Pope John Paul II and his Ecumenical legacy

Abstract

Every pontificate bears its own specific stamp and, since Vatican II, every Pope has had his own characteristic approach to ecumenism. Regarding ecumenical involvement, Pope John Paul II, during one of the longest pontificates ever, gave a new shape to the papacy. The year 2020 marks the centenary of the birth of John Paul II, but it is also a century-and-a-half since the First Vatican Council which, when it solemnly defined papal primacy, emphasised that such papal authority was to be exercised “in service of the unity of faith and communion.” Vatican II stated this even more clearly. John Paul II interpreted the “unity of faith and communion” in a broad, ecumenical sense. Therefore, he stated, early on in his pontificate, “I want to serve unity.” For him the Petrine ministry constituted the principle of unity for all Christians and he attached the highest importance to ecumenical leadership to the papal job-description. [excerpt]