Every religion has its demonology. When Malcolm X made this observation to Alex Haley as they collaborated on what was to become his posthumous autobiography, his immediate target was the antisemitic teaching promoted by Elijah Muhammed, from whose sect he had recently broken. His refusal to exempt any faith from the tendency to demonize others in order to validate itself remains as painfully relevant today as it was in 1965.
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Bishop Michael Hawkins, of the diocese of Saskatchewan, says he expects to resign from his position effective April 30, 2023 due to health problems he has been experiencing since a severe bout of COVID-19 in late 2020.
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World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca joined other faith leaders in signing a collective message calling on world leaders and their representatives at COP27 to make the bold decisions necessary and ensure that there are clear and concrete outcomes from this COP.
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The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, elected during the WCC 11th Assembly, has concluded its first meeting, held 7-12 November at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey and at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The governing body focused on follow-up from the assembly, planning for 2023—including the budget and programme plans—and statements that respond to critical situations affecting the fellowship of WCC member churches.
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“COP27 is a critical occasion for governments to together re-envision, develop, commit to and implement a roadmap towards a fossil fuel-free, post-growth, equitable and sustainable tomorrow,” said Bishop Arnold Temple of the Methodist Church in Sierra Leone, representing the interfaith liaison group, to the High-Level Ministerial Segment of the 27th Session of Conference of the Parties (COP27).
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The World Council of Churches (WCC) has appointed Dr Andrej Jeftić as the new director of the Commission on Faith and Order. Jeftić, from Serbia, an Eastern Orthodox theologian, has been serving as a research fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade. He also served as a theological consultant for the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe.
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As the study groups of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission convened this week, the paper “Towards a Global Vision of the Church Volume I: Explorations on Global Christianity and Ecclesiology” was released.
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The study groups of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission are convening from 14-16 November at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute. Participants are sharing their reflections on what has been achieved theologically, ecumenically, and methodologically, as well as their views about relevant ecumenical theological work to be done.
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As Christians we confess that “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it” (Ps 24). We acknowledge our responsibility as stewards and caretakers of God’s unique and abundant Creation of which we human beings are part. And yet we look around our world today, and see that due to our greed and negligence the entire living planet is threatened by accelerating climate change. “The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers…”, “The earth is defiled by its people…” (Isaiah 24:4-5).
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The annual Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions (CS/CWC) took place from 8–10 November 2022 in Vancouver, Canada. The gathering was hosted by the Pentecostal World Fellowship, represented by its Chair, Reverend William Wilson, and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, represented by Reverend David Wells, General Superintendent.
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One of Canada’s leading supporters of Medical Assistance in Dying is in favour of an anti-MAiD campaign launched by the Christian Medical and Dental Association of Canada and backed by Ontario’s bishops.
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The Anglican churches in Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda have effectively separated from the Anglican Communion by refusing to participate in the Lambeth Conference, says Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Like many other Canadian bishops, however, Nicholls also says she left this summer’s meeting in Lambeth, U.K. with a prevailing sense of hope for the future of the Communion.

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Pope Francis led an ecumenical prayer meeting with the participation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Christian leaders from Bahrain
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A relic of St Chad is due to transferred from Birmingham to Lichfield cathedral tomorrow as a shrine of St Chad is reinstated in the location of the original medieval shrine.

St Chad, a monk and abbot, moved his see from Repton to Lichfield when he was made Bishop of Mercia in 669. He died just three years later in a plague. He became associated with healing, until his relics had to be moved during the Dissolution. They were eventually enshrined at St Chad’s new Catholic cathedral in Birmingham when it opened in 1841, in a new ark designed by Pugin.
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World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca delivered a lecture during the first edition of the “Bahrain Dialogue Forum: East and West for Human Coexistence” held 3-4 November.
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The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) in partnership with the Waldensian Evangelical Church and the Church of Scotland will open an ecumenical office in Rome, Italy, in 2023.
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Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous people will be a major test for King Charles III, prominent Canadian Anglicans say—with one bishop saying it could shape the influence of the monarchy for decades to come.

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When we hear the word “apology,” we understand that it means one is sorry for a wrong that was committed. However, the Biblical Greek word that we get the word apology from, apologia, means something quite different. It conveyed to the early Christians a defence or reasoned argument for their hope. Peter used the term in a passage (1 Peter 3:15) advising his fellow Christians to be ready to answer anyone who asks what made them different from others who worshipped a god or gods. The answer, of course, was Jesus and His redemptive work.
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Catholics around the globe long to share the Gospel with a world in need, but they see situations and tensions within the church that challenge their ability to do so, said one of the drafters of the document for the continental phase of the Synod of Bishops.
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As President of LTS, I am pleased to announce the appointment of the Rev. Dr. Kayko Driedger Hesslein as William Hordern Professor of Theology. Dr. Driedger Hesslein brings deep roots in Lutheran theology and a strong presence in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, including in Western Canada.
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The Canadian Council of Churches has released a revised version of guidelines first issued 20 years ago following the Swiss Air disaster at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia.

“Canadians come together when we remember and celebrate special events, and when we grieve and stand together in the face of catastrophes. Religious and spiritual leaders are frequently called on to show solidarity, express a word of hope, honour the divine, and channel our feelings toward justice and peace.”
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On two occasions this past year, Pope Francis has expressed his deep sorrow for the pain and trauma suffered by former students of residential schools and their descendants. At the end of March, he met with delegations of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples in Rome where he stated: “Listening to your voices, I was able to enter into and be deeply grieved by the stories of the suffering, hardship, discrimination and various forms of abuse that some of you experienced, particularly in the residential schools. … I ask for God’s forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart: I am very sorry. And I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking your pardon.”

Following this initial meeting, he travelled to Canada in July where he re-iterated his heartfelt apology for Catholic involvement in residential schools and again joined with the Canadian Bishops in asking pardon. He stated: “Today I am here, in this land that, along with its ancient memories, preserves the scars of still open wounds. I am here because the first step of my penitential pilgrimage among you is that of again asking forgiveness, of telling you once more that I am deeply sorry…. I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools.”
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I’m nervous about presenting non-orthodox views about COVID. Some of my mandate-abiding friends will look askance.

“Yes, but … ,” they will say, then demarcate limits of tolerance.

Rigidity was a spiritual variant of COVID. Questions became unwelcome. A singularity of narrative prevailed, spawning a minority reaction.

Friendships withered. Families ruptured. Churches bled members.

The pandemic changed the complexion of society. At this point, can we talk constructively across the lingering divide? Can we find middle ground? Do we even want to? And what of the humble Beatitudes?
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The Bossey Ecumenical Institute is inviting prospective students to apply for the autumn semester 2023-24. Applicants interested in ecumenical formation at Bossey will explore the opportunity to combine academic and experiential learning within a diverse global cohort.
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As the world prepares to gather for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt from 6 to 18 November 2022, Christian organizations from Africa, Europe, and North America have committed to work together to end the persistent hunger crisis, worsened by climate change.

Leaders from nearly 40 churches and organizations signed the commitment at the end of a two-day convocation in Nairobi on 21 October. The meeting—on climate change and hunger—was organized by the U.S.-based Bread for the World and hosted by the All Africa Conference of Churches.
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“If there is no resurrection of the dead, neither is Christ risen! But if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, your faith also empty “(1 Cor 15:13 ff). With these words, the apostle Paul affirms with absolute clarity that the Christian faith stands or falls with the paschal mystery. The early Church condensed this fundamental conviction in the formula: “Take away the resurrection and you will immediately destroy Christianity.” Given the central importance of the paschal mystery in the Christian faith, it is understandable that Christians wish to celebrate it on a common date.
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If you are like me, you have been watching the war in Ukraine with prayers for the innocent civilians caught in the mortar and missile attacks. I vacillate between excitement at the heroic defence of Ukraine by an outgunned and outnumbered civilian army and anger at the Russian war crimes exposed by the Ukrainian advances in recent months. Perhaps the most disturbing news has been the reports of statements from Patriarch Kirill, patriarch of Moscow and leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.
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Patriarch Kirill and World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Fr Ioan Sauca met on 17 October in Moscow, discussing how churches are called to be peacemakers.

Also attending the meeting, which took place at the Patriarchal Residence in St Daniel’s Monastery, were Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman; Fr Mikhail Gundyaev, representative of the Moscow Patriarchate to the WCC and international organisations in Geneva; Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; and Rev. Prof. Dr Benjamin Simon, WCC programme executive for Church Relations.
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World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca visited Moscow this week, meeting with H.H. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, and representatives from the largest WCC member church.
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COVID-19 continues to circulate in our communities and may surge again this fall as people return to more indoor activities with others. Vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to protect against serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19, and also help protect our healthcare system. That’s why it’s important for everyone, including children, to stay up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines, by receiving all doses recommended for them.
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It will likely be months before refugee advocates, including the Canadian Council of Churches, know whether they have prevailed at the Supreme Court. But for now, council general secretary Rev. Peter Noteboom is satisfied that the argument to strike down the Safe Third Country Agreement between the United States and Canada has been heard.
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The top concern of this year’s World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly was unquestionably climate change, says Canon Scott Sharman, the Anglican Church of Canada’s animator for ecumenical and interfaith relations.
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Caleb Brown was a lead organizer of the Freedom Convoy protest outside the Manitoba legislative building last winter. I asked how he responds to people who dismiss all protesters as white nationalists. I asked how he felt about people who drove by and gave him the finger, as one of my friends did.
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The Second Vatican Council was the universal Catholic Church’s response to God’s love and to Jesus’ command to feed his sheep, Pope Francis said, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the council’s opening.

The council reminded the church of what is “essential,” the pope said: “a church madly in love with its Lord and with all the men and women whom he loves,” one that “is rich in Jesus and poor in assets,” a church that “is free and freeing.”
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As Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States goes back before the Supreme Court of Canada Oct. 6, Ottawa has revealed a surge of 23,358 asylum seekers at irregular border crossings in the first eight months of 2022.

That’s 13-per-cent more than all of 2017, when the flood of refugees at Quebec’s Roxham Road crossing from New York captured headlines.
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Pope Francis has appointed an Irish Benedictine to lead the Vatican’s dialogue with the Anglican Communion. The Irish Catholic reports Fr. Martin Browne OSB, a monk at Glenstal Abbey in Murroe, County Limerick, Ireland will shortly take up the post in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.  He succeeds Fr. Anthony Currer as the official for Methodist and Anglican Relations.
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Mercredi 5 octobre, le Pape François a reçu en audience privée les membres de la Commission mixte internationale méthodiste-catholique (MERCIC). La Commission, inaugurée en 1967 et dont les rencontres se sont succédées depuis sans interruption, se trouve actuellement à Rome à la Casa Maria Immacolata pour la première réunion plénière de son douzième cycle de dialogue. À l’audience avec le Saint-Père, les participants étaient accompagnés du Cardinal Kurt Koch, Préfet du Dicastère pour la promotion de l’unité des chrétiens.
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Pope Francis received members of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission (MERCIC) in a private audience on Wednesday 5 October. The Commission, which began work in 1967 and has met since without interruption, is currently meeting in Rome at the Casa Maria Immacolata for the first plenary meeting of its twelfth round of dialogue. The Commission was accompanied to the audience by Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.
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“The WCC puts unity before justice!” This was the complaint of one Canadian participant in the World Council of Churches’ 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany. The 65 Canadian participants gathered recently to debrief their experience of the August 31st to September 8th gathering of churches from around the world. The theme of the Assembly was “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”

Back in May, Sr. Donna Geernaert wrote about the Assembly theme in her blog post “An Ecumenism of the Heart.” Over 3,750 church delegates, observers, advisors, visitors, and media came from around the world to Karlsruhe. WCC assemblies are only held every 7 or 8 years, so it was an excellent opportunity for me to attend along with my wife, Rev. Amanda Currie, one of the delegates from the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
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The World Council of Churches Central Committee approved the release of two statements proposed at the recent Karlsruhe Assembly that had not been completed during the Assembly. In the introduction to the first statement, “Statement on Confronting Racism and Xenophobia, Overcoming Discrimination, Ensuring Belonging”, the WCC stated simply that, “(t)he World Council of Churches, at its 11th assembly, in Karlsruhe, Germany, abhors the perpetuation of all forms of racism, xenophobia and related discriminations against humanity and the pervasive suffering it causes.”
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Patriarchs and heads of Churches in Jerusalem have expressed their gratitude to Jordan’s King Abdullah II for telling the UN General Assembly about Christians in Jerusalem and his promise to help preserve the city’s Christian identity.

The Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant leaders in a statement said they “express our utmost gratitude and appreciation” to the king “for his true and honest description of the Christian reality” in the Holy Land, especially in Jerusalem and said they applauded him for his “public commitment to protect our communities’ historical and legal status quo, thus preserving our safety and future”.
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I knew I would eventually have to interview my neighbours who staunchly resisted COVID-19 mandates and proudly supported the Ottawa trucker convoy. Actually I have many such neighbours. But it took a year of working through my pandemic enmity until I was ready to listen to them.
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Pope Francis has told young economists, entrepreneurs and university researchers that the world’s development model must be seriously questioned and reformed without delay.

The pope made his appeal this past Saturday in Assisi before a thousand young adults from around the world who were gathered in Assisi for a three-day meeting titled “The Economy of Francesco”, which explored ways to create sustainable and ecologically viable development.
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On September 16, 2022 the International Lutheran Council’s (ILC) 2022 World Conference adopted a resolution calling for continued ecumenical conversations with the Roman Catholic Church, and approving the Final Report of the conversations of the ILC and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) which was published in 2021.
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The Flemish-speaking bishops of Belgium have appointed a contact person for ministry to and with gay Catholics and have authorized prayer for committed gay couples on the condition it is clear that it is not equivalent to a wedding blessing.

The document, “Being pastorally close to homosexual persons: For a welcoming church that excludes no one,” was dated Sept. 20 and posted on the website of the Belgian bishops.
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A date for a new papal statement on the Doctrine of Discovery, promised by Pope Francis on his way home from Canada to Rome, has not been announced. But whenever it happens it will address core concerns of Indigenous people in Canada and in many other parts of the world.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is working with Vatican officials in Rome on the wording for a new statement rejecting an entire tradition of legal reasoning, said CCCB spokesperson Jonathan Lesarge.
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La crise climatique et la dégradation environnementale affectent des communautés partout sur la planète, mais certaines communautés le sont plus que d’autres.

Depuis des décennies, les industries polluantes et les sites d’enfouissement se sont retrouvés dans des communautés autochtones, noires, et autres communautés racisées au Canada, les laissant aux prises avec des taux anormalement élevés de cancers, de maladies respiratoires et d’autres problèmes de santé chroniques.
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The climate crisis and environmental degradation are taking their toll on communities worldwide. But some communities are impacted more than others.

For decades, polluting industries and landfill sites have ended up in Indigenous, Black, Brown and other racialized communities in Canada, burdening these communities with higher-than-normal rates of cancer, respiratory illnesses, and other chronic health problems.
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The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee elected the WCC executive committee on 8 September during the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe.

The central committee elects 20 of its members to serve as the WCC executive committee of the WCC, along with the leadership of the central committee, which includes the moderator, two vice-moderators, and the WCC general secretary, as well as the moderators of its programme and finance committees.
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“For the first time in a long while, this 11th assembly provided safe spaces for serious engagement, reflections, prayer, challenging one another, [and] encounters.” said Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee. She spoke of her take-aways from the WCC assembly, including the “commitment to the search for unity – common vision and understanding,” which she referred to as the cornerstone of the WCC.
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