Preface
The ministry entrusted to the bishop is a service of unity both within his diocese and of unity between the local church and the universal church. That ministry therefore has special significance in the search for the unity of all Christ’s followers. The bishop’s responsibility for promoting Christian unity is clearly affirmed in the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church among the tasks of his pastoral office: “He is to act with humanity and charity toward the brothers and sisters who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church and is to foster ecumenism as it is understood by the Church” (Can 383 §3 CIC 1983). In this respect, the bishop cannot consider the promotion of the ecumenical cause as one more task in his varied ministry, one that could and should be deferred in view of other, apparently more important, priorities. The bishop’s ecumenical engagement is not an optional dimension of his ministry but a duty and obligation. This appears even more clearly in the Code of Canons of Eastern Churches, containing a special section dedicated to the ecumenical task, in which it is particularly recommended that pastors of the Church “work zealously in participating in ecumenical work” (Can 902–908 CCEO 1990). In the service of unity, the bishop’s pastoral ministry extends not just to the unity of his own church, but to the unity of all the baptized into Christ.