The Ecumenical Movement and 1968

The year 1968 is remembered as a turning point in ecumenical history: the 4th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Uppsala appeared to mark the end of the era of early ecumenism and the beginning of a new era. This article questions this understanding of "Uppsala" and examine...

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Bibliographic Details
Subtitles:‘Behold, I Make All Things New’ 1968 and the Churches
Main Author: Schilling, Annegreth 1981- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2018]
In: The ecumenical review
Year: 2018, Volume: 70, Issue: 2, Pages: 194-215
IxTheo Classification:CH Christianity and Society
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KDB Roman Catholic Church
KDJ Ecumenism
Further subjects:B Uppsala assembly
B World Council of Churches
B Roman Catholic Church
B world development
B 1968
B Racism
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Description
Summary:The year 1968 is remembered as a turning point in ecumenical history: the 4th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Uppsala appeared to mark the end of the era of early ecumenism and the beginning of a new era. This article questions this understanding of "Uppsala" and examines the reasons for such a mythologization of the assembly through analyzing its themes and conflicts in a twofold way. First, the analysis shows the connection between the students' revolts of 1968 and the assembly. Second, the article draws on the assembly's main theme, "Behold, I make all things new," and the key aspects of ecumenical renewal discussed at the assembly: the new relationship between the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church, the WCC's commitment to development issues, liberation from racism, and the churches' role in political conflicts. While these themes became a symbol for identifying the assembly with a groundbreaking ecumenical change, the article argues that this change had already begun in the early 1960s, and that the assembly at Uppsala was more the medial and visible expression of this continuing ecumenical turbulence than its source.
ISSN:1758-6623
Contains:Enthalten in: The ecumenical review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/erev.12351