“Christian unity is an intrinsic dimension of God’s grace to us. It belongs to our faith, as we also confess it together in the creeds of the early church. To belong to Christ means to belong to the body of Christ, the church,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). He was referring to the covenanting process of five church denominations in Wales.
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The Special Envoy of the Evangelical Church in Germany for the 2017 Reformation Jubilee, Margot Kässmann, renewed her call for a joint Catholic-Protestant Reformation commemoration. At a meeting in Wittenberg in October, Kässmann said she thinks “a strictly sectarian Reformation Jubilee is not appropriate.” Martin Luther wanted to reform his church, not divide it. “This could be a yardstick for us, too,” she added. She also turned down a proposal by the Vatican’s “ecumenical minister” Kurt Cardinal Koch for a Protestant-Catholic acknowledgment of guilt on this occasion. “One should not speak of a ‘jubilee’, but rather of a ‘Reformation commemoration,’ for we cannot celebrate a sin,” said the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in September in Vienna. “Protestants cannot go along with this,” Kässmann said.
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During the course of this morning’s ceremony in St. Peter’s Square for the opening of the Year of Faith, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I pronounced an address, extracts of which are given below.

“Fifty years ago in this very square, a powerful and pivotal celebration captured the heart and mind of the Roman Catholic Church, transporting it across the centuries into the contemporary world. This transforming milestone, the opening of Vatican Council II, was inspired by the fundamental reality that the Son and incarnate Logos of God is ‘where two or three are gathered in his name’ and that the Spirit, Who proceeds from the Father, ‘will guide us into the whole truth’.
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En ces lieux, il y a cinquante ans, une cérémonie solennelle a conquis le cœur et l’esprit de l’Eglise catholique, la faisant entrer dans le monde contemporain. L’ouverture d’un concile fut inspiré par la réalité fondamentale que le Fils et Verbe de Dieu incarné se trouve là où deux ou trois sont réunis en son nom et que l’Esprit, qui procède du Père, nous guidera vers la vérité complète… Au cours des cinquante dernières années, les fruits de cette assemblée ont été variés, dont témoigne une série de constitutions importantes, de déclarations et de décrets. Nous avons vu le renouvellement de l’esprit et un retour aux sources dans la recherche liturgique, biblique et patristique.
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The Second Vatican Council was the biggest stage in the history of the Church. There were more bishops present than at any the 20 previous councils stretching from the First Council of Nicaea in 325 to the First Vatican Council of 1870. And the bishops present came from more countries, more cultures, more languages than the Church had ever experienced.

While all the bishops were equal, some were a little more equal. Then there were the theological experts that pre-eminent cardinals and bishops brought with them (peritii in Latin, the official language of the council). They played a significant role.
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Rome on Oct. 11, 1962, but the drama started in Canada Aug. 17 that year.

For a year and a half Cardinal Paul-Emile Leger, archbishop of Montreal, had been one of a handful of cardinals on the central preparatory commission of the council. It had met seven times between June 1961 and the feast of Pentecost, 1962. And then Leger received his book of draft documents assembled by curial officials in Rome.

Leger was not pleased with what he saw. On Aug. 17 he launched a “supplique” — a letter of petition — addressed directly to Pope John XXIII. Leger told the Pope in no uncertain terms the documents prepared in Rome were unworkable, impractical and simply wrong. They were wrong in their tone, their language and their limited vision. The council must present the traditional faith of the Church pastorally. For Leger, it was imperative the council find new modes of expression. Leger’s “supplique” eventu­ally gathered the signatures of a number of heavyweights in the College of Cardinals.
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Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has announced the cancellation of the contracts of all part-time non-Christian chaplains ministering in federal prisons across Canada. The cuts take effect as of the end of March 2013. After that date, penitentiary inmates of minority faiths, from Buddhists to Wiccans, will have to rely on full-time Christian chaplains for interfaith services, religious counsel and spiritual guidance.
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Ecumenical News International announced on October 1 that its ENInews service is suspending operations, effective immediately, as it seeks emergency funding in order to operate for the remainder of 2012.

“We regret taking this step, but despite a massive reorganization, ENInews is feeling the effect of the deep cuts from its historic supporters as well as from non-payment by quite a number of subscribers,” said the Rev. David Harris, president of ENI and publisher of the Presbyterian Record, based in Toronto.

“Subscribers and readers have said how much they value authoritative, unbiased news of ecumenical and inter-faith developments around the world,” said Harris. “We hope the suspension will be temporary and ENInews will secure a firm funding base.
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