Fraternity and social friendship as a dimension of an ecumenical culture of encounter

Franciszek Kampka

Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4564-514X

Abstract

The author analyses Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli tutti and shows how the ideas of fraternity and social friendship are close to an ecumenical attitude. The papal description of the contemporary crisis is consistent with sociological analyses: the experience of loneliness and uncertainty in social relations, the domination of the economic dimension of globalization and the transformation of social communication - these are the features of the current system, whose dysfunctionality was revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The implementation of the new idea proposed by Francis - the development of fraternity and social friendship - will be possible, among other things, by building a culture of encounter and the courage of dialogue that is practiced in the ecumenical movement.

Keywords:

Fratelli tutti, ecumenism, fraternity, social friendship