From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ecumenism
(or
Oecumenism
) is the idea that the different
Christian denominations
should work together more than they currently do. This idea is different from
religious toleration
. Over the years,
Christianity
has been split into many different movements. These separations are based on
doctrine
, on history, and what people do in everyday life.
The term
ecumenical
comes from the Latin
oecumenicus
, a phrase referring to "the whole world", meaning literally "inhabited" (lived in).
[1]
In Christianity the qualification ecumenical is originally (and still) used in terms such as
Ecumenical council
and
Ecumenical patriarch
. The meaning pertains to the totality of the larger Church (such as the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church). It is not restricted to one of its local churches or dioceses.