The development of late twentieth century catholic ecumenical theology in the United States of America

The second Vatican Council, in its decrerr on ecumenism, called on all of the members of the church to take an active and intelligent part in the work of ecumenism" (UE 4). The purpose of this is to assess how the Catholic Church in the USA has responded to this conciliar mandate. Part I give an overview of twentieth century ecumenism in America presenting the ecumenical teachings of Vatican II and post conciliar ddocuments. Part II considers the ecumenical thought of each theologian according to various themes, Part III of this investigation compares the ecumenical writings of the four, highlighting convergences and divergences and assesses the unique contributions of each theologian.