Much of the work of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) today is reflected in its two commissions: the Commission on Faith and Witness, and the Commission on Justice and Peace. Where the former promotes theological reflection to improve mutual understanding between denominations, the latter focuses on efforts to foster peace and social justice in Canada and around the world.

Certain issues, such as the ordination of women or same-sex marriage, may be of both theological and social importance, and can find very different views reflected within the council.

In such cases, CCC President Alyson Barnett-Cowan said, “We try two things. One is we will have exploratory sessions where we try to get the sense of where different people are coming on different issues, and that would be one of them … But then on other matters, where we think there might be a consensus, we work hard to articulate what that consensus might be. So for example, protection of refugees, that’s kind of a no-brainer for the members of the council.”
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As one of the founding members of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC), the Anglican Church of Canada has long played a major role in the country’s leading ecumenical council.

Ecumenism “is in the Anglican DNA”, according to Bishop Michael Oulton—one of the two current appointed Anglican representatives on the CCC governing board, along with Canon Mary Conliffe.

“I think that’s the heart of who we are as a church … I’m a huge believer in the importance of partnerships and building expanded partnerships wherever possible, and the Canadian Council of Churches is, I think, a critical part of that for us,” Oulton said.

“It’s always been part of who we are as Anglicans to try to find a common table around which to sit.”
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Pope Francis will travel to Geneva on June 21st to mark the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches. The announcement was made on Friday at a press conference in the Vatican by the WCC General Secretary, Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit and by Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The WCC was founded in 1948 with a membership of 147 Christian Churches, largely in Europe and North America. Today it brings together 348 members in countries across the globe, including most of the world’s Orthodox, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches.

Since 1965 the Catholic Church has worked closely together with the WCC through a Joint Working Group, as well as through participation in specific commissions or practical initiatives.
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An address by Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, regarding relations between the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (WCC). At a press conference held Friday 2nd March in the Vatican, the WCC General Secretary, Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit and Cardinal Kurt Koch announced that Pope Francis will be travelling to Geneva on June 21st to mark the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches.

The visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva during the year of the 70th Anniversary of the foundation of the World Council of Churches (WCC), will be a sign of recognition of a unique contribution of the WCC to the modern ecumenical movement. It will be an expression of the personal commitment of the Holy Father to the goal of Christian unity as expressed in many occasions. In visiting the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Pope Francis will follow the steps of his two predecessors Paul VI, who visited the WCC in 1969 (10 June), and John Paul II who did the same in 1984 (l2 June). The visit will be an occasion to give thanks to God for a longstanding and rich collaboration which the Catholic Church maintains with the WCC for more than half a century. Indeed, our relations began during the preparation of the Second Vatican Council. Vatican II committed the Catholic Church to the modern ecumenical movement and opened a new page in the history of our relations with the World Council of Churches generating a spirit of rapprochement and mutual understanding. Although the Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC, various dicasteries of the Roman Curia and different Catholic organizations or religious communities collaborate closely with its different programmatic areas. There is a sustained collaboration in the field of justice and peace, human rights, works of charity and humanitarian aid, especially regarding migrants and refugees, protection of creation, the youth, interreligious dialogue, mission and evangelism. The most developed is the collaboration between the WCC and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), which also takes place through various channels.
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