During the consecration of virgins, the bishop, if he makes use of the text of homily proposed in the Rite of Consecration of Virgins, calls them to pray earnestly to God for the unity of Christians. Inclusion of this guideline in the Rite indicates its importance.
The present paper is centred around the problem of spiritual ecumenism of a consecrated virgin facing the division among Christians. This ecumenism shapes her attitude of service of communion in her social environment, and also within the Roman Catholic Church and within the order of virgins itself. The starting point for the reflections was presentation of threats and challenges brought by ecumenism (§ 1), then the spiritual ecumenism was presented (§ 2), and the problems of divisions and unity of Christians were touched (§ 3). Next the issues related to the using of spiritual goods of other communities in the Roman Catholic Church were discussed (§ 4) as well as the problem of building the unity (§ 5).
The paper is intended mainly for consecrated virgins, the candidates to this state and to the persons dealing with their formation. It expresses the need for consideration of ecumenism in the ecclesial practice.