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C'est avec un sentiment de regret que le Centre canadien d'oecuménisme a appris le départ de son directeur actuel, le Dr Stuart Brown et de son épouse, Margaret, à la fin de juin. Ils retourneront au Nigeria, en Afrique, où le Dr Brown s'est vu offrir une chaire au département d'études religieuses de l'université Abti à Yola. Margaret l'y accompagnera et occupera un poste au département des archives de la bibliothèque de l'université.
Le Dr Brown a été le premier anglican laïque à avoir été nommé directeur du Centre. Il a apporté une nouvelle et dynamique perspective au Centre et à sa mission interne aussi bien qu'externe.
Originaire de la Colombie-Britannique, le Dr Brown détient une maîtrise ès arts et un doctorat en études islamiques de l'université McGill. Il a écrit et donné des conférences sur divers aspects de l'islam et du dialogue interreligieux ainsi que sur l'histoire et l'avenir de l’oecuménisme, au Canada, aux États-Unis, en Angleterre, en Suisse, en Inde, en Australie et dans de nombreux pays d'Afrique.
Avant sa venue au Centre, en septembre 2004, le Dr Brown a été secrétaire du Programme « relations et dialogue interreligieux » du Conseil oecuménique des Églises, à Genève (1983-1988) et secrétaire-général du Conseil canadien des Églises (Toronto – 1988-1993). Il parle l'anglais, le français et l'arabe et lit l'allemand, l'italien, le swahili et le turc, ce qui lui a été d'un précieux secours dans les années qui ont succédé à l'époque torontoise : il a travaillé à PROCMURA (Project for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa – Service Relations Islamo-Chrétiennes en Afrique), voyageant à travers vingt pays africains pour donner des conférences et diriger des ateliers pour l'amélioration des relations entre chrétiens et musulmans. Il a ensuite été nommé secrétaire-général de JCMWA/MICCAO (Joint Christian Ministry In West Africa – Ministère chrétien commun en Afrique occidentale) de 2000 à 2004.
Pendant ses années en Afrique, son épouse Margaret a élevé quatre enfants en plus d'occuper divers postes dont celui d'enseignante dans une école Montessori. Elle s'est jointe au personnel du Centre au début de 2005 et y a joué un rôle vital dans la préparation de textes pour notre revue.
En oecuméniste convaincu que l'affirmation de notre identité est importante pour la compréhension interreligieuse, le Dr Brown déclare : « Nous devons découvrir et définir ce que nous, chrétiens, avons en commun avant de nous occuper des diversités de nos 'cousins' juifs et musulmans. C'est plus important pour la compréhension interreligieuse, que le seul dialogue. »
Quant à l'avenir du Centre canadien d’oecuménisme, le Dr Brown fait remarquer que le Centre doit mieux définir son rôle et sa contribution au contexte oecuménique et interreligieux au Canada.
Les membres du bureau de direction ainsi que le personnel désirent exprimer au Dr Brown et à son épouse Margaret leur profonde gratitude et leurs meilleurs voeux de succès pour leur avenir ainsi que pour les nombreuses entreprises et aventures qui les attendent.
It is with a certain sense of loss that the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism will bid farewell to its current director, Dr Stuart E. Brown and his wife, Margaret, at the end of June. They will be returning to Nigeria, Africa where Dr Brown has been offered a full professorship in the Department of Religious Studies at Abti University in the city of Yola. Margaret will accompany him to take up a position in the University Library, working in the area of Archives/Reference.
Dr Brown's appointment as Director of the Centre marks the first time an Anglican and layperson has held this post. He brought with him a fresh and new approach to the Centre and its efforts, both inside and out.
Originally from British Columbia, Dr Brown holds an M.A. and a Ph. D. in Islamic Studies from McGill University. He has lectured and written on various aspects of Islam and interfaith dialogue, as well as on the history and future of ecumenism, in Canada, the United States, England, Switzerland, India, Australia and numerous African countries.
Before coming to the Centre in September 2004, Dr Brown had been Program Secretary for Christian-Muslim Relations in the Department of Dialogue with People of Living Faiths at the World Council of Churches in Geneva (1983-1988), and General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches (Toronto — 1988-1993). His fluency in English, French and Arabic coupled with the ability to read German, Italian, Spanish, Swahili and Turkish proved to be invaluable in the years which succeeded the Toronto era: Dr Brown worked for PROCMURA (Project for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa) where he travelled, lectured and conducted sessions on bettering Christian-Muslim relations, in twenty African countries. This was followed by the position of General Secretary of JCMWA (Joint Christian Ministry In West Africa) from 2000 through 2004.
Margaret Brown, who filled her years in Africa with an array of positions including raising four children and teaching at a Montessori School, joined the Centre staff in early 2005, admirably playing a vital role in the preparation of texts for our periodical, Ecumenism.
An ecumenist who sees the need of affirming our Christian identity as being important for inter-faith understanding, Dr Brown has said: "We must discover and define what we as Christians have in common before dealing with the diversities of our 'cousins,' such as Jews and Muslims. This is imperative for interfaith understanding, more so than just dialogue."
For the future of The Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, Dr Brown observes that the Centre needs to better define its role as it contributes to the ecumenical and interfaith context in Canada.
The members of the Board of Directors as well as the members of the personnel extend to Dr and Margaret Brown their heartfelt gratitude and every good wish and success in their future, in their many endeavours and adventures to come.
A prominent Italian newspaper editor has appealed to Muslims to visit Marian shrines in Italy. Reminding his readers that the Qu'ran devotes an entire sura to Mary, and that Muslims and Christians jointly venerate Marian shrines in Muslim countries, Magdi Allam is puzzled why more Muslims do not visit shrines in Christian countries. Allam, an Egyptian Muslim, is deputy director of Il Corriere della Sera, a large daily newspaper based in Rome.
In a recent interview with Zenit.org, Allam asked "if this happens in Muslim countries, why can't it happen in a Christian country, especially in a historical phase in which we need to define symbols, values, and figures that unite religions, spiritualities, and cultures?" ... Read the complete Zenit article.
The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism is pleased to announce that its Summer Ecumenical Institute for 2007 will take place in Saskatoon June 26-29. The theme of the conference is conflict resolution and transformation within and among churches, under the working title "Making Peace in the Household of God."
Many Canadian churches appear to be experiencing conflict, often more within than between denominations. Liberals and conservatives in many churches are in tension over issues such as human sexuality and the interpretation of scripture, and the 'heat' seems to be rising. The skills of courtesy, listening and dialogue, which ecumenically-minded people have been developing over the years, are today needed just as much within our churches as between them.
Our keynote speaker for the conference will be Dave Brubaker, who since 2004 has been Assistant Professor of Organizational Studies in the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia. Before that he was Senior Partner in 'Cooperative by Design' an Arizona-based peacebuilding consortium, and has held other posts in community development, conciliation services and with the Mennonite Central Committee. Dave has 20 years' experience of research and teaching conflict transformation skills and of working as a 'hands-on' conflict mediator in church settings in North America, Africa, the UK, Nepal and Brazil. Dave holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and an MBA in Global Economic Development. He is currently completing doctoral research with the University of Arizona, specializing in religious and organizational conflict. He is a member of the Brethren in Christ Church, one of the Mennonite family of churches.
Working on the conviction that conflict within the Body of Christ can be transformed into a source of life-giving energy, this conference will explore the biblical and theological foundations for conflict transformation, discuss current research into conflict transformation in the church setting, and provide an introduction to practical training in conflict transformation skills. As always, the SEI will offer inspiring worship, short workshops on a variety of subjects related to ecumenism, and the opportunity to network and share fellowship with others who are committed to inter-church cooperation. It is open to all who are committed to inter-church cooperation, both lay and ordained, whether working at a grassroots or an institutional level. The timetable will provide an opportunity for church leaders and ecumenical officers to meet each other and discuss common concerns, and for those involved in shared ministries to meet together.
Full details of the conference will be released in the fall of 2006. For further information, please contact the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism. Telephone 306-653-1633 or email
WCC Annual Review 2005 (Compte rendu annuel 2005 du COE)
Disponible maintenant sous forme électronique et imprimée (en anglais seulement), le document WCC Annual Review 2005 est un compte rendu illustré des programmes et activités du COE tout au long de l'année. Il contient également des informations de base sur les Eglises membres, les organes directeurs, les finances, les publications et autres documents du COE.
Dans son introduction au rapport, le pasteur Samuel Kobia, secrétaire général du COE, souligne que « l'année 2005 a été placée sous le signe de deux domaines d'engagement essentiels pour la communauté d'Eglises que constitue le COE : l'accent spécial sur la mission et l'évangélisation qui a culminé dans la Conférence sur la mission et l'évangélisation, et les efforts renouvelés dans le domaine du dialogue interreligieux. Cette année a été marquée aussi par un travail intense de préparation de la Neuvième Assemblée tenue au début de 2006, avec notamment une évaluation des activités de programme qui a jeté les bases d'un recentrage de nos activités futures. »
Le compte rendu annuel est complété par le rapport financier du COE pour l'année 2005 (WCC Financial Report 2005), où on trouve en particulier les comptes vérifiés complets de l'organisation.
Now available in electronic and printed format, the WCC Annual Review 2005 is an illustrated account of WCC programmes and activities over the year. The Annual Review also contains key information on WCC member churches, governing bodies, finances, publications and other resources.
In his introduction to the report, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia states that "The year 2005 was shaped by two major areas of engagement for the fellowship of churches that forms the WCC: a special focus on mission and evangelism, culminating in the world mission conference, and renewed efforts in the area of interreligious dialogue. This was also a year of intensive preparation for the 9th Assembly in early 2006, including an evaluation of programmatic work which has laid the foundation for a refocusing of our future activities."
The Annual Review is accompanied by a separate WCC Financial Report 2005, which contains the full audited accounts of the organization.
The Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches USA hopes people will see a new connection between film and theology when it holds its first ever Oikumene Film Festival to promote further exploration of visual media as a form of ecumenical expression. The festival will be part of the commission's 50th anniversary celebration, July 19-23, 2007 in Oberlin, Ohio.
By sponsoring this festival, NCC's Faith and Order Commission is actively seeking to engage artist-theologians, and theologian-artists who may not have reflected on ecumenism before. The festival guidelines are intentionally broad, calling for "visual proclamation or reflection" about "the complexity, challenges, joy and beauty of being Christian together."
The conference itself is a historic occasion commemorating a significant ecumenical event. Focused on the theme, "On Being Christian Together: The Faith and Order Experience in the United States," the commission will mark a half century of Christian communities working to strengthen the unity of the Church by engaging one another through dialogue and research on the theological differences that divide our churches. Since its first meeting in Oberlin in 1957, the commission has worked tirelessly to advance ecumenism and to discover new ways to state the core truths of Christian faith together.
Further information is found in the NCC's press release. For more information about the Oikumene Film Festival, including theological themes, contest rules and entry forms, visit the festival website.
Signed articles do not necessarily represent the opinions of "Ecumenism in Canada" or the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism.
Les articles signés ne représentent pas nécessairement les avis de "Oecuménisme au Canada" ou le Prairie Centre for Ecumenism.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity has given "a clear and helpful contribution" to the Church of England's debate over the consecration of women bishops, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams. The gracious response offered by Williams was to be expected between two close friends and theological colleagues. Nevertheless, Kasper's frank address to the House of Bishops was a sign of the significance that the Vatican places on the English church's decision. As an exercise in ecumenical brinkmanship it may be unparallelled in recent times.
On Monday, June 5, 2006, Kasper addressed the Church of England's House of Bishops on a topic that has continued to provide difficulties within the Anglican Communion, as well as ecumenically with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. Despite the decision of some Anglican provinces to consecrate women as bishops, and the presence of these bishops at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the issue is still of major consequence in the remaining provinces. Kasper addressed the ecumenical concerns of the Roman Catholic Church, and attempted to explain the Roman Catholic reluctance to ordain women.
As Kasper recognised, the decision to ordain women to the episcopate is intimately connected to the decision to ordain women to the diaconate and priesthood. This is a decision taken by some provinces of the Anglican Communion as far ago as 1976. In 1992, the first women were ordained in the Church of England. However, the three orders of ministry are intimately connected, as there is only one sacrament of ordination. Thus, admission to the diaconate and priesthood implies the possibility of admission to the episcopate. However, Kasper insisted, the episcopate has a special character as a ministry of unity. Drawing upon the reflections of Vatican II on the college of bishops, Kasper explained:
Collegiality was not understood simply in terms of an ultimately non-binding collegial frame of mind; collegiality is rather a reality ontologically grounded in the sacrament of episcopal consecration, the shared participation in the one episcopal office, which finds concrete expression in the collegialitas affectiva and in the collegialitas effectiva. This collegiality is of course not limited to the horizontal and synchronic relationship with contemporary episcopal colleagues; since the Church is one and the same in all centuries, the present-day church must also maintain diachronic consensus with the episcopate of the centuries before us, and above all with the testimony of the apostles. This is the more profound significance of the apostolic succession in episcopal office.
Even while laying out the ecumenical situation with disarming clarity, Kasper is careful to frame the notion of collegiality in ecumenically-fruitful terms. The oft-mentioned dispute between Cardinals Kasper and Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) over the priority of the local or universal church is resolved in Kasper's address to the Anglican bishops. Setting collegiality within the synchronic and diachronic consensus of the apostolic witness gives significance to the particular expressions of church without diminishing the universal church. In the ecumenical context, to discuss the Anglican decision over women's episcopal consecration as a breach of this consensus suggests that Kasper was prepared to recognise Anglican bishops within the historic episcopate. Is Kasper holding out an olive branch to Anglicans?
Kasper explained that one of the more hopeful discoveries of ecumenical dialogue between Anglicans and Roman Catholics has been the extent to which a common understanding of episcopacy and episcopal ministry are shared between the two churches. Indeed, he said, the understanding of the church as koinonia is found in the ARCIC dialogue from the beginning. It is central to Bishops in Communion: Collegiality in the Service of the Koinonia of the Church, a document prepared by the Church of England's House of Bishops, and in the Windsor Report, prepared for the Anglican Communion by the Lambeth Commission on Unity.
The clarity of Kasper's explanation was obviously intended to ensure that there was no misunderstanding between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Kasper insists that if the Church of England takes the step of ordaining women that the dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church will continue. However, he cautions, the quality of the dialogue would change. The Roman Catholic and Anglican churches share the conviction that full ecclesial communion, cannot exist without full communion in the episcopal office.
Ecumenical dialogue in the true sense of the word has as its goal the restoration of full church communion. That has been the presupposition of our dialogue until now. That presupposition would realistically no longer exist following the introduction of the ordination of women to Episcopal office.
Furthermore, a decision to ordain women to the episcopate would, in Kasper's view "call into question what was recognised by the Second Vatican Council (UR, 13), that the Anglican Communion occupied 'a special place' among churches and ecclesial communities of the West." This "special place" has been responsible for ensuring that the ARCIC dialogue and similar national Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogues receive particular attention from ecumenists and church leaders in either church. It has also lead numerous Roman Catholics, including Pope John Paul II to refer to the Anglican Communion as "sister church," a designation that Vatican II conferred only on the Eastern Orthodox. A withdrawal from this special status would dramatically shift the dynamics of the ecumenical movement in unpredictable ways.
Kasper also referred to the famous "via media" articulated throughout Anglican history. The decision to ordain women to the episcopate would draw Anglicans a considerable distance closer to the churches of the 16th century, and thus away from the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The decison facing the Church of England is a historic one. In Kasper's view, such a decision "would mean turning away from the common position of all churches of the first millennium." Alluding to the so-called "ecumenical winter," Kasper cautioned that the decision could "lead not only to a short-lived cold, but to a serious and long-lasting chill." It should be remembered that only a few years ago a similar caution was offered by Kasper regarding the consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. The chill from that occasion has not worn off, though the work of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) has resumed and ARCIC II has published its agreed statement on Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ.
The unusual frankness of Kasper's address had the character of drawing a line in the sand. The commitment of ecumenical partners to a common life together makes it essential that each speak the truth in love. However, it is interesting that Kasper does not acknowledge that for some Anglicans the decision to ordain women is rooted in biblical understandings of ministry, the human person, and justice. Kasper refers to the Vatican's official teaching documents on women's ordination: the letter Inter Insigniores written by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1976 in response to the priestly ordination of women in Canada and the U.S.; and Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, written by Pope John Paul II in 1994 in response to the Church of England's decision to ordain women to the diaconate and priesthood. Acknowledging that many historically conditioned views of the church are no longer taught, Kasper suggests that the position on women's ordination is "not predicated on contemporary concepts alone but in essence on theological arguments." Thus he suggests that Anglicans should not presume that the Roman Catholic Church will one day revise its position. "The Catholic Church is convinced that she has no right to do so." The astute will note that Kasper does not commit himself wholeheartedly to the notion that this teaching is an infallible or irreformable teaching.
It should be noted that recent official Roman Catholic teaching on the ordination of women has been articulated primarily in response to the 1976 and 1992 developments within the Anglican Communion. While Kasper does not appear to be introducing any new teaching, the clarity of his presentation has laid bare the options before the Anglican Communion on this issue. One particularly intriguing question was addressed by Kasper however. When the Church of England decided to ordain women, the response from the Vatican was far more serious than fifteen years earlier when the Canadian and American provinces had made the same decision. Why was the Church of England's decision so significant? Kasper explains that the Roman Catholic Church recognises the unique role that the Church of England plays in the Anglican Communion:
it is the church from which Anglicanism derives its historical continuity, and with whom the divisions of the 16th century are most specifically addressed; it is the church led by the Archbishop of Canterbury who, in the words of the Windsor Report, is 'the pivotal instrument and focus of unity' within the Anglican Communion; other provinces have understood being in communion with him as a 'touchstone of what it was to be Anglican' (99); finally, it is the church which we in continental Europe directly associate with Anglicanism, in part because of your many Church of England chaplaincies spread throughout the continent. For us, the Church of England is not simply one province among others; its decisions have a particular importance for our dialogue, and give a strong indication of the direction in which the Communion as a whole is heading.
In a certain sense, Kasper's clarity can be helpful, as Archbishop Williams has said. Kasper's line in the sand does not leave a great deal of wiggle room in the event that the Church of England does decide to ordain women as bishops. However, there can be no doubt that if the English church decides to withhold episcopal ordination from women, its advocates will ensure that Kasper and the Vatican carry some of the responsibility for the decision. On the other hand, Kasper appears to be offering a great deal of enticement to Anglicans. If difficulties over the consecration of women and homosexuals can be resolved, would recognition of Anglican orders be on the table? That's surely not a prize worth schism.
The Saskatoon Peace Coalition is sponsoring a town hall meeting to discuss the Canadian participation in the ongoing war in Afghanistan. What is this conflict about: Nation building? War on terror? Control oil resources? Canada – U.S. relations? Political agenda? There will be a moderated panel discussion followed by an opportunity for questions from the audience.
Thursday, June 8, at 7:00pm in the Frances Morrison Library Theatre, Saskatoon.
There is no charge to attend but a free will loonie/toonie collection will be accepted.
Dozens of religious leaders from a broad array of faiths have signed a declaration calling violence against women "morally, spiritually and universally intolerable." "While as people of faith we hold divergent opinions on a wide range of issues, today we proclaim with one voice that violence against women exists in all our communities and is intolerable," said Rev. Marie Fortune, founder of Faith Trust Institute. The declaration was released April 4 and signed by representatives of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Jainist and Buddhist organizations. It is also available at www.faithtrustinstitutte.org.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity has given "a clear and helpful contribution" to the Church of England's debate over the consecration of women bishops, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams. The gracious response offered by Williams was to be expected between two close friends and theological colleagues. Nevertheless, Kasper's frank address to the House of Bishops was a sign of the significance that the Vatican places on the English church's decision. As an exercise in ecumenical brinkmanship it may be unparallelled in recent times.
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Growing Together in Unity and Mission: Building on 40 years of Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue
C'est avec un sentiment de regret que le Centre canadien d'oecuménisme a appris le départ de son directeur actuel, le Dr Stuart Brown et de son épouse, Margaret, à la fin de juin. Ils retourneront au Nigeria, en Afrique, où le Dr Brown s'est vu offrir une chaire au département d'études religieuses de l'université Abti à Yola. Margaret l'y accompagnera et occupera un poste au département des archives de la bibliothèque de l'université.
WCC Annual Review 2005 (Compte rendu annuel 2005 du COE)
