Archbishop Justin gave Pope Francis the following gifts during their meeting in Rome on 16 June.

Lambeth Palace Fig Tree Cutting

The Ficus carica ‘White Marseilles’ fig tree was brought to Lambeth Palace by the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Reginald Pole in 1556. It probably came from southern Italy where Pole spent a lot of time. The fruits are white fleshed and very rich and sweet, they are ripe when the skins turn a chartreuse colour and start to split.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, made a fraternal visit to Pope Francis in Rome on June 16, 2014. The following addresses contain the full text of their published remarks. Addition news stories and photos are available on this website.
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Pope Francis met on Monday with the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, saying he hoped their meeting would serve to “strengthen further our bonds of friendship and our commitment to the great cause of reconciliation and communion between Christian believers.”

The audience came on the second day of the Anglican leader’s visit to Rome which also included a meeting with a meeting with the St Egidio community, Vespers at St Gregorio on the Caelian Hill, a visit to Rome’s Joel Nafuma Refugee Centre and an encounter with the ecumenical Global Freedom Network for the eradication of human trafficking.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby arrives in Rome on Saturday for a two day visit that will culminate on Monday in a meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. On Sunday the Anglican leader will preach at Vespers at the church of St Gregory on the Caelian Hill, visit the two Anglican churches here in Rome and take part in a prayer service with the St Egidio community at St Bartholomew’s on the Tiber Island. During his packed programme, the Archbishop will also launch a new website for the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission (IARCCUM), showcasing ways in which members of the two communions are increasingly worshipping, working and witnessing side by side.
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An international conference of ecumenists concluded at Fairfield University in the U.S. on Thursday with the signing of a covenant committing participants to the continued search for unity and reconciliation between all the Christian churches. Philippa Hitchen was at the conference and sent this report.
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The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, providing a structure for groups of Anglicans entering full communion with the Catholic Church, says in Article III:

Without excluding liturgical celebrations according to the Roman Rite, the Ordinariate has the faculty to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and the other Sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours and other liturgical celebrations according to the liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition, which have been approved by the Holy See, so as to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the faith of the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared.
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A husband and wife each active in their own Christian community can be models of an important step in the movement toward Christian unity: not just recognizing their diversity, but loving it despite the pain it sometimes can bring, said couples at a conference on ecumenism.

“The churches need to work at their unity the way married couples have to work at theirs,” said Ray Temmerman, an active and involved Canadian Catholic married to an active and involved Anglican, Fenella.

“It is important that our churches begin to recognize that it is not only what they have to offer each other that is important; their capacity to receive and love the other … will also be the key element in calling both churches to become what God calls them to become,” Temmerman told the International Receptive Ecumenism conference June 10 at Fairfield University.
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During the conference’s opening liturgy on Monday, the former presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the US, Frank Griswold, spoke about the challenging task facing each one of our churches to open our minds and examine our hearts, as we try to fathom God’s will and rediscover the unity of the broken Body of Christ. Our job, he said, is not to create something new, but to clear away the obstacles that block our vision of unity, rather like clearing away dead leaves and debris that can block up a freely flowing stream.
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An international conference on Receptive Ecumenism is taking place this week at the Jesuit-run Fairfield University in Connecticut in the United States. Running from June 9th to 12th the meeting brings together experts in ecumenical theories and practise from across the different Christian denominations, including past and present officials from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Philippa Hitchen is following the conference and before her departure she spoke with one of the participants, Archbishop David Moxon who is the director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s representative to the Holy See. He explains what the term Receptive Ecumenism really means and how he was able to put it into practise with his Catholic counterpart in his native New Zealand…
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The Anglican-run University College of Emmanuel and St. Chad has awarded an honorary fellowship to the seventh bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, Donald Bolen. Bolen, 53, a well-respected ecumenist in Canada and internationally, received the honour May 9 in recognition of his work in building Anglican-Roman Catholic relations, according to a press statement. Anglican Diocese of Saskatoon Bishop David Irving, who is also the university’s chancellor, presented the award during the 13th Joint Convocation of the Saskatoon Theological Union, where Bolen was the convocation speaker. In a telephone interview, Bolen said it was “a great privilege and a great delight,” to have been bestowed the award. “It’s been a great joy to work with Anglicans to foster reconciliation,” said Bolen. There is a “deep bond of friendship and deep relations between Anglicans and Roman Catholics. We hold so much in common that it’s a lovely field of ecumenism to work in.”
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On his return from Jerusalem, where he met with Pope Francis at the Holy Sepulchre, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, has revealed an important appointment for unity between Catholics and Orthodox: a gathering at Nicaea in 2025, where the first real ecumenical council of the undivided Church was celebrated.

Speaking exclusively with AsiaNews, Bartholomew says that together with Pope Francis “we agreed to leave as a legacy to ourselves and our successors a gathering in Nicaea in 2025, to celebrate together, after 17 centuries, the first truly ecumenical synod, where the Creed was first promulgated”. The Council of Nicaea (now Iznik, 130 km south-east of Istanbul), brought together more than 300 bishops from East and West in 325 and is considered the first true ecumenical council. It was there that the formula of the Creed was decided, similar to the one recited during the liturgy today, saying that Jesus “is consubstantial to the Father,” to counter the Arian ideology.
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Like our venerable predecessors Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras who met here in Jerusalem fifty years ago, we too, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, were determined to meet in the Holy Land “where our common Redeemer, Christ our Lord, lived, taught, died, rose again, and ascended into Heaven, whence he sent the Holy Spirit on the infant Church” (Common communiqué of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, published after their meeting of 6 January 1964). Our meeting, another encounter of the Bishops of the Churches of Rome and Constantinople founded respectively by the two Brothers the Apostles Peter and Andrew, is a source of profound spiritual joy for us. It presents a providential occasion to reflect on the depth and the authenticity of our existing bonds, themselves the fruit of a grace-filled journey on which the Lord has guided us since that blessed day of fifty years ago.
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Catholic and Anglican ecumenical experts have concluded a 10 day meeting in Durban, South Africa, making “a great deal of progress” towards an agreed statement on authority in the Church and the ethical decision-making process. The 18 members of the group, known as ARCIC III, also agreed to hold next year’s meeting at a Catholic seminary close to Rome.

For the fourth session of their talks, which concluded on May 20th, the group focused on the Church as Communion at local, regional and universal levels, reflecting on the impact of culture and the role of lay people in decision making. The group, hosted by the Anglican bishop of Natal, also visited local ecumenical initiatives, including an AIDS centre and a project working for justice and development amongst the poorest and most vulnerable.
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The Reverend Christopher Ferguson has been elected as the next General Secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC).

Ferguson was elected by the WCRC Executive Committee after an extensive search process. The WCRC, an ecumenical organization based in Hannover, Germany, represents Reformed, Congregational, Presbyterian, Waldensian, United and Uniting churches, most of them in the Global South, while working with a particular focus on issues of environmental, social and economic justice. The Executive Committee, the governing board of the WCRC, is holding its annual meeting in Hannover, Germany, 11-18 May. It is composed of 30 members from around the world.

“The WCRC is at the edge of a new moment of renewal and transformation. It is exciting and uplifting to be called to be part of this renewed commitment to communion and justice,” said Ferguson.

“I’m convinced Chris Ferguson will be an outstanding general secretary,” said Clifton Kirkpatrick, convener of the search committee. “I look forward to great things for the WCRC under his leadership.”
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Addressing the urgency of witnessing to the gospel in current ecumenical and multi-religious situations, the World Council of Churches (WCC) will develop materials to assist churches engaged in both ecumenical dialogue and inter-religious dialogue.

Ecumenical dialogue is about conversations between different Christian churches while inter-religious dialogue is concerned with the conversations between different world religions.

The agreement to produce these materials were an outcome of vigorous conversations in a recent meeting, organized by the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order and the WCC’s programme for inter-religious dialogue and cooperation, from 12 to14 May at the Ecumenical Institute, Bossey, Switzerland.

Questions related to the relationship between ecumenical and inter-religious dialogues, their commonalities and distinctive features, were in focus at the meeting.
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The historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem in January 1964 was a joyful occasion that swept aside centuries of division and has born good fruit, said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and chairman of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, in a joint statement, May 15.

The statement anticipated the May 25 meeting of Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Jerusalem.

Archbishop Kurtz and Archbishop Demetrios said the growing closeness between Catholic and Orthodox Christians over the last 50 years has allowed them “to speak with one voice” on issues facing society.

“We commit ourselves to increased cooperation in these areas, including social, economic, and ethical dilemmas, and we call our people to pray for the success of the upcoming meeting between Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Jerusalem for the glory of God and the promotion of Christianity in our wounded world,” the statement said.
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I am writing today as the spiritual leader of Canada’s largest Protestant denomination, The United Church of Canada. I am also writing as an openly gay man, married to another United Church minister. This introduction may come as a surprise, seeing that so often it is religious leaders who condemn homosexuality, quoting scripture to justify their prejudice.

And so, as we approach this year’s International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, I want to deliver a different sort of message from a religious leader to all members of the LGBTQ community, whether they are people of faith or not.

It is a message that states unequivocally that not all Christians think the same way; that the hatred, condemnation, and judgment inflicted upon LGBTQ people by some within the Christian church is wrong and does not reflect the sum total of all Christian understanding of gender identity and sexual orientation.

For too long LGBTQ persons have been ostracized because of who they are, and the cost has been tremendous suffering, oppression, and diminishment of their humanity. For this I grieve.

I believe that we are all made in the image of God, wholly good and wholly loved by the Creator. This is why I feel such sadness when I see religious leaders and organizations failing to recognize that reality in every member of the LGBTQ community.
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Leaders from all sides of the referendum campaign have been invited to a Church of Scotland reconciliation service three days after the vote. The service, at Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral on 21 September, will focus on healing divisions and building the future together, the church said. Moderator Designate Rev John Chalmers said there was a danger the referendum would set people against each other. The Church said it hoped similar services would be held across Scotland. It said its service would highlight the need to put differences aside and begin working with each other, whatever the outcome of the vote on 18 September.
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The issues dividing Christian communities have changed over the past 50 years, but a Philadelphia archdiocesan priest working in ecumenical dialogue at the Vatican is confident that Christian unity is possible.

“We are people of hope. We trust we have the same Scriptures, the same belief in Christ,” said Msgr. Gregory J. Fairbanks, an official at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

In the early 1990s, when he was a newly ordained priest, one of his pastoral responsibilities was dialogue with other Christian churches and with non-Christian communities in the northern section of Philadelphia.

After joining a group of local clergy and pastors who met monthly to share neighbourhood concerns and find ways to better work together, he says he “realized that if the ministers cannot work together, then our people are not going to be able to.”

Two decades later, Msgr. Fairbanks is working at the pontifical council to improve dialogue on an international level.
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My grandmother and my great-grandmother, both Quebecers, both died on Good Friday. They were Protestant anglophones in a majority Catholic francophone world. In my grandmother’s day, Catholics would cross the street to avoid passing in front of a Protestant church for fear of damnation. As for my great-grandmother, who lived in La Baie on the Saguenay, her Catholic maid was famously heard to say what a kind person my great-grandmother was, and what a pity she was going to hell.

I hope all of them, including the maid, can see what their descendants were doing this Good Friday in Quebec. Four different Christian denominations in Quebec City got together to walk with a huge cross through the streets. In total silence we walked from church to church, United Church, Anglican, Presbyterian, and Catholic, stopping in each one to pray and sing and read some more of the Passion story.

It was a warm evening, and people stopped on the street to stare. Teenagers giggled together with embarrassment, militant atheists muttered with contempt, old women smiled happily. Some quietly joined us, mostly immigrants from countries where people still go to church. Would-be anthropologists took pictures of us, with our Catholic cardinal in red and our white-robed Anglican bishop, to put on their Facebook pages, the way they might post pictures of Amazonian tribes: “Didn’t know there were any left! Didn’t even have to take malaria pills to see this!”
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When evangelicals and Catholics set aside centuries of mutual suspicion 20 years ago, the idea was fairly simple: Even if we can’t always work together, at least let’s not work against each other. Now, two decades after the launch of the group Evangelicals and Catholics Together, relations between the two groups appear stronger than ever, forged by shared battles over abortion, same-sex marriage, religious freedom and immigration. A new pope is finding crossover appeal among evangelicals who share Pope Francis’ emphasis on evangelism and his distaste for the fancier trappings and authoritarianism of the papacy. “The first affirmation of Evangelicals and Catholics Together is that Jesus Christ is Lord, and there’s the source of our hope,” Catholic theologian Matthew Levering of Mundelein Seminary outside Chicago told the recent Q conference of evangelical movers and shakers in Nashville, Tenn. “This was an anchor for when they began to discover that we share the same gospel.”
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In Ukraine, a former Mennonite church building is being restored and transformed – with the help of Canadian Mennonites – into a Greek Catholic church. This development, according to observers, is an example of Mennonite-Catholic collaboration in the spirit of other exchanges over the past decade or so. The Mennonite church in the former village of Schoensee (now Snegurovka) was originally built in 1909. During the post-October 1917 revolution Soviet era, when Mennonites were forced to leave, the church building was used for storage and then fell into disrepair. Recently the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine secured ownership of the building and a retired Catholic priest from the Czech Republic, Father Peter Trenzky, is giving leadership to the restoration as well as to the congregation, which has started to worship in the building. In learning about the restoration project, individuals associated with the Mennonite Centre in nearby Molochansk (formerly Halbstad) offered to help. The Centre was established in 2001 in the former Mennonite Girls’ School (Maedchenschule) to provide a range of community services.
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More than 400 representatives of German ecumenical groups attending an assembly in Mainz, Germany have affirmed their commitment to move forward in a “pilgrimage of justice and peace” – a call from the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Busan assembly. The ecumenical assembly in Mainz, held from 30 April to 4 May, addressed the theme “The future we desire – Life not destruction”. The event was organized by a network of ecumenical groups in Germany, encouraging actions from the churches inspired by the call for a “pilgrimage of justice and peace”. Featuring vibrant discussions on political, social, economic and ecological issues, as well as theological reflections, the Mainz assembly focused on themes such as “earth as our home”, ecumenical spirituality, economy of life, climate justice and “just peace”. The sessions at the assembly were attended by local visitors along with the registered participants. Some 151 workshops were organized at the assembly addressing a number of themes, including seminars on transformative spirituality.
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In an ecumenical harvest, a spate of European and North American church bodies are entering agreements recognizing each other’s baptisms. On the day after Easter, a day on which many Christian traditions receive catechumens through the rite of baptism, the Swiss churches (Roman Catholic, Reformed, Methodist, Old Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran) will sign an agreement on the mutual recognition of baptism. The signing ceremony, the culmination of an intense ecumenical interchange sponsored by the Council of Christian Churches in Switzerland, will take place in Riva San Vitale, Ticino, site of the oldest Christian building in Switzerland. Among the many divisive historical issues about baptism have been the essential elements of the rite and its sacramental character, the baptismal formula, the validity of infant baptisms, and the question of rebaptism.
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Theologians from the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) met together 6-12 April at Coatbridge, Scotland, for their fourth session in the fourth phase of the International Reformed-Catholic Dialogue.

The theme designated for this current phase of the dialogue, which is slated to conclude in 2017, is “Justification and Sacramentality: The Christian Community as an Agent for Justice.”

The two teams discussed several papers on topics related to the theme of justice. Marina Behara presented a paper titled “Sanctification: The middle term between justification and justice.” Jorge Scampini presented a paper on “The relationship between the Eucharist and justice from a Catholic perspective.” George Hunsinger addressed the topic “The Eucharist and social ethics.” Peter De Mey offered a paper on “Justification and the universal call to holiness.”
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Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has underscored the value of continuing ecumenical dialogue at a “passionate theological level” while at the same time having “a closer relationship of action” that addresses the needs of the world in such areas as poverty and social justice. Ecumenism must be “something that is our burning desire,” Welby told a gathering of ecumenical guests at a reception at Toronto’s St. James’ Cathedral Centre, during his “personal, pastoral visit” to the Anglican Church of Canada April 8 to 9. “In the last seven verses of John: 17, Jesus prays with extraordinary passion and extraordinary directness about the absolute necessity of the visible unity of the church… Love one another…” In a divided and diverse world, Welby said the church could demonstrate “how humanity can overcome its cultural divisions and truly be… a holy nation of God’s people.” In different parts of the world, there has been “a new movement of the spirit,” said Welby. He cited a decision by Chemin Neuf, a Jesuit-founded French Catholic community with an ecumenical vocation, to accept his invitation to take up residence in Lambeth Palace. Last January, four members set up “a fraternity” in Lambeth Palace. “We hope that is something that will grow and develop,” said Welby, adding that he and his wife, Caroline, got to know the community over the last seven years. (The archbishop’s spiritual director is a Swiss Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Nicholas Buttet.) The Guardian newspaper has noted that the move breaks five centuries of Anglican tradition and ushers “a further rapprochement between the churches of England and Rome.”
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After the Quiet Revolution, the Catholic Church lost its stronghold in Quebec. Despite this decline, or perhaps because of it, contemporary Catholic thought in Quebec exhibits a bold creativity. In Truth and Relevance, Gregory Baum introduces, contextualizes, and interprets Catholic theological writing in Quebec since the 1960s, and presents this body of work for an anglophone readership.

Baum shows how Catholic theologians, inspired by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), uncovered the social meaning in the Christian message, allowing them to address many problems and concerns of contemporary society. With reliance on the Gospel, they supported Quebec’s new self-understanding, embraced its nationalism under certain conditions, fostered social solidarity, criticized the unregulated market system, demanded gender equality, and called for respect of new religious and cultural pluralism. Leaving behind the Catholicism of Quebec’s past, these theologians embraced the humanistic values of modern society, recognizing their affinity with the Gospel, while at the same time revealing the destructive potential of modernity, its individualism, utilitarianism, relativism, and its link to empire and capitalism.
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Ecumenism is the word that de­­scribes the historical movement for global church unity. I used to think of it as either a boring academic exercise in doctrinal compromise, or a winner-takes-all struggle to forge one monolithic superchurch.

After five years in the field (I work for a Lutheran ecumenical organization), I’m no longer dismissive. The quest for church unity is a wild, wondrous, and strange act of penitence for Christians’ often callous disregard of that little word one in John 17 and the Nicene Creed. We confess that the Holy Spirit has called one church into being. But almost all the evidence points in the opposite direction. What does this mean? And how should we respond to it?
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The Vatican, the Anglican Communion and a leading Muslim institution signed a historic agreement to work together to end human trafficking worldwide by 2020.

The new accord, signed during a Vatican news conference March 17, launched the beginning of the Global Freedom Network, which hopes to expand to include all the world’s major faiths.

The global initiative aims to prevent modern forms of slavery; to protect, rescue and rehabilitate victims; and to promote concrete measures that condemn or criminalize human trafficking.

In a joint statement, the accord’s signatories called human trafficking and modern forms of slavery “crimes against humanity” and called for urgent action by all faith communities to join the effort to “set free the most oppressed of our brothers and sisters.”

“Only by activating, all over the world, the ideals of faith and of shared human values can we marshal the spiritual power, the joint effort and the liberating vision to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking from our world and for all time,” the joint statement said.

“This evil is man-made and can be overcome by faith-inspired human will and human effort,” it said.
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The motto and logo of Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land

Ut unum sint is the motto chosen for Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land. The website theholylandreview.net announced this following the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land which was held in Tiberias on 11-12 March. There the heads of the Catholic communities in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus presented the logo and motto for the Pope’s pilgrimage scheduled for 24-26 May.

The motto of the pilgrimage, according to the website, “is at the very core of his trip to the Holy Land”. Francis and Bartolomaios are scheduled to meet in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre to commemorate and renew the desire and longing for unity among Christians, expressed by Pope Paul VI and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras 50 years ago in Jerusalem. In addition, the logo depicts the embrace between the two brothers, Apostles Peter and Andrew: the first two disciples called by Jesus in Galilee, patrons respectively of the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople.
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“The biggest benefit of the project was my friendship with Sheikh Afifi. If I don’t see him for a few days, I always call him. I never dreamed that I would ever speak in a mosque, but through this friendship I’ve now shared at mosques in Alexandria and Cairo. “ Father Boutros Boutros, Coptic Priest in Alexandria.

The Imam-Priest exchange initiative for 2014 opened at Al Azhar al Shereef, at the invitation of the Grand Imam. The 30 imams and 30 priests who participated in the initiative in 2013 shared what they learnt and were presented with certificates.
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The National Council of Churches first “Christian Unity Gathering” of leaders from member communions and other partners will be held May 18-20, 2014, in the Hilton Washington, Dulles, Herndon, Va.

“We are getting together to celebrate ecumenism and energize our journey toward the visible unity of all the Christian churches,” said Jim Winkler, President and General Secretary of the NCC.

The Rev. Ann Tiemeyer, NCC Interim Associate General Secretary for Joint Action and Advocacy, said the program “will include ample opportunity for all attendees to engage with one another through group discussion, input from expert resource people to help inform our discussion, and celebratory service with words from interfaith guests and an address from Jim Winkler.”
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By the grace of God, the proceedings of the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches concluded today, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The Synaxis took place at the Phanar from 6-9 March, 2014, at the invitation and under the presidency of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and was attended by all the most venerable Primates in person, with the exception of His Beatitude Patriarch John of Antioch, who, due to illness, was represented by Hierarchs of his Church.

The proceedings of the Synaxis were carried out in a very fraternal spirit; the Hierarchs discussed maters concerning the life of the Orthodox Church in the contemporary world, and particularly in regions where Orthodoxy and Christianity in general face serious problems and difficulties; the Hierarchs also expressed their support and profound interest of the Orthodox Church in its entirety concerning their fellow human beings suffering in those regions. Above all, the Synaxis considered the prevailing situation in the Middle East and recent developments in Ukraine, as well as the ongoing uncertainty about the fate of the bishops, Metropolitan John of Aleppo, and Yuhanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Church, who were kidnapped by unknown persons a very long time ago.
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Representatives of the Baptist World Alliance and the World Methodist Council met January 30-February 5 at the Beeson Divinity School of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The meeting was the opening round of conversations in the first international dialogue between Methodists and Baptists. The overall theme of the dialogue is faith working through love. The delegations were welcomed by the Provost and Executive Vice President of the University, Dr. J. Bradley Creed, as well as Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church and Rev. Dr. Mike McLemore, Director of Missions for the Birmingham Baptist Association.

Participants discussed presentations on the history, theology, and contemporary global situation of Methodists and Baptists. The dialogue is co-chaired by Rev. Dr. Tim Macquiban, Superintendent Minister of the Cambridge Methodist Circuit and minister of Wesley Methodist Church in Cambridge, England, and Rev. Dr. Curtis Freeman, Research Professor and Director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke University Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. Rev. Dr. Paul Chilcote, Dean of Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio, and Rev. Dr. Fausto Vasconcelos, BWA director of Mission, Evangelism, and Theological Reflection, serve as co-secretaries.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster have launched a joint initiative this Lent to encourage people to pray for the work churches do to support people in need in their parishes and beyond.

From Passion Sunday on 6 April to Palm Sunday on 13 April, Archbishop Justin and Cardinal Nichols will give thanks to God daily for this essential act of service, and pray for his blessing on the work of the churches.

They will also visit church projects to hear from participants and to see how communities are being transformed.

Their hope is that by joining together in prayer and encouraging others to join them they will foster the work of the church in strengthening communities and helping those in need across the country.
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The fate of refugees and the struggles of immigrants in general is on the agenda for Canada’s Catholic bishops, but the bishops are steering clear of a national campaign supported by several church and lay groups which has been critical of the government’s record on refugee rights. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is currently working on a statement concerning refugees, migrants and immigrants to be released at an unspecified date. “In general, the conference does not release preliminary information about the development and eventual timelines of its various projects,” said CCCB spokesman René Laprise in an e-mail. “This is in order to ensure that the bishops and their advisors, both internal and external, have full freedom in drafting, developing and approving any eventual texts. This also avoids raising expectations and risking disappointments about the topics, nature and publication schedules of possible future texts.” In December, the bishops declined to sign a Human Rights Day statement calling on Ottawa to change course on refugee rights. Co-ordinated by the Canadian Council for Refugees, the statement called for fairness, respect and compassion in the treatment of refugees. “Canada can and must do better,” said the Dec. 10 statement. Signatories to the open letter ranged from former solicitor general Warren Allmand to Blue Rodeo guitarist Jim Cuddy. They also included the provincial superiors of both the English and French Canadian provinces of the Jesuits, the primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, the national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the moderator of the United Church of Canada and the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Canada.
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An important document, which is a theological reflection on the experience and life of the Global Christian Forum, has been approved by the GCF committee.

Titled, Our Unfolding Journey with Jesus Christ: Reflections on the Global Christian Forum Experience, the document is the work of a group of theologians drawn from across the church traditions and families that make up the GCF.

Rev Dr Wonsuk Ma, executive director of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, headed a panel of nine theologians, known as the Theological Working Group (TWG), who produced the document. [Full membership of TWG is listed below.]

The work, initiated by the GCF committee when in met in Rome in 2012, was received and approved by the committee at its recent meeting in Geneva in September.

The decision to undertake the task came after the second GCF global gathering at Manado, Indonesia, where it was felt that it was important to put down some theological markers so the wider Christian community could understand the story, practice and on-going life of the GCF.
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“Both friendly and intense”—that’s how the Rev. William Harrison describes the latest phase of the dialogue between representatives of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada after the last of three annual meetings wrapped up at the Vancouver School of Theology on Jan. 16.

Harrison, the group’s Anglican co-chair, said the participants from both churches have prepared an interim report, which has to be submitted the Anglican Church of Canada’s Council of General Synod (CoGS) for its next meeting in May before it can be discussed in detail. In the meanwhile, he answered a few questions from the Journal by email about the latest meetings and their progress.

In keeping with a resolution from the 2010 General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, and with the agreement of the United Church’s Theology and Inter-Church Inter-Faith Committee, these most recent talks have focused on “the doctrinal identities of the two churches and the implications of this for the lives of the churches—including understandings of sacraments and orders of ministry.”

“Both sides have been willing to engage and ask tough questions,” Harrison wrote. “Where the previous phase focused on what we have in common, this phase has been more inclined to recognize differences. The result is that we have challenged one another and ourselves.” The previous dialogue took place over six years and ended in 2009. Those conversations were described in Drawing from the Same Well: The St. Brigid Report.

In spite of those differences, Harrison wrote, “We found that on core theological commitments (as expressed in the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds, for example) we are really in much the same place, facing common challenges. Our differences on these matters tend to be more in the realm of how we do theology than in the things that we affirm.”
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Continuing to strengthen relationships with the Jewish community is essential for Catholics, Sr. Lucy Thorson believes.

“For us as Catholics it is really not a luxury, it is a necessity for us to be familiar with Judaism,” said the Sister of Sion. “It is the roots of our Christian faith. So many of our Christian practices are rooted in the Jewish tradition.”

Despite this connection which is grounded in “the Jewishness of Jesus,” a significant degree of tension has existed between the two faiths in the past.

“Our history has been very painful with our relationship with the Jewish people.”

Thorson blamed misunderstandings during the interpretation process of the New Testament resulting in negative portrayals of the Jews as one of the leading causes of this tension.

But things have been improving since Vatican II, she noted. During an evening lecture at Scarboro Missions on Feb. 5, Thorson reinforced this by highlighting some of the major milestones in Catholic-Jewish relations starting with the council.

The event, which was part of World Interfaith Harmony Week, drew about 35 people despite a winter storm blanketing much of the city earlier that day.
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The Presbyterian Church in Canada‘s Presbytery of Montreal has adopted a response to Bill 60 – the Québec Charter of Values.

“We acknowledge and celebrate the unique identity of Quebec as a Francophone nation and province within Canada, and acknowledge the particular religious and cultural history that has shaped its values, laws, and social fabric. We also acknowledge and celebrate the presence of other linguistic and cultural communities within Quebec – including a large Anglophone minority – and celebrate the contributions such communities have made to the history, identity, and success of Quebec as a liberal democratic polity. We believe that Quebec has been enriched by this diversity.”
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Pope Francis’ attitude of hospitality and humility towards Oriental Orthodox leaders has had a positive impact on the dialogue between Catholics and these ancient Orthodox Churches.

That‘s according to Fr Gabriel Quicke, who’s in charge of relations with the Oriental Orthodox Churches at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He came back this week from Kerala in India where he took part in the 11th meeting of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.

The two delegations at the meeting continued their ongoing discussions on the ways in which full communion was expressed in the first five centuries, before the divisions between the different Churches. Since the 5th century, these ancient communities of Christians have not been in communion with either the Roman Catholic Church or the Eastern Orthodox world, with the result that very little is known about their rich heritage and traditions outside the countries where they are based – Egypt, Armenia, Syria, India and Ethiopia.
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The Rev. Daniel Montoya, longtime professor at Seminario Evangelico Teologia (Evangelical Theological Seminary, or SET) here, calls his core class “Practical Theological Ecumenism.”

“In Cuba, Christians are a tiny minority, so they try to get together to know each other,” Montoya explains. “They are not so keen on institutional or ‘macro’ ecumenism, but on local or “base” ecumenism.”

In Cuba, as most everyplace else in the world, ecumenism at the national or interdenominational level is in crisis. “These institutional groups forget location,” Montoya says. “They forget the base.”

For example, he says, “people are neighbours, their children attend the same schools, they ride the same buses, they walk in the same streets ― they are friends. On the ground they don’t see any differences, just on Sundays when they go to different churches.”

Practical ecumenism for Montoya, then, means teaching seminary students how to involve people locally “so they have better understanding and don’t have prejudice.” His classes focus on ecumenical cooperation in local communities, not on the dogmatic or doctrinal differences between churches.

Practical ecumenism must also be theological “because all of our hope ― what it means to be the church ― is based on faith and confidence in God.”
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Representatives of the Lutheran World Federation, the Mennonite World Conference and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity met in Strasbourg, France, from 26 to 31 January 2014 for the second meeting of the Trilateral Dialogue Commission. The general topic of the dialogue “Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church” was developed in the meeting through papers on the theme “Baptism: God’s Grace in Christ and Human Sin”. Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga and Rev. Gregory Fairbanks (Catholic), Professors Alfred Neufeld and Fernando Enns (Mennonite) and Professor Friederike Nüssel (Lutheran) presented papers on this topic. The commission also continued to study the baptismal rites of each participating Christian tradition, with special attention in this meeting to the Lutheran tradition, particularly regarding the contextualization of baptismal rites in the African region. Papers on these themes were presented by Professor Sarah Hinlicky-Wilson and Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata. The commission began its working days with prayers and joint reflections on biblical texts relating to baptism.
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The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), formed in 2008 to help begin healing over Canada’s residential school system for Indigenous peoples, will be holding its final public event at the end of March in Edmonton.

Similar to past events, this one will feature traditional ceremonies, survivor gatherings and statements, an education day, and more.

Although the mandate of the TRC has been extended through 2015, this final public event signals the end of a journey and the beginning of a new one for those who have been involved.

National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald is already looking to the future.

“It has become more and more clear as we’ve gone on that this is a beginning, and not an end. This is the beginning of reconciliation. I don’t think that after we finish this, anybody will say ‘Well, we did that!'”

“I think the next steps on the path are the building of the positive relationships between non-Indigenous people and institutions, and Indigenous people. It’s all about building on the bedrock of reconciliation.”
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In a letter to the Honourable John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Most Reverend Paul-André Durocher, Archbishop of Gatineau and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), has expressed the concerns of the CCCB about the security wall in the Cremisan Valley, near Bethlehem. Archbishop Durocher is also a signatory of a statement issued today by the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land on a proposed extension of the Israeli security wall. This situation will affect the lives of many Christian families and the pastoral work of the religious communities in this area of the Holy Land.

In his letter to Mr. Baird, Archbishop Durocher conveys the concerns of the Catholic Bishops of Canada: “we ask your government to raise our objections about the extension of the security wall in the Cremisan Valley, with the hope that a change to the present Israeli plan could become one step forward toward making it possible for Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace and justice.”
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Almost a year after Francis’ election and with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at an end, it is now possible to give a first overview of the Pope’s initiatives to promote ecumenism. “For me ecumenism is a priority” Francis told Vatican Insider and Italian newspaper La Stampa in last December’s interview.

Some of the choices he made even at the very start of his pontificate had a very positive impact of ecumenism.
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KAIROS, the Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiative, is celebrating a 40th anniversary. KAIROS itself isn’t that old, but its predecessor groups, the Canadian ecumenical coalitions are. Those of us engaged in ecumenical work, whether in theological dialogues, ecumenical education, or collaborating in advocacy for social justice are rooted in the same call to witness to Christ and to engage in common mission. We give thanks for the work of the Canadian social justice coalitions and for KAIROS that continues to give witness to this legacy. Congratulations KAIROS on 40 years of witness!

The executive director of KAIROS, Jennifer Henry, gave a long sermon January 19th at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in Etobicoke. She reflects on ‘40 Years of Bold Witness’ framing her thoughts with four characteristics of the “natural habitat’ of prophetic voices” outlined by Walter Brueggemann in “The Prophetic Imagination.” It is well worth a read for Jennifer’s strong knowledge of history and inspirational passion for justice.
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An interview with the Archbishop of Utrecht, Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk, sparked controversy in the Netherlands during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The interview was published in Reformatorisch Dagblad and reprinted by Trouw, on Monday 20 January.

The title of the interview is: “Eijk: the doctrine and condemnations of the Council of Trent still apply fully” The subheading read: “Cardinal Eijk has confirmed that the teachings of the Council of Trent still apply and so do the condemnations the Council made against those who reject said teachings. Protestants for example.”

The cardinal did not check the interview title and introductory summary, only the interview itself, which he approved. His statements were also quoted on the Dutch Bishops’ Conference website.

According to Eijk, the Council of Trent is a sign of the “Roman Catholic Church’s ability to purify itself,” with the “guidance of the Holy Spirit.” Eijk said Trent ended much of the malpractice in the Church during the Middle Ages, such as the ecclesiastical “job” trade, non biblical interpretations of the priesthood and the lack of discipline in monasteries: “When all the decrees (of the Council) were implemented, order was restored to the Church.”

The Council of Trent also contributed to defining some “truths of faith” regarding Protestants. The cardinal stated that these are still fully applicable. For example the essence of the sacrament of the Eucharist and transubstantiation.
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On Saturday, Pope Francis presided over evening Vespers at Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls Basilica where he was joined by members of the many different Christian Churches present here in Rome.

The celebration, which lands on the Feast of Saint Paul, marks the closing of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which has been exploring the theme, taken from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, “Has Christ been divided?”

Saturday’s celebrations coincide with the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.
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Together we proclaim anew the good news prophesied in Isaiah, fulfilled in our Lord Jesus, preached by the Apostle Paul, and received by the Church. Facing honestly the differences we have and the labels of denomination we embrace, we must never lose sight of the common mandate we have in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul is sent “to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power” (1 Cor 1:17). The path to unity is to be found in the power of the cross.

The Gospel we proclaim is made tangible and relevant to us as we bear witness to the work of Jesus Christ in our own lives and the life of the Christian community.
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