[Peter Kenny and Judith Sudilovsky • Rome/Geneva/Jerusalem • ENI] Pope Benedict XVI and the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, have condemned violence in Gaza, calling for its immediate cessation following an intense bombing campaign by Israel there.

Speaking during his weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican on 28 December, the Pope said, "I implore an end to the violence which must be denounced in all its forms and a restoration of the truce on the Gaza Strip."

The pontiff said, "I call on the international community to do all it can to help the Israelis and Palestinians on this dead-end road ... and not to give in to the perverse logic of confrontation and violence but to favour the path of dialogue and negotiations."

In Geneva on 29 December the Rev. Kobia said in a statement that he condemned "the violence against Gaza" and he called on "governments in the region and abroad" to seek to protect "those who are at risk ... on both sides of the border".

"The deaths and suffering of the last three days are dreadful and shameful and will achieve nothing but more deaths and suffering," Kobia said following the "bombardment of one of the most densely populated places on earth". He said, "This must stop immediately."

Israel says the Hamas movement, which is in control of Gaza, is firing rockets across the border from there. Hamas said on 29 December that at least 312 Palestinians had died since attacks began the previous day, while a second Israeli had been killed by a rocket. The U.N. relief agency in Gaza said on the same day that 57 civilians had been killed by Israeli fire so far, including five girls who died in the town of Jabaliya in Gaza.

Kobia's statement reiterated previous WCC calls on "the government of Israel and Hamas to respect international humanitarian and human rights law" and warned that in the present crisis the use of Israeli military ground forces "would deepen the current disaster".

His statement criticised "policies that rely on cutting off shipments of food, medicine and fuel for 1.5 million Gazans, and on sending rockets across borders at random or 'surgically'". He added, "a terrible period of deadlock and deprivation has now erupted into greater violence". The WCC leader's statement referred to "the tired logic of public officials blaming others while denying their own government's responsibilities has led to the loss of many lives".

In Jerusalem the Rabbis for Human Rights group issued a statement on 29 December saying, "The firing on Israeli communities adjacent to Gaza gives the State of Israel the right to defend her citizens, but both the Jewish tradition and international law do not allow the harming of innocent civilians."

The rabbis said "Many Israelis will quote from the Talmudic Tractate Sanhedrin, 'When somebody is coming to kill you, get up earlier and kill him first'. However, few are aware of how the Talmud continues, teaching us only to use the minimum necessary force and drawing a sharp contrast between defending ourselves against those attacking us, and harming an innocent third-party. These are also principles in International Humanitarian Law."

Earlier, in their yearly Christmas message the heads of churches in Jerusalem had said "We need the light of Christ to shine on this Land to enable us to work more realistically for a two-State solution which would end the burden of restrictions arising out of occupation." They said in their message, "We need also to see the situation in which many are suffering in Gaza in the light of Christ and make a determined effort to bring them urgent relief."

The church leaders said they prayed that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and other world leaders would see the urgent need for peace in the Middle East and the Holy Land.

In Geneva, ACT International, the global humanitarian alliance of churches and related agencies, warned of a dramatic escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, if Israel, Hamas and other militant groups do not cease the current hostilities and avert a new military conflict.

"The humanitarian consequences for innocent civilians will be even more grave than they already are if all parties do not immediately end all attacks and begin a new ceasefire," said John Nduna, director of ACT International.

The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations (IASCER) held its last meeting in Kyoto, Japan, under the chairmanship of the Most Revd Drexel Gomez, Primate of the Church in the Province of the West Indies. The Commission is charged with reviewing current international ecumenical dialogues involving Anglicans, and provincial and regional initiatives towards unity with other Christians. IASCER consists of representatives from each international dialogue involving Anglicans, including the multilateral dialogue of Faith and Order, and of certain other commissions and networks, and consultants who bring particular regional or theological expertise.

Reports were received of all current bilateral and multilateral theological dialogues of the Anglican Communion, as well as of developments from particular regions of the globe. In the course of reflections on the current life of the Anglican Communion, the Commission also reflected further on aspects of the interface between ecumenical and Anglican Communion matters. This work is reflected in the documentation and resolutions produced at this meeting. These pieces of work will be published when available through the Anglican Communion website. IASCER also gave some considerable attention to reviewing the breadth of their work in the period since their formation and first meeting in 2000. It is the intention to produce a comprehensive report and review of their work (The Vision Before Us) which can be presented to the fourteenth meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, which will meet in Jamaica in May 2009.

The Commission is extremely grateful for the warm welcome given to them by Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK), the Anglican Church in Japan, especially the logistical support from the Diocese of Kyoto in whose offices the meeting was held. On the first evening of the meeting, Archbishop Nathaniel of Japan welcomed IASCER to a dinner with the bishops of NSKK; members of the Church guided IASCER members on visits to local sites in Kyoto, and shared in worship with them at Nara Christ Church on Sunday, 7 December. IASCER also welcomed the opportunity to meet and worship with the students of Bishop Williams’ Theological School. IASCER is grateful to the Revd Professor Renta Nishihara, one of its members, for his co-ordination and planning for this meeting.

Present at the meeting in Kyoto were: the Revd Dr Paul Avis, the Revd Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, the Revd Canon Gregory K Cameron (Secretary), the Revd Dr William Crockett, the Rt Revd Christopher Epting, the Revd Dr John Gibaut, the Most Revd Dr John Gladstone, the Most Revd Drexel W Gomez (Chair), the Revd Canon Jonathan Goodall, the Rt Revd John Hind, the Revd Professor Renta Nishihara, the Revd Canon Luke Pato, the Rt Revd Dr Geoffrey Rowell (Vice-Chair), the Revd Sarah Rowland Jones, the Rt Revd Dr James Tengatenga and the Revd Professor J Robert Wright. The Venerable Jane Namugenyi was unable to be with us at this meeting. The Revd Terrie Robinson and Mrs Gill Harris-Hogarth of the Anglican Communion Office provided administrative and logistical assistance for the meeting.

In the course of the meeting, news was received of the death of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Alexy II. The Commission passed a resolution of condolence to the faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as marking the deaths of Bishop David Beetge, Anglican Co-Chair of IARCCUM, and the Revd Professor Henry Chadwick, former member of ARCIC. May God’s servants rest in peace, and rise in Glory.

This meeting concluded the work of IASCER, and letters of greeting and thanks were received from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. The Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion has already approved the mandate of a successor body, the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission for Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO), which is scheduled to hold its first meeting in late 2009.

For further information contact: The Revd Canon Gregory K Cameron, Anglican Communion Office, London

[Vatican • VIS] Today was made public the final communiqué on the 11th Colloquium organized by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the World Islamic Call Society (WICS), which took place in Rome from 15 to 17 December.

The Catholic and Muslim participants, who briefly met with the Pope after today's general audience, agreed on the following:

1) The first and most important responsibility of religious leaders is one of a religious nature, according to their respective religious traditions, to faithfully fulfill them through teaching, good deeds and example, thus serve their communities for the glory of God.

2) Considering the role religions can and should have in society, religious leaders also have a cultural and social role to play in promoting fundamental ethical values, such as justice, solidarity, peace, social harmony and the common good of society as a whole, especially the needy, the weak, migrants and the oppressed.

3) Religious leaders have a special responsibility towards youth, who require particular attention so that they do not fall victim to religious fanaticism and radicalism, receiving rather, a sound education thereby helping them to become bridge builders and peace makers.

4) Taking into consideration that crises of diverse nature, including in interreligious relations, are possible, on a national or international level, religious leaders should learn to prevent, cope with and remedy these particular situations, avoiding their degeneration into confessional violence. This requires a mutual respect and reciprocal knowledge, both cherishing personal relations and building confidence and mutual trust, so as to be able to confront together crises when they occur.

The World Council of Churches (WCC, Geneva, Switzerland) and Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (Tehran, Iran) held their fifth symposium in Tehran on13-14 December 2008.

Representatives of Islam and Christianity found new points of commonality during a two-day high level symposium of scholars and spiritual leaders in Tehran, and discussed models of co-existence between Christians and Muslims in different contexts. They explored further the conditions and principles that foster peaceful coexistence between communities of faith.

The symposium, held at the invitation of the Organization of Islamic Culture and Relations in Iran, was a continuation of a dialogue between Iranian Muslim and Christian scholars related to the World Council of Churches (WCC) which began in 1995. Participants from the WCC included six Christian scholars from Europe, North America and the Middle East, together with representatives of the WCC member churches in Tehran. From Iran, participants included some fifteen scholars and religious leaders from Tehran and Qom.

During the two-day dialogue the symposium discussed issues related to the concept of salvation in relation to other religions, the religious understanding of human dignity, conversion, the status of religious minorities in different contexts, the common values and shared principles between religious communities, the role of education in promoting peaceful co-existence, the concept of cultural and religious identity, and the role of religion in the public space.

The dialogue reached agreement on the following points:

1. Co-existence between Christians and Muslims in Iran has its roots in the history and culture of Iranian society. In this context, both Islam and Christianity have the sources to provide the common ground for this coexistence.
2. Peace requires mutual understanding among the followers of different faiths. This entails learning about each other’s faith, and dialogue can pave the way to achieving this objective.
3. Constructive dialogue between Christians and Muslims can build bridges of mutual respect based on clear understandings of one’s own religion and the religion of the other.
4. Muslims and Christians share the Abrahamic tradition of faith, and therefore they share responsibility for promoting peaceful coexistence in their respective communities.
5. Peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims should be based on their equal participation and shared responsibility towards society and each other. This includes recognizing and respecting one another’s religious and civil rights, and taking a common stand whenever the rights of religious communities are violated and whenever irresponsible media try to present a distorted image of any particular religion, offending its symbols and followers.
6. Preserving one’s own religious and cultural identity should not be in contradiction to respecting the religious and cultural identity of the other. In each religion and culture we can discover the common fundamental principles for peace and respect. Dialogue between Christians and Muslims must promote these principles and obligations towards each other in order to strengthen the peaceful coexistence.
7. Through dialogue and cooperation Christians and Muslims can together discover their common principles and values, and renew their joint commitment to them.
8. The symposium agreed that the experience of dialogue should not be confined to the level of scholars and spiritual leaders, but should be brought into everyday life of believing communities, wherever they may be.

At the end of this symposium the organizers felt that it is important to deepen the dialogue in the time to come by academic research, exchange of concerns, and common projects. At the same time, all participants were encouraged to engage with their respective communities to correct prejudices and enhance mutual understanding.

Source: World Council of Churches

A new document entitled Dignitatis Personae was released by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Friday morning. The document on "certain questions of bioethics" is intended to update the current teaching on moral issues arising from in-vitro fertilization, stem cell technology, cloning, and other embryonic research. The last comprehensive CDF Instruction on these issues was published February 22, 1987 with the title Donum Vitae.

• The document is available on the Vatican website.
• A summary of the document was released to reporters at the morning news conference.
• An excellent explanation of the document and its history is available from John L. Allen Jr. at the National Catholic Reporter.

[Anglican Journal] Michael Hawkins was elected as the next bishop of the diocese of Saskatchewan on Dec. 6 at a synod held at St. Alban’s Cathedral in Prince Albert. Mr. Hawkins, who has served as the rector St. Alban’s Cathedral and as dean of Saskatchewan since 2001, was voted in by a decisive margin in both clergy and lay houses on the first ballot.

The bishop-elect was pleased but said he was also apprehensive about the challenges of his new job. Mr. Hawkins mentioned the need to develop a missionary or strategic plan. “A big part of that plan for the future will be moving towards a more self-determining aboriginal church in the diocese,” he said. The diocese is also still struggling with the fallout from residential schools. Healing and reconciliation “will take time and work and prayer,” he said.

Moving toward financial self-sufficiency will also be a big challenge, but Mr. Hawkins said: “ I look forward to the support of the people and the clergy in the diocese as well as diocesan bishops in our province and nationally. So I think with their prayers and support and advice, it is all doable.”

After undergraduate studies at Dalhousie University and the University of King’s College in Halifax, Mr. Hawkins completed his Master of Divinity degree at Trinity College in Toronto and was ordained as a deacon in 1988 and as a priest in 1989. He was rector of two parishes in the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island ¬-- Pugwash and River John from 1988 to 1993, and Petite Rivière and New Dublin from 1993 to 2001. He now lives in Prince Albert with his wife, son and daughter.

The other candidates for the position were Geoffrey Brett Salkeld Cane, the rector of St. Aidan’s Church in Winnipeg, and John Westin, rector of St. Thomas’ Church in St. John’s. Mr. Hawkins replaces Bishop Anthony Burton, who stepped down in September. Mr. Hawkins will be consecrated as lord bishop on March 6.

[Moscow • ENI] Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church has died at his residence in Peredelkino, 40 kilometres from central Moscow, the church's Moscow Patriarchate has announced.

No cause was given for the death on 5 December of the 79-year-old patriarch.

The previous evening Alexei held a church service in one of Moscow's central cathedrals to mark a major religious holiday, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported. It said the church's ruling body, the Holy Synod, was to gather for an urgent meeting in Moscow on 6 December following the death of its leader.

Alexei was elected Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in June 1990 and he presided over the church during the post-communist and post-Soviet era. This not only saw greater freedom for the Russian Orthodox Church, and the restoration of battered church buildings, but an increase in the church's status as an institution at the very heart of the nation's cultural and political life.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who leads the worldwide Anglican Communion, said in a tribute to Alexei, "He was a leader of stature, with abundant experience, determination and courage, who guided his church with a steady hand through a profoundly challenging period of change in Russia's history."

From the 1960s, Alexei was seen as being one of the most vigorous supporters of the movement for church unity. He played a major role in theological dialogue with Protestant churches in Germany and Finland, and held a seat on the World Council of Churches' main governing body, its central committee. But his most important ecumenical contribution was as a senior officer in the Conference of European Churches, beginning in 1964 as a member of its presidium and serving as its president from 1987 until 1992.

In 1989 he co-chaired the First European Ecumenical Assembly in Basel, Switzerland, which was the biggest official gathering of European Anglican, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches since the 16th-century Protestant Reformation.

Alexei Mikhailovich Ridiger was born on 23 February 1929 in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.

He was ordained a priest in 1950, and in 1961 was consecrated bishop of Tallinn and Estonia. Within a few years he became archbishop and then metropolitan, serving as deputy chairperson of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department of External Church Relations, and as head of the educational committee which supervised the church's seminaries. From 1964 to 1986 he held the key post of chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate under two patriarchs, Alexei I and Pimen.

Even when he was appointed in 1986 to the Russian Orthodox Church's third most important see - Leningrad (now St Petersburg) - Alexei continued to administer the Tallinn diocese, which he relinquished only after his election as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

In the mid-1990s, his loyalty to Estonia suffered a severe blow when many Orthodox parishes in the newly-independent Baltic republic switched their allegiance from Moscow to the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The conflict prompted a temporary break in communion between Alexei and the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomeos I.

It was this dispute that led to the suspension in October 2008 by the Russian Orthodox Church of its membership of CEC in a dispute about the non-admittance to the grouping of the Orthodox church in Estonia linked to the Moscow Patriarchate.

[Luigi Sandri • ENI] Le responsable orthodoxe arménien basé au Liban Aram Ier a, lors d'une rencontre avec le pape Benoît XVI, proposé que les Eglises du monde entier fixent une date commune pour Pâques, fête lors de laquelle les chrétiens célèbrent la résurrection de Jésus.

"Il n'y a pas de problème doctrinal particulier empêchant d'y parvenir, seulement des problèmes de calendrier", a déclaré aux journalistes Aram Ier - qui est à la tête du Catholicossat de Cilicie de l'Eglise apostolique arménienne - à l'issue de sa visite à Rome, du 23 au 27 novembre.

La plupart des années, les chrétiens célèbrent Pâques à deux dates différentes. L'une d'elles est utilisée par la plupart des protestants et les catholiques romains et l'autre par la plupart des Eglises orthodoxes.

Le catholicos Aram Ier estime qu'une initiative oecuménique pour célébrer Pâques le même jour contribuerait à offrir une expression visible de l'unité chrétienne.

Les différences de dates pour la célébration de Pâques remonte aux premières communautés chrétiennes, bien que ces différences aient été, pour la plupart, résolues en 325 de notre ère par le Concile de Nicée. Les problèmes majeurs sont apparus au XVIe siècle, lorsque le pape Grégoire XIII a remplacé le calendrier julien, établi en 46 avant Jésus-Christ, par le calendrier grégorien.

Il a fallu un peu de temps pour que le nouveau calendrier soit adopté par tous les pays. Cependant, la plupart des Eglises orthodoxes célèbrent encore Pâques à la date calculée selon le calendrier julien.

L'élan en faveur d'une date commune pour Pâques vient en grande partie du Moyen-Orient, où des chrétiens de différentes traditions vivent à proximité les uns des autres, bien qu'il s'agisse de minorités chrétiennes très petites. Dans certaines régions du Moyen-Orient, des Eglises locales se sont entendues pour célébrer Pâques le même jour.

S'exprimant le 24 novembre lors d'une cérémonie oecuménique avec Aram Ier, le pape Benoît XVI a souligné que, dans de nombreuses régions du monde, catholiques et arméniens vivent côte à côte. "Une meilleure compréhension de la tradition apostolique que nous partageons contribuera à rendre encore plus efficace le témoignage commun des valeurs spirituelles et morales sans lesquelles un ordre social vraiment juste et humain ne peut exister", a déclaré le souverain pontife.

Malgré les différentes méthodes utilisées, Pâques tombe certaines années à la même date, comme en 2001 et en 2004, puis en 2010.

En 1998, à Harare, Aram Ier avait appelé les délégués présents à l'Assemblée du Conseil oecuménique des Eglises (COE) à faire de 2001 "le commencement d'une célébration commune de Pâques". Le catholicos était alors président du Comité central du COE, qui regroupe aujourd'hui 349 Eglises, essentiellement anglicanes, protestantes et orthodoxes.

[Luigi Sandri • ENI] Lebanon-based Armenian Orthodox leader Aram I has at a Vatican meeting with Pope Benedict XVI proposed that the world's churches set a common date for Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

"There are no special doctrinal problems to achieve this goal, but only problems of the calendar," Aram, who heads the Catholicosate of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, told journalists in Rome at the end of his 23-27 November visit to Rome.

In most years, Christians celebrate Easter on two different dates. One is marked by most Protestants and Roman Catholics, and the other by most Orthodox churches.

Catholicos Aram said he believed an ecumenical initiative to celebrate Easter on the same day would help give visible expression to Christian unity.

Differences in the dates for celebrating Easter go back to the earliest Christian communities, although these were mostly resolved in AD 325 by the Council of Nicea. The major problems arose in the 16th century when Pope Gregory XIII replaced the Julian calendar that had been established in 46 BC with the Gregorian calendar.

It took some time for the new calendar to be adopted by all countries. However, most Orthodox churches still celebrate Easter on the date calculated by the Julian calendar.

Much of the impetus for fixing a common date for Easter has come from the Middle East where Christians from different traditions live in close proximity, though very much as small Christian minorities. In some parts of the Middle East local churches have between them reached agreement on common dates for Easter.

Speaking on 24 November at an ecumenical ceremony with Aram, Pope Benedict noted that in many parts of the world, Catholics and Armenians live side by side. "Increased understanding and appreciation of the apostolic tradition which we share will contribute to an ever more effective common witness to the spiritual and moral values without which a truly just and humane social order cannot exist," said Benedict.

Despite the different methods used, in some years Easter does fall on the same date, as in 2001 and 2004, and again in 2010.

In 1998, Aram had urged delegates at an assembly in Harare of the World Council of Churches to make 2001 "the beginning of a common celebration of Easter". The Lebanon-based church leader was then moderator of the WCC, which now groups 349 churches, predominantly Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox.