Emmanuel
Theology of Ecumenism
In a very fine little book entitled Theology of Ecumenism published
in 1969, just four years after the close of Vatican II in 196518, Hurley
presents his understanding of ecumenism in the light of the council’s
Decree on Ecumenism and in the light of texts and documents that
had emerged in the course of the century, especially from the World
Council of Churches.
Hurley wrote the following in the introduction: “Once upon a time,
Roman Catholics thought of ecumenism as something external and
indeed alien to Catholicism, about which we ought of course to be
well-informed — in order the better to resist and refute it — and
towards which we might perhaps be sympathetic but with which
we emphatically had nothing whatsoever to do: ecumenism was for
‘them’ not for us.”19
He rightly notes, and it seems as true now in many ways as it did in
1969, that our ways of thinking and acting vis-à-vis other Christians
are marked by, or perhaps better marred by, our instinct for selfpreservation and indeed, our aggressiveness. As a result, “we cling
more fiercely than ever to our old identities, to the myth of our
incommunicable otherness.”20 To counter these understandable fears,
he counsels personal involvement. “Action does lead to understanding,
and to go with a friend to an ecumenical conference will do much
more for us than reading any number of books, this one included.”21
While fear of the Christian other is acknowledged by Hurley as a real
barrier to Christian unity, he believes that disillusionment is a much
more formidable issue. Disillusionment, perhaps especially among
the young, may arise from seeing the ecumenical movement “as a
dying institution’s indecent grasping after lost power and prestige,”
or perhaps also from a suspicion of clericalism, triumphalism, and
verbalism.22 Hurley’s analysis, brief as it is, seems to speak as much to
the present situation as it did at the time of his writing.
In order to counteract the impediments to ecumenism, Hurley strongly
recommends what he describes as the “ecumenizing” of theological
education. His reasoning is clear. If those who are preparing to
minister in the church do not possess a solid grasp of the principles
of ecumenism and are not committed to the cause, then those whom
they are destined to serve in the various Christian traditions can hardly