Key stakeholders in a new inter-religious centre in Nigeria have met to plan for the centre and its work, set to launch in March 2016.

The meeting was held at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland, 27 to 28 September.

Institutions represented were the Jordanian Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (RABIIT), the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN) and Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI).

The project has developed as a result of a high-level international inter-religious visit to Nigeria by representatives of the WCC and RABIIT in 2012.
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In conjunction with the United Nations Sustainable Development summit, currently underway, Canadian faith leaders are calling for climate justice in Canada—for all Canadians, and for the world. Together they have endorsed the statement “On Promoting Climate Justice and Ending Poverty in Canada.”

“On the same day when Pope Francis spoke at the UN General Assembly, asking for renewed ambition from wealthy countries in efforts to reach a solid international commitment to lower greenhouse gas emissions, this statement echoes the need for Canada to act,” said Joe Gunn, Executive Director of Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ).

“In midst of a federal election campaign, climate challenges, ending poverty and responding with justice to Indigenous rights cannot be dismissed. These religious signatories are right to call us to greater respect for the common good.”

CPJ, an affiliate member of the CCC, helped to draft the declaration. In 2011, the “Canadian Interfaith Call for Leadership and Action on Climate Change” was released by the CCC.
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The 2015 World Conference of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) continued the afternoon of September 24 as delegates heard reports from the Executive Council and discussed ecumenical relations.

ILC Chairman Hans-Jörg Voigt gave his report to the conference in the afternoon, highlighting various successes of the past triennium, including joint relief and aid following Typhoon Haiyan, the ILC’s 2013 World Seminaries Conference held in Lithuania, new contacts between ILC churches and other Lutheran churches, and the 2015 Wittenberg Conference on global confessional leadership.
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In the name of the Triune God, and with the blessing and guidance of our Churches, the International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue (ICAOTD) met in Buffalo, New York, from 19 to 25 September 2015. The Commission is deeply grateful for the generous hospitality extended by the Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Buffalo (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople).

Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit formally welcomed the Commission to its meeting in his diocese. He offered praise and encouragement for the work of the dialogue. He stressed the urgent need for expressions of Christian unity in light of the deep challenges and crises before the global community, mindful of events unfolding even as the Commission undertook its deliberations.

The Commission brought to completion the first section of its work on the theological understanding of the human person, with the adoption of its agreed statement, In the Image and Likeness of God: A Hope-Filled Anthropology. The report, shortly to be published, is the culmination of six years of study on what Anglicans and Orthodox can say together about the meaning of human personhood in the divine image.
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“My fear is that he’s just nudging the public to be more hostile toward the idea of free markets,” said Stephanie Slade in a CBC Radio interview.

Slade, a self-professed libertarian and a practicing Catholic, comes off as a relatively moderate opponent of Pope Francis’s statements about unfettered capitalism. In the set-up to a debate on the subject, CBC’s The Current captured some truly vitriolic comments from people who don’t like the Pope’s message.

The Pope, who will deliver an address to the United Nations in New York today, has been labelled a “luddite leftist.” The chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation accuses him of having “Marxist leanings.”
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Rome’s new Piazza Martin Lutero is not only a sign that Lutherans are welcome in the cosmopolitan Italian city but a reminder of Luther’s call for Christians to proclaim the gospel together by serving the poor.

Rev. Jens-Martin Kruse, pastor of the German-speaking congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy (ELCI) made these remarks following the 16 September inauguration of a central square named after the Reformer Martin Luther. Civic and church dignitaries attended the ceremony to officially recognize the Piazza Martin Lutero, located near the historic Colosseum amphitheater.

“And at the same time this place is also a bit troubled. Here live many refugees, the homeless. For us, there is a reminder that we have an obligation to care for these people,” said Kruse, who serves about 500 Lutherans in Rome.

Piazza Martin Lutero is the result of five years of work by a group of Protestants, including Adventists, Baptists, Methodists, Waldensians and Lutherans, who collaborate in helping the city’s migrants, children and the unemployed.
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The church may want to look at same-sex marriages as partaking “in the same covenant” as heterosexual unions, but “on somewhat different terms,” and possibly involving alternate liturgies, recommends the report of the Commission on the Marriage Canon, released today.

Just as the New Testament describes the Gentiles in the early church as drawn into the people of Israel’s covenant with God, but not required to observe Jewish tradition, so might the Anglican Church of Canada understand same-sex couples as drawn into the same covenant as heterosexual couples, but in a new way, commission member Stephen Martin told members of the Council of General Synod (CoGS), who gathered for a special session in Toronto to receive the report.

“We’re suggesting this might be the more accurate, faithful and biblical way of thinking about what might be happening in the church today,” added commission member Canon Paul Jennings, who explained the report’s section dealing with models for same-sex marriage. “That is, it’s not a question of us redefining marriage in the abstract to be more inclusive and thereby imply, I don’t know what – that the previous understanding of marriage was wrong. But, it may be simply that God is calling same-sex couples into marriage and thereby broadening and enriching the institution without denying its previous meanings.”
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The South African Council of Churches (SACC) is all set to continue working for the unity of Christian witness and supporting communities in the country affected by poverty, unemployment, inequity and corruption.

These aspirations of the SACC were shared in a recent meeting on 16 September in Geneva, Switzerland, where Rev. Dr Frank Chikane, SACC’s senior vice president and Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, SACC’s acting general secretary, met with Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, and Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, the WCC’s associate general secretary.

The SACC leadership shared that the strategic plan for the renewal of their organization is in place, continuing a revival after the council closed down in 2011 due to financial difficulties. Since 2014, the organization has been re-established, with the re-opening of Khotso House in Johannesburg where the SACC offices are based.

The WCC general secretary expressed his appreciation that the SACC is “back on its feet”. He said that it is only through “working together” that challenges can be overcome. “Many regional and national councils of churches have gone through problems, but we are working together to strengthen the fellowship. We need a strong SACC to grow in the ecumenical movement.”
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“It is our sincere desire and prayer, shared with many Jews and Muslims, that there should be no hostilities among neighbours in Israel and Palestine, and beyond, in the whole Middle East region.” These were the words of the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, shared in his message for the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel (WWPPI), observed from 21 to 27 September.

The theme of the week this year is “God has broken down the dividing walls”.

“We pray and work for the peace desperately needed by both Palestinians and Israelis. As we pray that the wall will fall, I appeal to you to promote participation in this year’s WWPPI,” said the WCC general secretary in his invitation to churches and ecumenical partners.
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The role of Christian unity in today’s world was explored at length by the Rev. Dr Anders Wejryd, Archbishop emeritus of the Church of Sweden and president for Europe of the World Council of Churches (WCC), in his speech at the international conference in Tirana, Albania sponsored by the Community of Sant’Egidio. The conference addressed the theme “Peace is Always Possible”.

The conference, held from 6 to 8 September, was organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio together with the Catholic and Orthodox churches in Albania. The event gathered participants from diverse religious traditions from around the world.

The Community of Sant’Egidio is a worldwide movement of lay people that promotes prayer, solidarity, ecumenism, dialogue, as well the cause of peace and poverty elimination.

In his address at the conference, Wejryd stressed that, if “Christian unity is to be a positive power in a divided world, it must be a unity that is constantly examined in prayer and meditation, related to Word and Sacraments, personally but not only individually. The Spirit always needs others to reach us! The Church is not outdated!”
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As part of the observation of the Time for Creation, Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, has once again sent an encyclical to remind churches and people of goodwill about the grave risks deriving from growing abuse of energy resources, threatening to increase global warming and the sustainability of the natural environment.

“We invite everyone to soberness of life, purification of passionate thoughts and selfish motivations, so that we may dwell in harmony with our neighbours and with God’s creation,” said Bartholomew I.

These reflections were shared by the Ecumenical Patriarch on the occasion of the start of a “Time for Creation”, a global event which invokes prayers for creation, eco-justice and peace with the earth. It has been celebrated each year since 1989 from 1 September to 4 October. This year’s event has been promoted by Pope Francis’s recent proclamation of 1 September as the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.”

The Time for Creation was affirmed by the WCC Central Committee in 2008 as an invitation “to observe through prayers and action a special time for creation, its care and stewardship.”
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