precis: The commitment to unity has been irreversible in the Catholic Church since Vatican II. The biblical foundation is evident with the clearest expression found in Eph. 4:4–6, with the appeal to all the baptized to maintain unity with the one Lord Jesus Christ, unity in the shared faith, the common acknowledgement of baptism, the confession of the one body of Christ, and the confession of the Holy Spirit. Unity must remain a fundamental category of Christian faith and ecclesial life, which is a challenge at the present. In previous phases of the ecumenical movement, broad convergences were achieved on many controversial questions about the understanding of faith and the church’s theological structure, but most of the remaining points of difference have consolidated around the variously determined conceptions of the ecumenical unity of the church. The pluralization of the concept and the emergence of new partners in the dialogue have hindered progress toward full unity. What unity do we seek? Where are we going in the valid search for unity?
Andrés Valencia Pérez (Sun,) studied this question.