Proceedings of the colloquium of the Institut supérieur d'études oecuméniques (ISEO)

This article is the contribution of Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon to the proceedings of a colloquium held by the Institut supérieur d'études œcuméniques on the relationship between ecumenical commitment and theological research. In the form of a systematic study, the author examines how theology and ecumenism mutually influence one another, identifying the historical obstacles — academic specialization and confessionalism — that have marginalized theology in interconfessional dialogue. He argues that ecclesiology must cease to be an autonomous discipline and become the organizing center of all dogmatics, a necessary condition for an authentically theological ecumenism. The principal contribution lies in the proposal of an existential and soteriological hermeneutics enabling a distinction between the _necessaria_ of ecclesial unity and legitimate diversities, as well as in concrete recommendations for reforming the methodology of theology faculties from an ecumenical perspective.