gmt":"2016-01-18T03:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/giordani-ecumenism-and-dialogue\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T15:02:43","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T13:02:43","slug":"giordani-ecumenism-and-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/giordani-ecumenism-and-dialogue\/","title":{"rendered":"Giordani: ecumenism and dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IginoGiordani_unita_cristiani\"<\/a>Igino Giordani<\/a> was a forerunner of ecumenism. His sensitivity to ecumenical issues began when in 1927, he embarked on a ship for the USA to study Library Science on behalf of the Vatican. It was there that he discovered that he still was unfamiliar with the various Christian denominations and was deeply struck by their religiosity. In many previous writings, Giordani affirmed that ecumenical dialogue draws inspiration from the model of Trinitarian relationships, because all are set on the same level of love. Communion calls all to dialogue, and in the same measure, all are called to give of themselves to create unity.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span> “In the past, discussions were undertaken to eliminate divisions; today the preferred method is respectful confrontation of ideas, and the effort to reach a convergence and reconciliation. \u00a0The concept today is that unity is not static but dynamic, and grows in quantity and quality. Dialogue thus marks an innovative \u201chistoric turning point,\u201d overcoming controversies, disagreements, excommunication, and likewise sets the grounds for comprehension, approach to the truth and virtues of the others. Dialogue, through which advocates of one or more churches get together, is neither propagandistic nor academic. \u00a0Possessing the truth does not hinder the inexorable penetration of the mysteries or the real progress of the dogmas which are to be studied in depth, and reinterpreted. \"IginoGiordani_unita_cristiani_b\"<\/a><\/strong>“Ecumenical dialogue does not arise from the doctrinal differences between the two (or more) churches, but from unity which already exists among them, from a common heritage.\u00a0 The psychological atmosphere is kindness, or rather, charity.\u00a0 In the words of Maritain: \u201cPerfect charity towards one\u2019s neighbour and perfect fidelity to the truth are not only compatible but refer to one another.\u201d For the prophetic mission of the People of God, the Christian has to convey the truths he possesses and allow the other to convey the truths he holds. For such a prophetic mission, the Christian must not limit dialogue to the theological aspect (making it a task for experts). Unity is not only a technical and theological issue, it is a question of charity. \u00abThe interlocutors have to treat each other as peers, and with reciprocal esteem, no insinuations or sly tricks, and no offensive words.\u00a0 This equality does not signify confusion or adjustment of doctrines. It implies for both, awareness of belonging to the Mystical Body of Christ. They have to accept pluralism, recognising every legitimate diversity.\u00a0 What unites the faithful is stronger than what divides them (Gaudium et Spes, 92). Otherwise, dialogue is reduced to an alternated monologue. All Christians are called to practice dialogue which can be enhanced by every encounter (work, tourism, studies, etc.).\u00a0 No fences can be allowed between one confession and the other: but all doors should be opened to reach an encounter and dialogue. The job is long and tedious, but God wants this from us.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An unpublished manuscript written by Giordani in the 1970s fittingly accompanies the Week for Christian Unity. For this Catholic writer, unity is a \u201cmatter of charity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-categorizzato"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}