CHAPTER 1: ECUMENICAL PROGRESS AND STAGNATION 19 demonstrate profound convergence on doctrinal issues achieved in the ecumenical dialogues. Another significant impetus for the Council comes from the liturgical movement, which has its origins in the late nineteenth century. The achievement of this movement was that the theological understanding of the role of the laity inMass shifted froma passive observation of the effective action of the priest towards active participation in the celebration of the Eucharist. Receiving Communion became considered an integral and significant part of the Eucharistic rite. Consequently, the practice of frequent Communion was advocated.36 MyriamWijlens concludes that questions like the one addressed in the current study result from this process: Increased appreciation of the connection between celebration of the eucharist and the reception of it on the one hand and the impulses coming from the Ecumenical Movement on the other hand paved together the road to questions about sharing the eucharist.37 An intermediate period The ecumenical movement is currently experiencing a crisis. The 1960s and 1970s, in particular, were marked by optimism and enthusiasm, fueled by the ecumenical spirit of Vatican II and the Assemblies of the WCC. Many expected visible and concrete reunion to be within reach – a period celebrated as the Spring of ecumenism. The 1980s and early 1990s were still dedicated to resolving the major dogmatic themes, resulting inter alia in the already mentioned 1982 Lima Text and the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, which tackled one of the most prominent issues dividing the church in the history of Western Christianity. 38 However, from the 1990s onward, a crisis emerged. Cardinal Kasper analyses: To some degree the crisis of the ecumenical movement is paradoxically the result of its success. Ecumenism for many became obvious. But the closer we come to one another, the more painful is the perception that we are not yet in full communion. We are hurt by what still separates us and hinders us from joining around the table 36 Cf. Wijlens, Sharing the Eucharist, 109–15. 37 Wijlens, 122. 38 Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, Faith and Order Paper No. 111 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1982); Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church, “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification,” 1999, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/ chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_31101999_cath-luth-joint-declaration_en.html.
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