Ever since the Ecumenical Patriarchate Athenagoras issued his encyclical entitled, “Unto all the Churches of Christ Wheresoever They Be” in January 1920, there have been resounding voices that on one side applaud and another that denounces attempt by the Orthodox Church to have any ecumenical contact or communication with other Christian expressions. This debate has focused on three key questions:
1) Who Can Be Saved?
2) What is the “Church?”
3) What constitutes someone as a heretic or schematic?
As the arguments against any ecumenical action grow louder, evidenced by the numerous YouTube videos on this topic, it is vital that Orthodox Christians understand not only the dangers but also the virtues of Ecumenism.
In the attached paper by Paul Ladouceur, he presents the arguments for these questions in a dispassionate and balanced manner from both a theological and practical viewpoint.