Unto the Churches of Christ Everywhere: Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, 1920
A letter from the Church of Constantinople to all Christian churches, proposing that they draw together in a fellowship of churches in spite of their differences of doctrine. It is an Orthodox initiative that preceded the World Council of Churches by a generation.
The letter was issued by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 1 January 1920 and sent, as the World Council’s introduction to it says, to the leaders of Christian churches. It holds that closer relations between the churches are not excluded by their doctrinal differences. It asks first for an end to proselytism among Christians, then for the rekindling of love between the churches, and it lists practical steps. Pointing to the League of Nations then being set up, it proposes a “league” or fellowship of churches.
The World Council of Churches, which publishes this translation, calls the letter one of the foundational moments of the modern ecumenical movement. It is the Patriarchate’s own statement of why an Orthodox church should seek such a fellowship. See the World Council of Churches Is Founded.
Cited in
- 23 August 1948, firm date