To be sure, we are looking for the day when we are all united in full communion, and, even now, we can tell people why we believe what we believe if they are interested. There is one more feature that is important to ecumenical courtesy and that is what we might call minority courtesy. Very often we belong to ecumenical situations in which members of one church predominate. If we want the ecumenical cause to thrive, we want there to be some kind of balance. One reason we are together is to promote Christian unity, and we cannot do that if we are all of the same church.
Dominant majorities are usually insensitive to others.
They just assume too much. The dominant majority needs to bend over backwards to show that the group is for all present. For instance, there is nothing intrinsically ecumenically offensive about making the sign of the cross. If we pray and most of the people make the sign of the cross, that often conveys to Protestants that they are in a Catholic situation and may convey to them that they are a tolerated minority. Avoiding the sign of the cross at times like that is not a matter of failing to show conviction, but is a kind of courtesy that often befits those who belong to a dominant majority.