Dirty words

For not a few Orthodox, "ecumenism" and "ecumenical" are theological four-letter words, to be equated with heresy, capitulation, falsehood, deception. For me, those two words evoke not dread and hatred, but sadness.

I grew up in the heyday of both the Ecumenical Movement and the Liturgical Movement. I remember the sense of hope and optimism that both engendered, at least among some. But both seem spent, left behind in the search for the latest enthusiasm-generator for the churches. Did either movement achieve its aims? I doubt it.