A new resource from the Canadian Ecumenical Anti-Racism Network (CEARN) designed to help Canadians to engage with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools and to better understand the legacies of colonization that Aboriginal peoples live with today.

What can you do to support racial justice?
• Plan to give time throughout the year to engage in learning, discussion and outreach — especially with communities that experience racism.
• Find ways to journey together as you confront the reality of racism and explore how racial justice can be achieved.
• Organize activities for all ages.
• Create opportunities for worship and study.

The mandate of the Canadian Ecumenical Anti-Racism Network is to accompany Canadian churches and church organizations who are working toward racial justice, racial reconciliation, and peace to transform themselves and their communities. The CEARN Steering Committee is made up of representatives from members of the Canadian Council of Churches and sister ecumenical organizations.

For more information about CEARN or this resource please go to the Canadian Council of Churches web site at http://www.ccc-cce.ca/english/justice/racism.htm.
• download poster & resource order form

Une nouvelle ressource conçue par le Réseau œcuménique canadien contre le racisme pour aider les Canadiens à engager le dialogue avec la Commission Vérité et réconciliation sur les pensionnats autochtones et à mieux comprendre l'héritage de colonisation avec lequel les peuples autochtones vivent aujourd'hui.

Que pouvez-vous faire pour la justice raciale?
• Prévoir de vous réserver, tout au long de l'année, du temps pour apprendre, pour discuter, pour aider, particulièrement en rapport avec les communautés qui subissent le racisme.
• Trouver ensemble des façons d'affronter la réalité du racisme et d'établir la justice raciale.
• Organiser des activités à l'intention de tous les groupes d'âge.
• Créer des occasions de prier et d'étudier ensemble.

Le Réseau œcuménique canadien contre le racisme (CEARN) a pour mandat d'aider les Églises et les organismes religieux Canadiens qui oeuvrent pour la justice raciale, la réconciliation raciale et la paix à se transformer et à transformer leurs communautés. Le Comité d 'orientation du CEARN se compose de représentants des membres du Conseil canadien des Églises et des organisations œcuméniques soeurs.

Pour en savoir davantage sur le CEARN ou la présente ressource, consulter le site Web du Conseil canadien des Églises à : http://www.ccc-cce.ca/francais/justice/racism.htm.
• Veuillez voir l'affiche pour plus de détails

The following report was drafted by Jeremy Bergen, Conrad Grebel University College, on behalf of the Mennonite participants in the dialogue.

Seventeen Mennonite-Christian and Shiite-Muslim scholars of religion met together for four days in Qom, Iran, to discuss the theme of peace and justice. The dialogue conference was planned and hosted May 24-27, 2009 by the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute (IKERI), under the direction of its president, Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) organized and sponsored the conference from the Mennonite side. The dialogue was the fourth in a series begun in 2002.

The event was a forum for Shiite and Mennonite scholars to learn from each other, develop mutual understanding, and establish friendships. Participants presented papers rooted in their own tradition's theological understanding of the nature, mandate and implications of peace and justice. Formal and informal discussions provided opportunities to find commonalities, clarify differences, and respectfully engage each other.

The Mennonites presented papers on biblical perspectives, the centrality of Jesus for peace and justice, pacifism, church, martyrdom, advocacy, and the history of Mennonite practices of peace and justice. Shiite presentations examined the relationship between justice and peace in the Qur'an, war and jihad, eschatology, divine mercy, and the nature of the international political order.

Welcome to a late spring edition of Together. These past few months have been especially busy around The Canadian Council of Churches. The Governing Board elected a new executive. Quite a few letters have been sent to the federal government on issues relating to genetic privacy, the civil war in Sri Lanka, human trafficking, and heath care in Canada. We joined Twitter, and you joined us. The Gospel Imperative to Advocacy, a collection of reflections on faith and its relationship to the public square. We also visited Winnipeg and Ottawa – two cities filled with a palpable ecumenical spirit.

Our humble offices have also been graced with wonderful visitors, phone calls, and e-mails. We have had visits from Jesuits from Colombia, Jewish rabbis and educators, and friends from the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, to name only a very few. It is truly one of the greatest gifts of our ministry to hear from our followers, friends, and all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We hope the warmer months bring well deserved leisure time with friends and families, inspiration, and many blessings in your ministry, whatever it may be.

Stay in touch,

Erin Green,

Read the complete Spring 2009 issue of the CCC newsletter

Voici le numéro de fin de printemps d'Ensemble. Le Conseil Canadien des Églises a été particulièrement occupé au cours des derniers mois. Son Conseil de direction s'est élu de nouveaux membres. Nous avons écrit un bon nombre de lettres au gouvernement fédéral sur des questions relatives à la confidentialité génétique, la guerre civile au Sri Lanka, la traite des personnes et les soins de santé au Canada. Nous nous sommes joints à Twitter, vous vous êtes joints à nous. Nous avons préparé L'impératif divin de la défense des droits, un recueil de réflexions sur la place de la religion dans l'espace public. Nous nous sommes également rendus à Winnipeg et à Ottawa, deux villes animées d'un esprit œcuménique palpable.

Nos humbles bureaux ont par ailleurs eu l'honneur de recevoir de merveilleuses visites et de fort intéressants appels téléphoniques et courriels. Nous avons accueilli des Jésuites de la Colombie, des rabbins et des éducateurs juifs et des amis du Centre d'œcuménisme des Prairies, pour n'en nommer que quelques-uns. C'est vraiment une des grandes récompenses de notre ministère que de recevoir des nouvelles de nos adeptes, de nos amis et de tous nos frères et soeurs dans le Christ.

Que la belle saison vous permette de vous délasser en compagnie de vos parents et amis et qu'elle vous apporte l'inspiration et le succès dans votre ministère, quel qu'il soit.

Restez des nôtres,

Erin Green,

Voir le numéro complet d'Ensemble

[ACNS 4634] A comprehensive account of the Anglican Communion's ecumenical work has been published by the Anglican Communion Office.

The Vision Before Us, subtitled 'The Kyoto Report of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations 2000-2008', records the Commission's work of maintaining an overview of the Anglican Communion's engagement with Christians of other traditions, and of giving encouragement and advice to the ecumenical activities of the Communion and the Provinces.

Described by the Rt. Revd Gregory Cameron, Bishop of St. Asaph, and former Anglican Director of Ecumenical Affairs, as 'a chocolate box of delights', the book contains all the Resolutions of the Commission, along with its statements, papers, advice and other key texts. These include an extended study on Holy Orders in Ecumenical Dialogues and Guidelines on Ecumenical Participation in Ordinations. It details all the Communion's bilateral and multilateral dialogues, as well as various regional developments, and the ecumenical dimensions of other areas of the Communion's life.

All these are accompanied by thorough commentary and analysis, provided by the compiler and editor, the Revd Sarah Rowland Jones, Research and Ecumenical Advisor to the Archbishop of Cape Town, and a member of the Commission throughout its term. She records the evolution of the Commission's methodology, and discusses the major themes which characterise and run through all aspects of Anglican understanding and pursuit of the vocation to Christian unity.

Of particular importance is the development of 'Four Principles of Anglican Engagement in Ecumenism' which are offered to the Communion for consideration and further development.

The recent meeting of ACC-14 in Jamaica warmly commended The Vision Before Us 'for study as a benchmark ecumenical volume in the Provinces of the Anglican Communion'.

The book is intended as a key resource and handbook for those with an interest in ecumenism and associated questions of faith and order, whether Anglicans engaged in this work, partners from elsewhere within the Christian world, academics, or the general reader.

Copies are available from at the Anglican Communion Office.

Ed. Sarah Rowland Jones
The Vision Before Us
London 2009-06-01
ISBN 978-9558261-6-0, 256pp
Price £8.99

Summary: Catholic bishops note that those who contributed least to current crises may suffer the most; Urge G8 not to cut international aid for poor countries as result of economic crisis; Ask G8 leaders to combat climate change and protect the most vulnerable people.

Catholic bishops of G8 countries urge their leaders to protect the poor and assist developing countries at July G8 summit

[Washington • USCCB] In a letter to leaders participating in the G8 Summit in Italy, July 8-10, the presidents of the Catholic bishops' conferences of the G8 nations urged Summit leaders to "take concerted actions to protect poor persons and assist developing countries."

The bishops observed that poor persons and nations have contributed the least to creating the economic crisis and to the human cause of global climate change, but in both cases are likely to suffer tragic consequences.

The conference presidents wrote: "Our moral tradition commits the Church to protecting human life and dignity, especially of the poorest, most vulnerable members of the human family. In the faces of poor persons the Catholic Church sees the face of Christ whom we serve in countries throughout the world."

The G8 leaders include President Obama and the heads of state of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. Cardinal Francis George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), signed the letter, dated June 22.

The bishops reiterated Pope Benedict XVI's call that foreign assistance to developing countries not become a casualty of the financial crisis. They wrote: "Ironically poor people have contributed the least to the economic crisis facing our world, but their lives and livelihoods are likely to suffer the greatest devastation because they struggle at the margins in crushing poverty." The bishops called for "deepening partnerships with developing countries so that their peoples can be active agents in their own development, participating in political, governmental, economic and social reforms that serve the common good of all."

Moving to the issue of global climate change, the bishops noted that "poor countries and peoples who have contributed the least to the human factors driving global climate change are most at risk of its harmful consequences." They wrote: "Concrete commitments should be agreed upon and mechanisms should be created to mitigate additional global climate change and to help poor persons and developing nations adapt to its effects as well as to adopt appropriate technologies for sustainable development."

The bishops concluded, "The G8 Summit takes place in the shadow of a global economic crisis, but its actions can help bring a light of hope to our world. By asking first how a given policy will affect the poor and the vulnerable, you can help assure that the common good of all is served. As a human family we are only as healthy as our weakest members."

• The full text of the letter can be found on the USCCB Web Site.

[Washington • USCCB] Care for one's bodily health is linked to care for the body of the Church and for material creation, Methodist Bishop Timothy Whitaker said in a sermon during the second meeting of Round 7 of the Methodist-Catholic Dialogue at St. Paul's College in Washington, June 15-17.

Bishop Whitaker, who co-chairs the dialogue with Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Washington, drew on the body image from the New Testament to show that Christ's redemption embraces all of creation and implies respect for the natural environments in which parishes and church agencies are located.

The dialogue between the United Methodist Church and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) dates back to 1966, and has covered a broad range of theological and moral topics. In the current round, participants are examining Christian responsibility for the environment from the perspective of the Church's rich sacramental heritage.

Recently, religious leaders have spoken about global climate change and its impact on people in poverty. The National Religious Partnership on the Environment has called particular attention to the hardships that will burden the poor if policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not carefully structured. Representing the Partnership as a guest speaker, Walter Grazer said that it is incumbent that policies "create new well-paying, climate-friendly jobs and assist workers who lose their jobs as a result of new climate regulations and other policies."

The dialogue draws expertise from scholars whose specialties are in either ethics or sacraments. Their conversation hopes to produce an adult education instrument to enable laity from both churches to respond to the current ecological crisis from the vantage point of believers who celebrate God's gift of creation in every Eucharistic liturgy.

Two presentations were given by Msgr. Kevin W. Irwin, Dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America. In the first, Msgr. Irwin traced developments in Eucharistic doctrine found in papal documents from Pius XII to Benedict XVI. Later, Msgr. Irwin explored the symbolic language of the Eucharist to show the connection between the work of making bread and wine and the work of redemption. "The very bread and wine themselves are human gifts through which we receive the richest of divine gifts," he said.

Kendall Soulen, Ph.D., of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, spoke on Methodist sources for connecting sacraments and ecology. The writings of John Wesley, along with the hymns of his brother Charles Wesley (sung in both Catholic and Methodist communities), presuppose a theology of creation that emphasizes the glorification of God in the natural world.

Father Francis Tiso, Associate Director of the USCCB Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, explored environmental themes in the monastic tradition. Monks and nuns always have emphasized the harmony between the natural beauty surrounding their settlements and the life and worship that takes place within the monastic enclosure, he said.

In addition to Bishop Skylstad, Catholic participants also included Father James Massa (staff); Jesuit Father Drew Christiansen, Editor, America Magazine; John Hart, Ph.D., Boston University; and Angela Russell Christman, Ph.D., Loyola College in Maryland.

Other Methodist participants included Rev. Betty Gamble (staff); Edgardo Colon-Emeric, Ph.D., Duke University, and Karen Westerfield-Tucker, Ph.D., Boston University.

The next meeting of the dialogue is scheduled for December 15-17, at St. Paul's College in Washington.

By Kiply Lukan Yaworski

This article originally appeared in The Prairie Messenger, June 17, 2009. Reprinted with permission.

SASKATOON — Four panelists reflected on the state of the ecumenical movement during a Summer Ecumenical Institute organized by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism June 2 - 5 in Saskatoon.

The churches and their leadership need a new conversion to Christian unity, said Rev. Bernard de Margerie, founder of the Prairie Centre. "The journey has become too long, too heavy, and light has dimmed."

The centre was founded in 1984 because the formation of Roman Catholics about the need for Christian unity was severely lacking. "And so it has stayed," he said. "There are too many other ideas, too many other priorities, too many other teachings" drawing energy away from Christian reconciliation.

"The command to go reconcile with your brother or sister is higher than the command to worship in church, so says the Lord. If you've got a problem, leave your church service and go do your reconciliation first," said de Margerie, adding that he is not giving up hope nor his "work in the vineyard."

Rev. Sandra Beardsall, professor of church history and ecumenics at St. Andrew's College in Saskatoon, said she has seen an increasing desire among Christians to live, work and minister together in their daily work. "Increasingly I meet Christians for whom the church of the future is an ecumenical one, and not just superficially, but sharing a building and resources, worship and life, and ministry personnel."

At the same time, Beardsall expressed concern for a decline in interest in the ecumenical movement among members of the United Church of Canada. She described the failure of union efforts with the Anglican Church in 1975, after enormous spiritual energy was poured into the effort. "That really took the wind out of our sails."

A United Church statement on "Membership, ministry and human sexuality" in 1988 affirmed that "all persons who profess faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of their sexual orientation, are eligible to be considered for ordered ministry." This opened the doors to the possibility of blessing same-sex marriages, and it seemed to bring about a cooling in ecumenical dialogue. In turn, "many United Church members have become sort of cavalier about their church's ecumenical relationships."

However, Beardsall stressed that "we don't enter into dialogue because we already agree, but because Jesus has thrown us together."

Panelist Ralph Shidlowsky reflected on his experience with the ministerial association in Rosthern, which has taken practical steps in shared prayer and service, "making Christian unity look like something," he said.

Rev. Amanda Currie, pastor of a Presbyterian congregation in Saskatoon, commented on ecumenism not being a priority for struggling mainline denominations. Because of her marriage to a Roman Catholic, however, Currie said she has come to experience a profound yearning for Christian unity.

"I have been rediscovering sacraments and liturgy," she said, "and I long for the time when people in my church will take that up."

Not knowing even their own traditions, many young people simply have no longing for greater unity, because they have no idea that they are separated.

"They don't see that denomination really matters," Currie said. People must understand their own tradition and its gifts before they can experience the longing for greater sharing in the gifts of other denominations.

After eight years of marriage, she said, a Catholic church "is no longer a foreign place. Now, it's another home. But it takes a long time to get to that point."

By Kiply Lukan Yaworski

This article originally appeared in The Prairie Messenger, June 17, 2009. Reprinted with permission.

Rev. Tom Ryan, CSP (Photo: K. Yaworski)

"During the past four decades, the rediscovery of our brotherhood and sisterhood in Christ, along with the result of several bilateral and multilateral dialogues, have presented an historical shift and a new situation," he said during a keynote address June 4 at a Summer Ecumenical Institute held in Saskatoon. "There is a new situation emerging in which we can be said to be facing a crisis in the dual sense of the term: on the one hand danger, and on the other hand opportunity."

Paradoxically, the crisis in today's ecumenical movement is related to its success. "The closer we come to one another, the more we feel the differences that still exist," Ryan said. "After resolving many misunderstandings and establishing a basic consensus concerning the essentials of our faith, we've now reached the inner core of our differences."

Between the Catholic and the Orthodox churches, the differences centre on the role and office of the papacy. With the churches of the Reformation, they centre on the question of the apostolic succession in the episcopate.

Ecclesiology — the understanding of church — is critical to moving toward unity, he said. "In the big picture, ecclesiology is the most pressing question on the agenda," he said.

"The problem of coming to a common understanding of what makes for a church is all the more serious when we consider that ecclesial communion is, for Catholics, the pre-supposition of eucharistic communion, and the absence of eucharistic communion carries major pastoral difficulties above all in the case of mixed couples and families."

At the same time, Ryan cited a number of "huge and historical developments," including joint statements, church unions, mergers and ecumenical alliances among a variety of denominations in both the United States and Canada as evidence that the ecumenical movement is far from dead.

Still, there are many factors contributing to an "ecumenical slowdown." The decline in membership of mainline denominations and the limited time and resources of those in pastoral leadership often mean that ecumenism has been "shunted off the working priority action lists."

Ryan pointed to the ongoing theological disagreement among Christians about how to respond to modernity. "The trip wire for this crisis turned out to be sexual morality, represented by passionate differences over chastity, marriage and homosexuality. Also at stake are issues of authority, divine revelation and our understanding of the church. These matters remain unresolved."

Another challenge is that charismatic and pentecostal movements, which are expanding around the world, have for the most part not been part of ecumenical dialogue. "We're going to have to rise to the challenge of moving out of what is secure and familiar for us in our own relationship with one another as mainline denominations," he said.

Culture also creates challenges to ecumenism, including shifting cultural norms, indifference to religious truth, and an emphasis on "eclectic and individualistic" spirituality. "All of this makes for a highly complex society, where communal life at any level becomes more difficult."

At the same time, the "classic tension between movements and institutions" is being lost," Ryan said. Some would say that ecumenism "has been brought under control and domesticated by the churches it was designed to reform. The ecumenical movement has been institutionalized and needs to become a movement again."

In the end, said Ryan, ecumenism "must be the result of a conversion of the hearts and minds of the people who make up the church. This must be a work of the people, by the people, for the people: for the sake of the credibility of the Gospel and the life of the world."

TOAST — Retired Mennonite pastor Vern Ratzlaff (right) led the toast to Prairie Centre for Ecumenism founder Rev. Bernard de Margerie during a banquet June 4, held in conjunction with a national Summer Ecumenical Institute in Saskatoon. (Photo: K. Yaworski)

This article originally appeared in The Prairie Messenger, June 17, 2009. Reprinted with permission.

SASKATOON — A national Summer Ecumenical Institute was held June 2 - 5 in Saskatoon, with some 50 participants taking stock of the ecumenical movement, renewing their vision and commitment to reconciliation and unity among Christians.

Organized and hosted by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, the event featured Rev. Tom Ryan, CSP, as facilitator. Ryan is the director of the Paulist Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, based in Washington, DC. A former director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal, Ryan examined the past, present and future of the ecumenical movement in three keynote addresses. He also explored the question of inter-religious prayer in a workshop session June 3.

Workshop sessions included an overview of the recent Roman Catholic/Anglican document, Growing Together in Unity and Mission, presented by Rev. Don Bolen; an introduction to L'Arche, an ecumenical success story, by Rev. Amy Bunce; and a description of resources for revitalizing rural ministry presented by Dr. Cam Harder of the Lutheran seminary in Saskatoon.

Sister Judy Schachtel, SMS, of Earthcare Connections, led a session on the dignity of creation and ecological spirituality, while Rev. Sandra Beardsall of St. Andrew's College discussed shared ministries. Trends in inter-faith dialogue were explored by Adèle Brodeur, associate director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism.

Ecumenical perspectives on healing were explored in a panel discussion featuring parish nurse Deb Bauche, Rev. Cyrian Hutcheon, MD, pastor of Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Saskatoon, and Rev. Larry Mitchell, an Anglican priest and North American director of the ecumenical Order of St. Luke the Physician.

The Summer Ecumenical Institute was a 25th anniversary event for the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism (PCE). The centre started in Saskatoon in 1984 under the leadership of Rev. Bernard de Margerie. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Pope John XXIII's call for the Second Vatican Council, which in turn sparked de Margerie's own 50-year journey working for Christian reconciliation. PCE has acknowledged the three anniversaries throughout the past year.

De Margerie was recognized for his contributions at an anniversary banquet held June 4, in conjunction with the Summer Ecumenical Institute. Retired Mennonite pastor Vern Ratzlaff expressed appreciation for de Margerie's years of work and vision. "You have shown us what our common baptism and Christian charism involve," Ratzlaff said.

In response, de Margerie stressed the need to continue and intensify the work toward Christian reconciliation. "The journey to unity is seemingly devoid at this time of a clear and compelling goal," he said.

"Let us encourage one another, learn to carry each other's burdens and wash each other's feet across denominational lines so that we may all be one for the credibility of our common mission in Christ, and for the glory of God in his reconciling grace."

De Margerie concluded with a reflection from Ryan's book, A Survival Guide for Ecumenically Minded Christians: "When God puts us back together again — with the aid of our willingness to co-operate — this great church will be marked by the dignity and scholarship of the Anglicans; the order and sacraments of the Roman Catholics; the warm fellowship of the Methodists; the Presbyterian desire for good preaching; and the Lutheran respect for sound theology. There will be the Baptist concern for individual salvation; the Congregational respect for the rights of the lay members; the Pentecostal reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit; and the Quaker appreciation for silence. We will find there the Mennonite sense of community; the social action of the Salvation Army; and the Reformed love of the Bible; all wrapped in the Orthodox reverence before the mystery of God."

[Washington • USCCB] The seventy-sixth meeting of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation took place at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York, June 1 to 3. The session, hosted by the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), was co-chaired by Metropolitan Maximos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

At the meeting the Consultation continued its study of the 2007 agreed statement of the international Orthodox-Catholic dialogue, "Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church. Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority." The members heard analyses of the text, also known as "The Ravenna Document," from a Catholic perspective prepared by Leavenworth Sister of Charity Susan Wood and Father John Galvin, and from an Orthodox perspective by Father Nicholas Apostola. These presentations will form the basis of a draft common response to the international document that will be considered at the next meeting.

The Consultation also heard two presentations of points of convergence that have emerged in its ongoing study of primacies and conciliarity in the Church. One text was prepared by Jesuit Father Brian Daley and Vito Nicastro, Ph.D., and a second one, from an Orthodox perspective, by Father James Dutko. The authors of these two studies will prepare a draft agreed statement on this theme for consideration at the fall 2009 meeting. In addition, Father Joseph Komonchak offered reflections on a presentation given in 2003 by Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, at a Catholic-Orthodox symposium in the Vatican on Petrine Ministry, "Introduction to the Theme and Catholic Hermeneutics of the Dogmas of the First Vatican Council."

During the meeting, members of the Consultation informed one another about major events in the lives of their churches. These included the death of Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and the election of Patriarch Kirill, the international Oriental Orthodox-Roman Catholic Dialogue, the Vatican delegation at the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the Feast of St. Andrew, the Commencement address of President Obama at the University of Notre Dame, recent events in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, the lifting of the excommunications of the bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X, recent events in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Holy Land, "The Leadership of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Significance of Canon 28 of Chalcedon: a Statement by the Faculty Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology," the relationship between the two Romanian Orthodox jurisdictions in North America, the meeting in the Vatican of a group of Catholic Bishops and aboriginal leaders from Canada with Pope Benedict XVI, the situation of the Orthodox Church in America and the election of Metropolitan Jonah, and the establishment of the Archbishop Demetrios Chair at Fordham University.

Members gathered for a memorial service (Panachida) presided over by Metropolitan Maximos to commemorate the death forty days earlier of Rev. Protopresbyter Stephen Dutko, the father of Rev. James Dutko, an Orthodox member of the Consultation.

Archbishop Pilarczyk shared with the members of the Consultation that, with his imminent retirement, he intends to resign as Co-Chairman of the dialogue. Metropolitan Maximos expressed gratitude to the Archbishop for his seven years of service. The Consultation presented Archbishop Pilarczyk with a copy of the book, "The Rublev Trinity," by Gabriel Bunge. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, the Chairman of the Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, intends to name a new Catholic Co-Chairman of the Consultation in due course.

The seventy-seventh meeting of the Consultation is due to take place from October 22-24, at Saint Paul's College in Washington.

In addition to the co-chairs, the Consultation include Orthodox representatives Father Thomas FitzGerald (Secretary), Father Nicholas Apostola, Father John Erickson, Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Ph.D., Father James Dutko, Paul Meyendorff, Ph.D., Father Alexander Golitzin, Robert Haddad, Ph.D., Father Robert Stephanopoulos, Father Theodore Pulcini, and Father Mark Arey, General Secretary of SCOBA (staff).

Additional Catholic members are Jesuit Father Brian Daley (Secretary), Thomas Bird, Ph.D., Sylvain Destrempes, Ph.D., Father Peter Galadza, Chorbishop John D. Faris, Father John Galvin, Father Sidney Griffith, Father Joseph Komonchak, Father Paul McPartlan, Father David Petras, Sister Susan K. Wood, Vito Nicastro, Ph.D., and Paulist Father Ronald Roberson, who serves as staff.

The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation is sponsored jointly by the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), the Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Since its establishment in 1965, the Consultation has issued 22 agreed statements on various topics. All these texts are now available on the USCCB Website at http://www.usccb.org/seia/orthodox_index.shtml and the SCOBA website at http://www.scoba.us/resources/orthodox-catholic.html