Jedność i misja. Początki ruchu ekumenicznego
Unity and mission. The origins of ecumenical movement

Summary/Abstract: The objective of this article is to present a historical fact, which is known among ecumenists, that the beginnings of the ecumenical movement at the end of the 19th century overlap with the search for Christian unity within missionary involvement. Contemporary ecumenical movement started within evangelical Christians. The attempts to unify Christians before the Edinburgh Conference (Scotland, 1910) are described as “preecumenism”. They were usually limited to solidarity within social and charity activities undertaken on missionary territories. The 19th century was the period of the flourishing of Protestant missions. Missionary territories appealed to their mother churches for unity, the lack of which was the obstacle to missionary activity. Differences in faith and rivalry in practical activities caused mistrust among evangelized peoples. The call for the unity of the Church, first in the area of practical help, was a natural impulse of young churches and missionaries who were evangelizing them. Those voices could not be left unanswered in the churches in Europe and North America which sponsored missionary activity in India, Asia and Africa.The article consists of the following parts: 1. Introduction. 2. The institutional face of ecumenism. 3. Ecumenism and Orthodoxy.4. Vatican II and Roman Catholic ecumenism. 5. Engaging in dialogue. 6. The hope of ecumenism.7. Conclusion

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