We support and encourage the life and work for unity in collaborating with parishes, archdiocesan offices, schools, ecclesial and other faith communities. Cooperation with other Christians and faith communities is encouraged at all levels.
The very heart of our Lord’s prayer for unity of His disciples “that they may all be one” is tied to the mission of the Church “so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). Saint John Paul writes in Ut unum sint that “the quest for Christian unity is not a matter of choice or expediency, but a duty which springs from the very nature of the Christian community” (UUS49). What we hold in common with other Christians is much greater than what divides us.
In addition to Ecumenism for Christian unity, the Catholic Church is increasingly aware of the importance of initiating friendship and respect with other faith communities of non-Christian religion in “an attitude of openness in truth and in love, … in spite of various obstacles and difficulties, especially forms of fundamentalism on both sides. Interreligious dialogue is a necessary condition for peace in the world, and so it is a duty for Christians as well as other religious communities.” (Evangelii Gaudium, 250).