Spiritual ecumenism: the unity of the Church is born in prayer

This article deals with spiritual ecumenism, which according to Unitatis Redintegratio 8 is to be understood as the soul of the whole ecumenical movement. The French priest Paul Couturier (1881–1953) is considered to be its father. He conceived of it using the image of an invisible monastery in which the unity of Christians in the one church is achieved. The first chapter presents the path leading to Couturier’s vision of 1937 and 1943, as well as its interpretation by Maisie Spens (+1994), in order to then show how it contrasts with the teaching of the Catholic Church on unity according to the encyclical Mortalium animos and other texts. The dissemination of that vision, its theological study, and spiritual practice lead to a paradigm shift which was brought to fulfilment with the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). The second chapter focuses on the inclusion of the term „spiritual ecumenism” and its definition in Unitatis Redintegratio, as well as a deeper exploration of the significance of prayer for Christian unity. The following two chapters focus on the post-conciliar path. The third chapter focuses on the Ecumenical Directories and the provisions made therein for communicatio in spiritualibus and communicatio in sacris. Then, the fourth chapter looks at the further development of spiritual ecumenism as taken up by Pope John Paul II in the encyclical Ut unum sint. Couturier’s invisible monastery becomes the interior spiritual space, where Christian unity has already been achieved through the martyrs. Chapter five serves to summarise the insights gained and to make it clear that spiritual ecumenism is not a spiritual superstructure over and above the creative work of Christian unity, rather it is the key and the path through which God achieves unity among Christians of all churches and ecclesial communities.