ABSTRACT
After centuries of fractures, the 20th century became known as the century of ecumenism. The confessionalization of the second half of the 16th century, leading to the Thirty Years’ War, deepened the distance between the churches in the West. The efforts of Protestant Pietism and the Enlightenment sought to break down confessional boundaries, but it wasn’t until the 19th century onwards did concrete ecumenical ties occur. In the 20th century, the Second Vatican Council represented and fostered a new revival of ecumenism. The aim of this article is not to properly analyze the ecumenical dimension of the Second Vatican Council, but, based on its ecclesiological conception, to identify similarities with Protestant ecclesiology, in particular, Lutheran ecclesiology. We will begin with an analysis of the Lutheran Reformation’s conception, to identify approximations to the Roman Catholic ecclesiology of Vatican II. Finally, we will bring some Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians into dialogue, seeking to identify ecumenical possibilities from the perspective of unity in reconciled diversity.
KEYWORDS
Vatican II; Ecumenism; Protestantism; Lutheranism; Diversity