Indigenous wisdom and science can work together to solve crises, pope says

 — Mar. 14, 202414 mars 2024

The world’s cultures, traditions, spiritualities and languages must be acknowledged, respected and protected, especially those of Indigenous peoples, Pope Francis said.

The entire patrimony of human knowledge “should be employed as a means of overcoming conflicts in a nonviolent manner and combating poverty and the new forms of slavery,” he said in remarks read by an aide March 14 to participants attending a workshop at the Vatican.

The Pontifical Academies of Sciences and of Social Sciences jointly sponsored a workshop March 14-15 on the knowledge of Indigenous peoples and the work and research being carried out in the sciences.

The workshop aimed “to join these two forms of knowledge for the sake of a more comprehensive, rich and humane approach to a number of urgent critical issues, including climate change, the loss of biodiversity and threats to food and health security,” the pope’s text said.

The initiative helps acknowledge “the great value of the wisdom of native peoples” and promote integral and sustainable human development, he wrote.

It also represents “an opportunity to grow in reciprocal listening: listening to Indigenous peoples in order to learn from their wisdom and from their lifestyles, and at the same time listening to scientists in order to benefit from their research,” he wrote.

The workshop “also sends a message to government leaders and to international organizations, encouraging them to acknowledge and respect the rich diversity within the great human family,” the pope wrote.

“The fabric of humanity is woven with a variety of cultures, traditions, spiritualities and languages that must be protected, since their loss would represent an impoverishment of knowledge, identity and memory for all of us,” he wrote.

To address “the urgent challenges facing the earth, our common home, and the family of peoples,” he wrote, “a conversion is required, an alternative vision to the one that is presently driving our world to increased conflict.”

“Indeed, open dialogue between Indigenous knowledge and the sciences, between communities of ancestral wisdom and those of the sciences, can help to confront in a new, more integral and more effective way such crucial issues as water, climate change, hunger and biodiversity,” Francis wrote.

“God has made us stewards, not masters of the planet,” he wrote. Everyone is called to save humanity’s common home and preserve the life of future generations as well as to live out “our human call to universal fraternity, freedom, justice, dialogue, reciprocal encounter, love and peace, and to avoid fueling hatred, resentment, division, violence and war.”

Posted: Mar. 14, 2024 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=14089
Categories: CNSIn this article: Indigenous spirituality, Pope Francis, science
Transmis : 14 mars 2024 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=14089
Catégorie : CNSDans cet article : Indigenous spirituality, Pope Francis, science


IARCCUM co-chairs Bishop David Hamid, the Church of England's Suffragan bishop in Europe, and Archbishop Donald Bolen, archbishop of Regina, Saskatchewan. Bishop pairs from 27 countries were commissioned by Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls on January 25, 2024

On recognition of ministries and the IARCCUM commissioning

 — Mar. 14, 202414 mars 2024

On January 25, at the annual ecumenical service in Rome that marks the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis spontaneously invited Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to offer remarks after Francis’ own homily. Archbishop Justin’s reflection constituted a second homily, though it was called a “discourse” in the Vatican media. Such an invitation had only been offered to Orthodox bishops in the past, so this marked a significant sign of welcome between two leaders who have become close collaborators in a number of projects. On previous occasions, Archbishop Justin and his predecessors had been invited to offer remarks at a later portion of the liturgy, but never immediately after the homily.
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Coptic Pope Tawadros II, Patriarch of Alexandria

Copts suspend dialogue with Rome over same-sex blessings

 — Mar. 12, 202412 mars 2024

The Coptic Orthodox Church halts its theological dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church because of Vatican’s publication of “Fiducia supplicans

The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria has made the momentous decision to suspend its two-decades-long doctrinal dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church after the Vatican recently approved blessings for same-sex couples, something Coptic officials have called a “heresy”.

The Holy Synod of the ancient, Egypt-based Church announced on March 7 that it had decided “to suspend the theological dialogue with the Catholic Church, re-evaluate the results that the dialogue has achieved since its beginning twenty years ago, and establish new standards and mechanisms for the dialogue to proceed.” The catalyst for the decision, however, was the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s publication last December of Fiducia supplicans, the document on blessings for couples “in irregular situations” — including those of the same sex.
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Members of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission visited the offices of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity

Methodists and Anglicans walking together with the Catholic Church in 2023

 — Feb. 29, 202429 févr. 2024

Original English text. A translation was published in the Italian edition of L’Osservatore Romano, 23 January 2023.

Like many ecumenical partners, Methodists and Anglicans walked very closely with the Catholic Church throughout many significant events in 2023. This common journeying has taken various forms, including sympathy and prayerful solidarity on the occasion of the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI at the very beginning of the year, to participation in the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the later part of the year, with many other events and encounters in between.
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The Peace Tower on Canada's Parliament buildings

Announcing the Justice & Peace Library

 — Feb. 28, 202428 févr. 2024

The Canadian Council of Churches is pleased to announce the launch of a new archive website: justiceandpeace.ca!

This digital library contains over 25 years of theological resources, position statements, advocacy letters, briefing notes, and other materials. They can be used as a starting point for thought, conversation, advocacy, and ecumenical participation. These resources arose through ecumenical dialogue, communal prayer, bible study, and advocacy efforts amongst members of the CCC‘s Commission on Justice and Peace. Statements and letters from the Canadian Council of Churches, Canadian churches, and religious leaders are also included in the archives.
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A Canadian Pastoral Letter on Ukraine, Canada and the Church: As we approach the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Une lettre pastorale Canadienne sur l'Ukraine, le Canada et l'Église : À l'approche de deuxième anniversaire de l'invasion à grande échelle de l'Ukraine par la Russie

Church and Christian Leaders of Canada Call for Peace as War in Ukraine Enters its Second Year

 — Feb. 16, 202416 févr. 2024

As the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches on February 24, Christian leaders of Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical, and other faith traditions in Canada, together with the World Evangelical Alliance’s Peace & Reconciliation Network, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and the Canadian Council of Churches invite all Christians and people of goodwill to join in united prayer and action for peace.

This call to prayer and action—signed by 45 Canadian Church leaders—also acknowledges ongoing conflict elsewhere in the world:

“Without in any way minimizing or ignoring the suffering and sorrow caused by war and violence in other areas of the world, we stand together in inviting Christians and all people of goodwill to prayerfully consider how we are all called, and might contribute to, the achievement of peace in and for Ukraine.”
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A Canadian Pastoral Letter on Ukraine, Canada and the Church: As we approach the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Une lettre pastorale Canadienne sur l'Ukraine, le Canada et l'Église : À l'approche de deuxième anniversaire de l'invasion à grande échelle de l'Ukraine par la Russie

Chefs d’Église et de chrétiens du Canada font un appel à la paix alors que la guerre en Ukraine entre dans sa troisième année

 — Feb. 16, 202416 févr. 2024

À l’approche du deuxième anniversaire de l’invasion à grande échelle de la Russie en Ukraine le 24 février, les chefs chrétiens des traditions orthodoxe, catholique, évangélique et d’autres confessions au Canada, en collaboration avec le Réseau de paix et de réconciliation de l’Alliance évangélique mondiale, l’Alliance évangélique du Canada et le Conseil canadien des Églises invitent toutes les chrétiens et les personnes de bonne volonté à se joindre à une prière et à une action unies pour la paix

Cet appel à la prière et à l’action—signé par 45 chefs d’églises canadiens—reconnaît également les conflits en cours ailleurs dans le monde :

« Sans minimiser ou ignorer de quelque manière que ce soit la souffrance et le chagrin causés par la guerre et la violence dans d’autres régions du monde, nous nous tenons ensemble pour inviter les chrétiens et toutes les personnes de bonne volonté à réfléchir avec prière à la manière dont nous sommes tous appelés, et pourraient contribuer à la réalisation de la paix en et pour l’Ukraine. »
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De Margerie Lecture planning team with Rev Dr Karen Petersen Finch following the second lecture. Rev Dr Iain Luke, Saskatoon Theological Union, Dr Gertrude Rompré, St Thomas More College, Nicholas Jesson, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina, Rev Dr Karen Petersen Finch, 2024 De Margerie Lecturer, Cathryn Wood, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, and Fr Joseph Salihu, Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. Missing from the photo is Kelly Burke, Campus Minister from Campion College, Regina

2024 De Margerie Lectures on Christian Reconciliation and Unity

 — Feb. 13, 202413 févr. 2024

A series of lectures and workshops given by Rev Dr Karen Petersen Finch were held January 24-27, 2024 in Saskatoon and Regina. The first lecture, held at Campion College at the University of Regina, was titled “Re-imagining Lay People as Stewards of Doctrine” and the second lecture, titled, “Doctrine as the Fuel for Renewal”, was held January 25th in Saskatoon at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatchewan. A workshop titled, “The Eucharist: Where is Jesus?” was held at Holy Spirit Parish in Saskatoon on Friday, January 26 and at Christ the King Parish in Regina on Saturday, January 27.
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Crosses decorating the steps to the stage, at the Anaphora Institute, a Coptic Orthodox retreat and educational centre located north-west of Cairo, Egypt

Recalling Council of Nicaea can inspire today’s call for unity, says WCC’s Pillay

 — Feb. 9, 20249 févr. 2024

Commemorating the 1700th anniversary in 2025 of the Council of Nicaea is an inspiration to Christians today to work for the unity of the church, according to Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

At the Council of Nicaea, bishops representing the whole of Christendom gathered together for the first time to discuss the faith and witness of the church.

“Recalling the significance of the Council of Nicaea renews our call for full visible unity, the cornerstone of the ecumenical movement,” Pillay said in a greeting to an 8 February webinar, “From Nicaea, Walking Together to Unity: The Beginning of a New Beginning.”
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Group photo of the World Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order meeting in Tondano, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

New chapter begins for WCC Faith and Order Commission

 — Feb. 8, 20248 févr. 2024

The newly-appointed WCC Faith and Order Commission met face-to-face for the first time to plan its next eight years of work. Theologians from all continents gathered in Tondano, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, hosted by the Indonesian Communion of Churches.

The Faith and Order Commission is a unique body, bringing together theologians and church leaders from Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant traditions – women and men, lay and ordained – with several places reserved for younger theologians.

In this its first meeting, the commission considered plans for the 2025 world conference commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. The Council of Nicaea shaped the creed that is still used by most Christian churches today, and the Faith and Order conference in 2025 will ask “Where now for visible unity?” The commission heard research on Nicaea and its continuing influence, and considered how to use the conference and the anniversary to bring Faith and Order work to a wider audience.
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