From Conversion to Conversation. J. Willebrands and the Catholic Ecumenical Movement

Senior Research Fellowship granted by FWO-Vlaanderen. This project investigated the turn from a preconciliar defensive model of Ecumenism of Return toward a conversational model. Key to this development was the establishment of a Catholic Council for Ecumenical Questions, led by J. Willebrands and F. Thijssen. The project unveils the role of this initiative on an European scale, and as a key moment preparing the dialogue turn of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.