The Ecumenism of Vatican II: The Influence of Ecumenical Ideas on the Second Vatican Council

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the Second Vatican Council was influenced by ecumenical ideas that were already in place prior to the council. This is done by analysing the ecumenical keywords and ideas of six documents of Vatican II: Unitatis Redintegratio, Dignitatis Humanae, Nostra Aetate, Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum and Gaudium et Spes against previous documents produced by the World Council of Churches (WCC) assemblies and Faith and Order Commission conferences. The article concludes that ecumenical ideas are clearly visible in the six documents produced by this council and that the Catholic theologians who attended these conferences were of great influence in introducing these ideas to the Second Vatican Council.