Towards Self-Relativisation of the Catholic Church. The Ecumenical Vision of the Vaticanum II

Rajmund Porada

Abstract

Fifty years from the beginning of the Second Vatican Council again attracts our attention to ecumenical message and the real interpretation of this realm. Question of matter, meaning and influence of the Vatican II on the Catholic`s life in their relations with others, became more actual than ever especially thanks to some actions of creating ìanti-council Churchî. To make the characteristic of the church reform that was discussed on the Vatican II and the importance of the Council understanding of ecumenism, the idea of ìself relativisationî seams to be helpful and accurate. What happened on the Council was the process of ìself relativisationî, that means to make an intellectual distance of one self and reject the need to be seen in the Church, and make the passage on the path of ecumenism. The ecumenical vision of the Council can be seen when making decisions and actions ìbeforeî and ìwhileî the Council, in formulated texts, in which elements of the theological ìself relativisationî of the Catholic Church can be observed in order with the earlier unconditional identification with the Church of Jesus Christ. Elements of ìself relativisationî that were mentioned earlier, which became the topic of explanation in this article, made the ecumenical conception understood as ìcoming back to Romeî groundless.