More articles

Religion Does Not Rhyme With Intolerance

Questioned by a reader in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper in the 80’s, I pondered that I fail to see Religion as an arena where many beliefs meet to settle their points of view, in their struggle to defend their principles or God, who is Love to...

Several Degrees of Knowledge

We are all children of the same Father, or of a single planet, as the skeptical line of thinking imagines, for it still does not admit the reality of a Superior Celestial Intelligence. Scientific thinking, however, by virtue of a Reason that is free...

What Is Missing in the World for There to Be Peace?

Never before has civilization achieved such significant technological advancements as it has today. What is missing then for there to be Peace? Progress needs to be sublimed by Ecumenical Spirituality, which potentially accompanies us—whether we...

Ecumenism

The Four Pillars of Ecumenism

Unrestricted Ecumenism and Total Ecumenism

Arquivo BV

Alziro Zarur (1914-1979)

Unrestricted Ecumenism preaches the perfect relationship between all creatures of the Earth. Total Ecumenism professes the fraternal alliance between the Humanities of the Earth and of the Higher Spiritual World with any civilization in existence in outer space. And why not?! Is the entire Universe just there for us to idly gaze at (with the exception of the astronomers and poets)?! That is, when we remember to lift our eyes to the heavens above... It would certainly be pretentious on our part to admit the impossibility of the existence of other forms of life in the Cosmos. Another point: not everything (or everyone) out there must necessarily have a likeness to our species and surroundings. "Unrestricted Ecumenism” and "Total Ecumenism” are expressions coined by Alziro Zarur.

When Human Beings understand this, they will be ready to assimilate and live the two other stages: Ecumenism of the Hearts and Divine Ecumenism.

João Periotto

Ecumenism of the Hearts and Divine Ecumenism*

Shutterstock

Ecumenism of the Hearts is that which convinces us not to waste any time with hatred and sterile disputes, but rather to reach out one’s hand to the fallen, for it is compassionate with sorrow; takes off a shirt to dress the unclothed; contributes to the healing balm of those who are ill; protects the orphans and the widows; knows that Education with Ecumenical Spirituality will become increasingly fundamental for the progress of the nations, because ecumenism is Education open to Peace; to strengthen a nation (not for a nation to dominate over others). (...) While Divine Ecumenism is the social and spiritual contact between the creature and its Creator. (...) Therefore, I speak of the universalization of the Human Being that integrates with its divine origin, becoming a Vertical-Man, in other words, a Spiritual Man, or even further: a Spirit-Man. It is the end of the empire of matter, by the simple and candid understanding that matter does not exist (as the atom itself is full of empty spaces). For this reason, I have said before that matter is also Spirit.

Vivian R. Ferreira


___________________
*1 Ecumenism of the Hearts and Divine Ecumenism are concepts by Paiva Netto

Text extracted from the book Reflections of the Soul, written by Paiva Netto.

 

José de Paiva Netto (1941-2025), a writer, journalist, radio broadcaster, educator, composer, poet, the President Emeritus and Consolidator of the Legion of Good Will, and Spiritual Leader of the Religion of God, of the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. He was an effective member of the Brazilian Press Association (ABI) and the Brazilian International Press Association (ABI-Inter), a member of the National Federation of Journalists (FENAJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Union of Professional Journalists of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the Union of Writers of Rio de Janeiro, the Radio Broadcasters Union of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Union of Composers (UBC), and the Academy of Letters of Central Brazil. He became an internationally recognized author in the defense of human rights and in his concepts of Ecumenical Citizenship and Ecumenical Spirituality, which, in his own words, represent “the cradle of the most generous values that are born of the Soul, the dwelling of emotions and of reasoning enlightened by intuition; the atmosphere that embraces everything that transcends the ordinary field of matter and comes from elevated human sensitivity, such as Truth, Justice, Mercy, Ethics, Honesty, Generosity, and Fraternal Love. In short, the mathematical constant that harmonizes the equation of spiritual, moral, mental, and human existence. Now, without the understanding that we exist on two planes―not only on the physical plane―it will be difficult to build a Society that is truly Ecumenical, Altruistic, and Solidary, since we would still be ignoring that the knowledge of Superior Spirituality elevates the character of creatures and, consequently, leads to the construction of the Planetary Citizenship.”