Other voices:

...The churches of the Reformation cannot in good conscience associate themselves with the vision of unity propagated by the Catholic church today...

...J.N...

...Lukas Vischer, a Swiss Reformed theologian and a former director of Faith and Order at the World Council of Churches, questioned whether the pontificate of John Paul II offers a suitable model of service for the church: "Is it not in fact a much more authoritarian and centralizing model...

...And Georges Lemopoulos, executive secretary for church and ecumenical relations at the World Council of Churches, said that the encyclical presented a "powerful image of the pope's ecumenical commitment...

...Milan Opocensky, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, said that it is "unthinkable to accept the papacy as a symbol of unity among Christians," that "we need a new kind of ecumenism, which is not linked to this ambiguous institution...

...However, the initial response of the Church of England said that there was "much in the encyclical with which Anglicans can agree wholeheartedly," and that "this urgent call by the pope to continue along a path which is difficult yet full of joy encourages us to continue with greater determination...