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La Journée internationale pour l'élimination de la discrimination raciale est mars 21, l'anniversaire du massacre à Sharpeville en 1960. Au Canada, le Réseau oecuménique canadien contre le racisme (ROCCR) a développé une semaine d'étude, de prière, et de réflexion sur des questions du racisme en notre monde et dans nos communautés. La semaine à partir de 19 à 26 mars, 2006. Un kit de ressource intitulé « God so loved the people of the world » est disponible en anglais au site web du Conseil canadien des églises à www.ccc-cce.ca/english/downloads/God_so_loved.pdf.
Le Réseau oecuménique canadien contre le racisme (ROCCR): Ce réseau est une expression des églises canadiennes travaillant ensemble pour soutenir les programmes d'anti-racisme et les éducateurs qui fonctionnent dans des églises, partagent des ressources et apprennent parmi des éducateurs d'anti-racisme, et le changement à long terme de support des églises canadiennes et des organismes des églises. Le comité de coordination de ROCCR se compose des représentants de diverses dénominations chrétiennes, et tire bénéfice également de la participation et de la conduite actives du personnel des organismes oecuméniques, du Conseil oecuménique des chrétiennes du Canada (WICC) et de KAIROS: Initiatives canadiennes oecuméniques pour le justice.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is March 21, the anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. In Canada, the Canadian Ecumenical Anti-Racism Network (CEARN) has developed a week of study, prayer, and reflection on issues of racism in our world and in our communities. Entitled "God so loved the people of the world", the week will be observed from March 19-26, 2006. A resource kit is available for download from the Canadian Council of Churches website at www.ccc-cce.ca/english/downloads/God_so_loved.pdf.
The Canadian Ecumenical Anti-Racism Network (CEARN): This network is an expression of Canadian churches working together to support anti-racism programs and educators who are working in member churches, sharing resources and learning among anti-racism educators, and supporting long-term change in Canadian churches and church organizations.
Renouveler notre engagement à rechercher l'unité et à approfondir le dialogue -- Une invitation adressée aux Églises
Les assemblées du COE ont adopté des textes qui proposaient une vision -- ou précisaient les qualités -- de « l'unité que nous recherchons ». L'Assemblée de Porto Alegre, au Brésil, est invitée à étudier et à adopter la présente invitation adressée aux Églises. Cette Invitation aux Églises les appelle à poursuivre un double objectif : (a) énoncer ce que les Églises, au stade actuel de leur cheminement oecuménique, peuvent dire ensemble sur certains aspects importants de l'Église ; (b) inviter les Églises à relancer leurs conversations -- qui doivent se conforter mutuellement tout en restant ouvertes et prospectives -- sur la qualité et le degré de leur communauté fraternelle et de leur communion, ainsi que sur les sujets qui les divisent encore.
Mise à jour : Le document sur l'ecclésiologie intitulé « Appelés à être l'Église une » est révisé par la 9ème Assemblée. L'Assemblée a été demandée à :
a) adopte le texte sur l'ecclésiologie en tant qu'invitation et interpellation à l'adresse des Eglises membres afin qu'elles renouvellent leur engagement à rechercher l'unité et à approfondir leur dialogue ;
b) appelle chacune des Eglise membres à répondre aux dix questions qui figurent en conclusion du texte sur l'ecclésiologie, en espérant que, d'ici à la Dixième Assemblée, chaque Eglise membre aura donné ses réponses ;
c) charge le COE de préparer des rapports périodiques à l'intention du Comité central sur le nombre et le contenu des réponses reçues, afin que celles-ci donnent des informations sur la direction que doivent prendre les travaux visant à approfondir la compréhension entre les Eglises membres et à progresser ver l'unité visible de l'Eglise.
Cette invitation adressée aux Églises a été rédigée, à la demande du Comité central du COE (2002), dans le cadre d'un processus organisé par la Commission de Foi et constitution du COE. La première version de ce texte fut rédigée à Nicosie en mars 2004. Suite aux nombreux commentaires et remarques des organes exécutifs du COE, de la Commission de Foi et constitution et du Comité directeur de la Commission spéciale, ce texte a été révisé lors d'une seconde réunion qui s'est tenue à Nicosie en mai 2005. Au nom du COE, Foi et constitution tient à remercier l'Église de Chypre qui a bien voulu accueillir ces réunions préparatoires. La Commission permanente de Foi et constitution a procédé à une ultime révision de ce texte lors de la réunion qu'elle a tenue à Aghios Nikolaos en juin 2005.
Pour le bon déroulement de ce processus, Foi et constitution a rédigé et envoyé aux Églises un nouveau document d'étude intitulé : La nature et le but de l'Église -- Vers une déclaration commune, document de Foi et constitution n° 198.
An invitation to the churches to renew their commitment to the search for unity and to deepen their dialogue.
WCC assemblies have adopted texts offering a vision, or identifying the qualities, of "the unity we seek". This assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, is invited to consider and adopt the present invitation to the churches. The purpose of this invitation to the churches is twofold: (1) to reflect what the churches, at this point on their ecumenical journey, can say together about some important aspects of the church; and (2) to invite the churches into a renewed conversation - mutually supportive, yet open and searching -- about the quality and degree of their fellowship and communion, and about the issues which still divide them.
Update: The draft document "Called to be the one church" was revised during the WCC Assembly ending February 23. The Assembly was asked to:
a) adopt the Ecclesiology Text as an invitation and challenge to the member churches to renew their commitment to the search for unity and to deepen their dialogue;
b) call upon each member church to respond to the ten questions at the conclusion of the Ecclesiology Text with the expectation that, by the Tenth Assembly, each member church will have so responded;
c) direct the WCC to prepare periodic reports to the Central Committee of the number and content of responses received, so that responses can inform the direction of work towards deepening the understanding among member churches and furthering progress towards the visible unity of the Church.
The present Invitation to the churches was produced at the request of the central committee of the WCC (2002), in a process organized by the WCC's Faith and Order commission. A first draft was written at a meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus, in March 2004; this was revised (on the basis of extensive comments received from WCC governing bodies, the Faith and Order commission, and the steering committee of the Special Commission) at a second meeting in Nicosia in May, 2005. Faith and Order extends on behalf of the WCC its appreciation to the Church of Cyprus, which graciously hosted these preparatory meetings. A final revision took place at the Faith and Order standing commission meeting in Aghios Nikolaos, Crete, in June 2005.
To assist this process, Faith and Order has produced and sent to the churches a new study document, The Nature and Mission of the Church: A Stage on the Way to a Common Statement, Faith and Order Paper no. 198, 2005.
Muslim Canadian Congress urges Muslims to call off demonstrations[Toronto • February 19, 2006] The Muslim Canadian Congress has condemned attacks on Churches in Pakistan and Nigeria that have led to the death of 15 Christians, including women and children. In an appeal to Muslims across the world, the Muslim Canadian Congress is urging them to resist the temptation of participating in public demonstrations to express their anger at the publication of the demeaning and insulting cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in Denmark. "We understand their pain, but Muslims should channel their anger not by burning and pillaging, but by following the example of Prophet Muhammad himself, who urged restraint and calmness in the wake of provocation," said Tarek Fatah, spokesperson of the Muslim Canadian Congress. The full statement can be found at www.muslimcanadiancongress.org/20060219.pdf.
National Muslim coalition issues statement on cartoon controversyProminent national Canadian Muslim organizations and umbrella groups have signed an unprecedented statement praising Canada's collective response to the cartoon controversy, saying Canada has "made Canadian Muslims proud."
"Despite a few small occurrences, Canada's collective response to this controversy has allowed us to overcome this crisis and strengthen our democracy," says Dr. Tyseer Aboulnasr, a member of the Order of Ontario and spokesperson for the Muslim coalition. "Our community felt it was time for us to acknowledge to all of Canada how proud we are of our country."
The statement was signed by 21 national Muslim organizations and a number of umbrella groups from across the country representing an additional 175 organizations.
United Church Expresses Regret over Muhammad Cartoons[Toronto • 17.2.2006] The United Church of Canada has sent a letter to the Islamic Council of Imams expressing the church's "deepest regret that the name of Muhammad has been so tragically misused in the depictions of cartoons first published in Europe, but now also in Canada."
The letter strongly condemns the publication of the cartoons as "incitement to religious hatred." The letter notes that the cartoons falsely teach "that Islam itself teaches, condones and encourages violence, bombings and the mistreatment of women. Furthermore, the implication is that all Muslims believe so as well. This we know to be untrue."
The letter offers the "sincere apologies" of the United Church community "that such attitudes can persevere in a country that we believe can and should be a model for the world of racial and ethnic respect."
Update: In response to numerous letters received by the United Church General Council offices criticising the above statement, the United Church has published further explanation on its website at www.united-church.ca/gco/060223.shtm.
Leaders urge calm and dialogue in cartoon controversy[Porto Alegré, Brazil • 14.02.2006] Christians and Muslims should work together to "put out the fire" caused by the controversial publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, according to Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches.
The publication of the cartoons, which first appeared last year in a Danish paper and have been reprinted in more than 60 papers since, has led to demonstrations all over the world, some of them violent.
Speaking in answer to a question at the first press conference of the 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, Kobia said, "Violent reactions, as well as justifying these cartoons as an expression of freedom of speech, continue to put fuel on the fire." He said that both Christians and Muslims had a responsibility to promote tolerance and address ignorance about the other.
He added that while freedom of speech was a fundamental human right, "When it is used to humiliate people's values and dignity, it devalues the foundation it is based on."
WCC moderator Catholicos Aram I also spoke to the question, saying, "In this small world we are living as one community. Like it or not, we are neighbours, we are no longer strangers." He added that respecting diversity meant respecting democratic values, "not imposing our traditions on our neighbours".
The WCC has not yet had the opportunity to make a formal statement on the issue, though according to Aram I, a statement would be made during the course of the Assembly.
Kobia noted that interreligious dialogue amid religious plurality will be the topic of a plenary session at the Assembly on Friday. Following the plenary, speakers of various faiths will bring greetings. An ecumenical conversation and several mutirão workshops will also deal with that theme.
Other issues addressed at the press conference included the significance of the first WCC Assembly in Latin America, the WCC's relationship with and visibility in the secular media, work on women's issues, and concerns of youth at the Assembly.
Bishop Adriel de Souza Maia, president of the National Council of Churches of Brazil (CONIC), said the Assembly's presence is important. "We want this Assembly to be a voice for unity and tolerance", de Souza said. Bishop Federico J. Pagura, WCC president from Latin America, added that the region is "waiting to have a word of hope" from the WCC amid difficult times.
Nerissa Celestine, a youth delegate from the West Indies, said that youth will have a voice at the Assembly, but they want their involvement to extend well past Porto Alegre. This week, she said, was just "a beginning for hard work in the ecumenical movement". She identified violence committed against and by young people and the overall involvement of youth in ecumenism as key issues of interest.
Is resistance futile? The Church, Empire, and Post-9/11 Global Orders
The St. Andrew's College Winter Refresher is February 5 to 8, 2006. Theme speaker is Mark Lewis Taylor, professor of theology and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. Additional workshops will be offered, and the whole experience can be taken as a one credit-hour course with supplementary work. Some bursary assistance is also available for ministers and their partners, and for those considering enrolment in a United Church theological college. The Winter refresher is geared towards clergy but is open to all, and all are welcome. Registration is through St. Andrew's College. Phone 306-966-8970.
Late registration fees apply after January 16, 2006. Registration includes three lunches and refreshments.
Regular participants: $150 before January 13, $175 after January 16
Post-secondary students: $50 before January 13, $75 after January 16
One credit course: $177
We have had volunteer help in getting our library re-catalogued from the Dewey Decimal system to the Library of Congress (LC) system. There are about 2,000 books, most of which are available for borrowing for 1 month, on a number of ecumenical and interfaith topics. Besides some videos, we also have a vertical file on many topics, with documents, news articles, and general information. Come and see what we have -- students, clergy, and laypersons -- we will be able to help you!
Our director, Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard, is available about once a month to preach in various churches. She will bring a message on Christian unity and reconciliation that will be of great benefit to all. If you wish to have her speak in your church, give us a call to arrange a date. Dates are available from December onwards.
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Harvesting the Fruits: Basic Aspects of Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue
