Since 1054, when the Eastern Schism occurred in the Church, we have been accustomed to read texts of the Catholic Church focused on non-Catholic Christians, non-Christians, as well as non-believers in a very negative light. The Second Vatican Council was the first church synod that spoke positively about all these groups that exist »beyond« Catholic borders. The foundations of the ecumenical orientation of the Church and interreligious dialogue are found in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium). Without doubt, this is the seminal text for understanding the doctrine of salvation and, at the same time, the doctrine of ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue of the last Council. As a point of reference, this document influenced the following writings of the Council: Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio), Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate), and Decree on the Church‘s Missionary Activity (Ad Gentes). In this paper we will present common threads of these essays and propose a thesis that the »dialogical« doctrine of the last Council instructs a modern man how to work out interpersonal relationships, which seem to be in crisis.
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