Orthodox Churches and the ecumenical movement at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries: the state of dialogue and the crisis of the World Council of Churches

Abstract

This article is devoted to the problems of orthodox-ecumenical relations at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries. In the middle of the 20th century, the ecumenical dialogue experienced its highest point. As a result, all autocephalous Orthodox Churches and the majority of Protestant churches became the members of the largest ecumenical organization in history, the World Council of Churches (WCC). However, by the end of the century, these successes gave way to a crisis, which questioned the continued Orthodox representation in the WCC. The leadership of the Orthodox Churches faced internal criticism of participation in the ecumenical movement, which was simultaneously accompanied by a loss of understanding between Orthodox and Protestant members of the WCC about the goals and objectives pursued by the ecumenical organization. All this led to a demand from part of the Orthodox representation for reform of the WCC, which became a condition for maintaining Orthodox participation in its composition. The article describes in detail the problems of the Orthodox-ecumenical dialogue, the search for a way out of the current crisis and further prospects for the ecumenical movement in the 21st century.