Editing Unitatis redintegratio

{{Short description|1964 Catholic decree on ecumenism}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Italic title}}
'''''Unitatis redintegratio''''' (''Restoration of unity'') is the [[Second Vatican Council]]'s decree on [[Catholic Church and ecumenism|ecumenism]]. It was passed by a vote of 2,137 to 11 of the [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishops]] assembled at the Council, and was promulgated by [[Pope Paul VI]] on 21 November 1964.

The title of the document is taken from the opening words of the Latin text. The opening words of the official English translation are: "The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council."

==Description==
''Unitatis Redintegratio'' calls for the reunion of Christendom and is similar to a previous call for unity by [[Pope Leo XIII]] in his 1894 [[encyclical letter]] ''[[Praeclara gratulationis publicae]]'' and by Pope Pius IX in his encyclical ''[[In Suprema Petri Apostoli Sede]]''. However, ''Unitatis'' articulates a different kind of [[ecclesiology]] from ''Praeclara''. It focuses on the unity of the [[people of God]] and on separated Christian brethren rather than insisting according to the classical formulation that schismatics must return to the fold under the unity of the [[Vicar of Christ]].

''Unitatis'' acknowledges that there are serious problems facing prospects of reunion with Reformation communities that make no attempt to claim [[apostolic succession]] as the Anglican communion does. Ecclesial communities which adhere to [[Calvinism]] are a particularly challenging case because they and Catholicism have important doctrinal differences on key issues such as [[ecclesiology]], [[liturgy]] and [[mariology]]. Other communities have insoluble doctrinal differences with Catholic Christianity because their theology of the [[Holy Trinity]] is manifestly incompatible with the doctrine as articulated by the [[First Council of Nicaea|council of Nicaea]] in the early Church.

==Subsequent developments==
Pope [[John Paul II]] refers to and builds on the teaching of ''Unitatis Redintegratio'' in his encyclical letter of 25 May 1995, ''[[Ut unum sint]]''.

Cardinal [[Walter Kasper]] discussed the status of the problems by the document on the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of ''Unitatis'' in remarks entitled "The Decree on Ecumenism – Read Anew After Forty Years".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kasper |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Kasper |date=2004-11-11 |title=The Ecumenism Decree – read anew after 40 years |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/card-kasper-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20041111_kasper-ecumenism_en.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050417050720/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/card-kasper-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20041111_kasper-ecumenism_en.html |archive-date=2005-04-17 |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=vatican.va}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Separated brethren]]
* ''[[Satis Cognitum]]'', [[Pope Leo XIII]], 29 June 1896
* ''[[Mortalium animos]]'', [[Pope Pius XI]], 1928
* ''[[Ut unum sint]]'', [[Pope John Paul II]], 25 May 1995

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_unitatis-redintegratio_en.html ''Unitatis Redintegratio'']

{{Second Vatican Council}}

[[Category:Documents of the Second Vatican Council]]
[[Category:Catholic Church and ecumenism]]
[[Category:1964 documents]]
[[Category:1964 in Christianity]]