ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the history of ecumenism among Christian churches, focusing primarily on two neighbouring churches: the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in Croatia. While both churches profess Christian unity as a theological imperative, their relationships have often been characterised by mistrust and distance. The main reason for such a situation is the intertwining of political and religious factors. Their decoupling is thus an important prerequisite for their theological rapprochement. Balkan Ecumenical Theology, the authors conclude, should start by clear acknowledgments of responsibilities for past tragedies, disengaging from nationalist and anti-ecumenical currents, and by seeing inspiration in shared liturgical traditions of old Slavonic language as well as veneration of common saints.
