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Ecumenical consensus is that the churches need renewal. The present crisis affects its nature, consequently reform must come from the nature itself. This is outlined by the four attributes of the Nicene Creed. The essay examines catholicity with particular focus on ecumenism as practiced by Roman Catholics today. The result is very deficient: uniformism, clericalism, securing power, patriarchalism dominate the agenda, so says even Pope Francis himself. How Catholica could be effectively renewed is discussed in the last part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of a theory of communication the church is a community of reception [of messages] relevant for salvation (conf. Hebr. 1, 1 sq.; 2, 1; 1 Cor. 15, 1-39). It has to consciously undertake the apostolic message as its addressee in the actuality of its own existence. This primarily takes place through the instances of faith testimonies (Scriptures, Tradition, Magisterium, Theology, and Sense of Faith), among which the sensus fidelium is given particular importance: the experience of all Christians must be incorporated in the shared belief so that it can truly be faith of the church. The consequences that entail can be canvassed through examples from cannon law, the theology for the magisterium and, most of all, from ecumenism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]