Hope in the Ecumenical Future

This book offers fresh insights into the contemporary state of Ecumenism. Following the election of Pope Francis, there has been a significant thaw in ecumenical relations, and there are grounds for thinking that this will continue into the future. The twelve chapters, written both by experienced ecumenical theologians as well as younger scholars, that have been gathered together in this collection, offer one of the first detailed assessments of the impact of Francis' papacy on ecumenical dialogue. Drawing on ecumenical methodology, as well as many practical examples and illustrations, the authors discuss the developments in culture and missiology as these affect the practice of ecumenism, particularly in response to theologies of hope as well as inter-religious dialogue and pluralism. What emerges is a clear sense of hope for the future in a rapidly changing world and even a sense of optimism that real ecumenical progress might be made. 


Mark D. Chapman is Vice-Principal of Ripon College, Cuddesdon and Professor of the History of Modern Theology at the University of Oxford. He is a Church of England priest serving three small rural parishes and Canon Theology of Truro Cathedral. He has written widely on the history of the church and its theology, and also serves as Vice-Chair of the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network. Among his recent books are Theology at War and Peace: English Theology and Germany in the First World War (2017) and The Fantasy of Reunion: Anglicans, Catholics and Ecumenism, 1833-1882  (2014).