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''Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word: That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.'' (Joh 17:20-21) '''''Ecumenism''''' is, principally, dialogue between Christian denominations aimed at promoting the restoration of unity among all Christians through understanding, through mutual respect and toleration, and through practical cooperation in areas of common concern, such as care for the poor, sick, and needy.
rm quote (makes this more of an essay than encyclopedic); de-italicized "Ecumenism," as the ref. is not to the word as a word
Orthodox Christians take widely different attitudes toward ecumenism. A few embrace the Anglican "branch theory" which holds that the various divisions in Christianity all represent branches of the same Church just as the branches of a tree are all integrally part of the same living tree. Many Orthodox Christians object to this theory on the ground that it is inconsistent with properly Orthodox [[ecclesiology]]. It tends to minimize Orthodoxy and reduces its stature from exclusively the [[One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church|one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church]] to that of a relatively small segment of the Church: one denomination among many.
