• Document Released By Pope Stirs Catholic Controversy

Regardless of what you may be reading on news sites and blogs elsewhere, this document does not represent a shift away from the teaching of the late and revered Pope John Paul II about ecumenism (relationship and dialogue with Christians of other denominations.) It is not a return to pre-Vatican II theology. It is not a move to drive a wedge between Catholics and Protestants. In fact, it is an attempt to lay the foundations for eventual unity by clearly expressing the theological disagreements that currently divide Christian communities. Unity based on a whitewashing of differences, according to Pope Benedict, is a facade and only stalls fruitful dialogue.

The Roman definition of ecumenism is different from Protestantism's anyway.