Is ‘Catholic Ecumenism’ a contraction in terms? Many Catholics inside and outside the Roman Church do in fact appear to consider that the ecumenical movement is a wholly Protestant phenomenon. References to the dangers of ‘panprotestantism’ have been made in the Church Assembly itself! It is therefore interesting to note that a writer in Istina, the French Roman Catholic quarterly, considers that the use of the term ‘oecuménisme catholique’ is fully justified, because the word ‘ecumenism’ is properly used to designate ‘the totality of the attempts made by the Christian world for the restoration of Christian unity'.

There is in fact a considerable ‘ecumenical movement’ in the Roman Catholic Church, especially in France and Germany but not by any means without its reflection in Rome. Roman Catholic ecumenists are more numerous on the continent than many Anglicans realize. Among those writing in French we may specially recall the names of Fathers Boyer, Lialine, Dumont, Couturier and Congar, while the Germans include Metzger (martyred by the Nazis), Pribilla and Sartory.