The Primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the Ecumenical Dialogue

The mixed results of ecumenical dialogue since Vatican II have made it clear that the primacy of the Bishop of Rome remains the greatest obstacle on the path of Christian unity. However, in his landmark 1995 encyclical Ut unum sint, John Paul II reiterated the constant teaching that the Catholic Church has preserved the ministry of the Successor of the Apostle Peter, the Bishop of Rome . He also invited leaders and theologians of other Christian communities to engage in a patient and fraternal dialogue on this subject…to find a way of exercising the primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is nonetheless open to a new situation . This book explores the discussion of papal primacy in the Catholic dialogue with the Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican communions, along with an appendix on the concept of Sister Churches . Each chapter describes how the primacy is viewed in the respective churches, and analyzes the documents of the official dialogue to evaluate the results achieved thus far. Father Adriano Garuti OFM has served the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1975, while continuing to teach ecclesiology and ecumenism at the Anton