The 5.2 million members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are gearing up to make some major decisions in 1997 about how they will relate to another 67.3 million Christians in the United States. The ELCA Church Council, meeting here April 12-15, studied proposals regarding closer relations with the Roman Catholic Church, Episcopal Church and three Reformed churches — Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ.
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by James Solheim, director of news and information for the Episcopal Church. DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (ELCA) — As the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America move toward a historic decision in 1997 on full communion, they invited ecumenical partners to discuss the implications for all churches seeking unity. The Concordat of Agreement
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US nun calls for ‘responsible dissent’ on Vatican doctrine New York (ENI). A leading Roman Catholic nun and theologian in the United States has called for “responsible dissent” to the Vatican statement that Pope John Paul II’s teaching against the ordination of women is infallible. [ENI-96-0070, 476 words] Bahrain’s Christians urged to pray for end
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Turkey’s biggest church faces critical shortage of clergy Istanbul (ENI). Turkey’s biggest Christian church Orthodox Church, is facing a critical shortage of clergy. The church’s membership in Turkey is 82,000, 60,000 of them in Istanbul. However, the Istanbul diocese has only 28 priests, 10 of them aged over 60, for its 38 churches. Over the
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The challenge of mixed marriage in American life—and how the communities are responding to its problems andpossibilities both for the couples and for the raising of children—was the major topic of discussion at the semi-annual meeting of the U.S. Catholic-Jewish Consultation Committee. With the mixed marriage rate rising to around 50 percent in the Jewish
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from the Western Report 8, no.17 (1993): 44. Not since the Eastern and Western churches went their separate ways in 1054, with bitter reciprocal excommunications all around, has there been quite so much talk and hope for eventual reunification of the Christian world as there is today. “Ecumenism” has been a focus of much talk
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by Nick Lees, Edmonton Journal There was one sour note this week in Edmonton when 110 delegates met at the 7th National Institute on Ecumenism. “By and large, our Evangelical/Fundamentalist brothers and sisters remain very aloof from the ecumenical movement,” said Roman Catholic Bernard De Margerie, director of the Saskatoon Centre for Ecumenism. “In fact,
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Western Report 8.2 (Feb 8, 1993): 41. The shattering of Christendom into contending denominations in the 16th century ranks as one of the critical moments of world history, second perhaps only to the original conversion of the Roman Empire 13 centuries earlier. Historical explanations of these divisions abound. Yet the fact remains: Christendom was just
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by Bob Gilmour, Edmonton Journal A quiet, dedicated Edmonton woman who works behind the scenes to unify Edmonton churches has won Canada’s 1992 national ecumenical leadership award. Rosaleen Zdunich, ecumenical officer for the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Edmonton, won the ninth annual national award from the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. Rev. Thomas Ryan, director of
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by Paul de Groot, Edmonton Journal [SASKATOON] Bishops of the Anglican and Lutheran churches embraced here Friday, symbolizing a new, closer relationship between their churches. “This is a thrilling and a tremendous time,” said Anglican bishop Walter Jones of Winnipeg, moments after the biennial convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada approved a new
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[Los Angeles Times] Pope John Paul II reiterated this week that the ordination of women in the Anglican Church poses “serious obstacles” to relations with the Roman Catholic Church. In a year-end address to cardinals, the Pope, speaking with “sincere pain,” deplored a resolution adopted by the world’s Anglican bishops in August. The Anglican bishops
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from the Windsor Star [SASKATOON] At least 30,000 members of the United Church of Canada have signed a declaration of dissent against a statement by the church’s general council dealing with sexuality, says a United Church minister in Saskatchewan. “I’m upset,” said Rev. Don Lamont of Eston. “Some people have already left my church over
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from the Windsor Star [VICTORIA, BC] In a strongly worded farewell speech, the head of Canada’s largest Protestant denomination decried its divisiveness and warned of the danger of excluding believers. Anne Squire, the 67-year-old Amherstburg-born moderator, said what is at stake is whether the United Church wants to be “an inclusive or exclusive body.” And
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Rev. Thomas Ryan, director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal, has been appointed a Roman Catholic staff representative to a world meeting of Anglican bishops that begins today.

Two Vatican agencies have named the U.S.-born Paulist priest as a representative to the communications team of the Lambeth Conference. The conference is a gathering of the bishops of the 450 dioceses in Anglican churches around the world, including Bishop Reginald Hollis of Montreal.

Representatives have also been appointed by the world Lutheran church and by the World Council of Churches, a grouping mainly of Protestant and Orthodox Churches.

Ryan said in a conversation that it is the first time such staff representatives from other churches have been invited to help out at the Lambeth Conference, which meets every 10 years.

“It is an impressive initiative.”
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LONDON (AP-Reuter) – Lord Ramsey, who as archbishop of Canterbury from 1961 to 1974 left his mark as a champion of Christian unity and liberal causes, died yesterday at the age of 83. He had been ill with bronchial pneumonia for several weeks and died at St. John’s Home in Oxford, the Church of England
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by Patrick O’Driscoll, USA Today Young revelers rock the ballroom in a New Year’s Eve countdown. At midnight Thursday, the cheer goes up: “Happy New CHURCH!” How’s that again? While millions of us sing choruses of Auld Lang Syne to welcome 1988, some 1,600 Lutheran teens in Anaheim, Calif., will hum a hymn – on
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by Harvey Shepherd, The [Montreal] Gazette Sister Katherine MacDonald has been involved with interfaith relations throughout her religious life but brought a new sense of urgency when she arrived in Montreal to take up a new job this fall. “In our world today, if we who believe that God exists cannot relate to each other
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The Catholic and Anglican churches have been conducting joint studies of doctrine for the past 17 years. The purpose is to explore the essential teachings of each church to see if there is enough common ground for an eventual reunion. Both churches were once united in one western Christian church for 15 centuries. Their history of separation dates back four centuries to the time of the Reformation. The joint studies began in 1970 and involved nine Roman Catholic scholars and nine from the Anglican communion. The joint panel was called the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, or the ARCIC. After 11 years of study, it published papers on three major topics of mutual and central concern; Eucharist, Ministry and Ordination as well as on Authority in the Church.
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by Russell Chandler, Los Angeles Times With the announcement that Protestant and Eastern Orthodox participants will join in an ecumenical meeting with Pope John Paul in Columbia, S.C., in September, the U.S. National Council of Churches has urged Christians “seize the moment” for renewed efforts toward Christian unity. A three-page statement welcoming the Pope on
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by John Bolt, Ottawa Citizen ATLANTA – Roman Catholicism’s chief ambassador to other Christians is underscoring his church’s “passion for unity” and acceptance of other denominations as partner churches. Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for Christian Unity, visited several eastern U.S. cities in May, emphasizing “substantial progress” toward the goal and Rome’s
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by Don A. Schanche, Los Angeles Times In an important letter on the Virgin Mary, Pope John Paul II on Wednesday appealed to Christian churches in the East and West, and particularly in the Soviet Union, to seek unity in common devotion to the mother of Jesus Christ. It was only John Paul’s sixth encyclical-as
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Pope John Paul, in an encyclical issued Wednesday, reaffirmed Roman Catholic doctrines on the immaculate conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ; her virgin birth, and assumption to heaven – teachings some Protestants say block Christian unity.

But the Pope said in the 114-page encyclical that Christians should find in Mary a source of unity rather than a cause of division.

The encyclical, a pastoral letter addressed by a pope to the entire Roman Catholic church, is the sixth since Pope John Paul’s election in 1978.
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by George W. Cornell Working for Christian unity has become thoroughly institutionalized, a part of the organizational machinery of virtually every major church body and of liaison units among them. But as the special week, Jan. 18-25, approaches when Christians around the world pray, as Jesus did, “that they may all be one … so
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by James D. Davis, Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel The night before he died, Jesus prayed a strange, earnest prayer for his disciples — “that they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee … that the world may believe that Thou didst send me.” The prayer was strange
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by Rev. R. G. MacNeil, for the Ottawa Citizen “Christ, Our Reconciliation,” is the theme of the week of prayer for Christian unity to be held this year from Jan. 18 to 25. The observance was initiated 79 years ago by the Rev. Paul Wattson, an Anglican priest in the United States, who called for
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by Doug Yonson, Ottawa Citizen Ottawa-area churches will be emphasizing local activities to mark the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan. 18-25. In other years, at least one region-wide activity has been held during the ecumenical week. But Peter Schonenbach, president of the Christian Council of the Capital Area, said that this year
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Pope John Paul II expressed strong support Monday for Christian unity but warned that Catholics had important disagreements with other churches that could not be compromised.

At an ecumenical service in a Christchurch Catholic cathedral, on the last day of his visit to New Zealand, the Pope said that despite progress toward unity there were still real and serious divisions in the Christian community.

The pontiff, winding up the fourth stage of a six-nation tour, said Catholic commitment to ecumenism was irreversible.

“At the same time I am aware that the Catholic participation makes new demands of the other churches and ecclesiastical communities taking part in the ecumenical movement,” he said.

“We are convinced that the goal is not simply partnership. It is nothing less than the fullness of communion in a visible organic unity. The ecumenical way cannot be one of reduction.”
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Pope John Paul II acknowledged today that ”real differences” between Roman Catholicism and other churches are blocking progress toward Christian unity.

Speaking to leaders of other Christian faiths, the Pope also conceded that his church presents demands that complicate the ecumenical movement.

The Pope’s speech today was his first public statement on ecumenism since the leadership of the Church of England took the important step of saying it would accept some sort of papal authority in a unified church.

John Paul’s comments were also significant because New Zealand’s Catholics have been particularly energetic in pursuing ecumenical contacts.
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by Marjorie Hyer, Los Angeles Times Support for the World Council of Churches and its quest for Christian unity remains strong in this country despite attacks in recent years on its social and political stands, according to the ecumenical agency’s general secretary. “The aim of the World Council of Churches is to promote unity of
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[Reuters] Pope John Paul II has told the Archbishop of Canterbury the ordination of women priests in some Anglican churches poses an “increasingly serious obstacle” to progress toward eventual reunion with Rome, the Vatican said Monday. The Vatican released an exchange of letters between the Pope and Archbishop Robert Runcie, and between Runcie and Johannes
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from the Montreal Gazette [WINNIPEG] The new primate of the Anglican Church of Canada described himself yesterday as an ordinary human being with many limitations, but Archbishop Michael Peers of Regina said the church won’t back away from voicing opinions on social issues. “I believe the church is in the business, at a personal level
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A top Vatican official has told members of a joint Anglican-Roman Catholic commission that his church could recognize the validity of Anglican priesthood if the Anglican Church officially adopts statements agreed to by an earlier joint commission on priesthood and the Eucharist. Cardinal Johannes Willebrands of the Vatican Secretariat for Christian Unity raised the possibility in a letter to the commission, representatives of the panel told a news conference in London. The new Vatican approach could be a major development in ending the 450-year-old rift between Rome and Canterbury. Bishop Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and Bishop Mark Santer, the Catholic and Anglican chairmen of the commission, said they hoped shared communion would result from the changes as soon as the end of the century.
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VATICAN CITY – In a major gesture of Christian unity, Pope John Paul and Roman Catholic bishops recessed an international assembly Thursday to conduct an ecumenical service with 10 Protestant and Orthodox clergymen. The 10 men have been following the bishops’ two-week meeting, called an extraordinary synod, as observers. He embraced Archbishop Stylianos Harkianakis of
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by Paul Waters, Montreal Gazette VATICAN CITY – It would be premature for Catholic bishops to apologize for the persecution of Jews through the centuries, according to Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, president of the Secretariat for Christian Unity. A petition circulated among Roman parishes in the last few weeks asks the 165 bishops from around the
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by Kenneth A. Briggs, special to the New York Times [Vatican City] Johannes Cardinal Willebrands, head of the Vatican Secretariat for Christian Unity, called today for greater efforts to bring Roman Catholics and other Christians together. The Dutch Cardinal, speaking at a news conference in connection with the Synod of Bishops here, also said conditions
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from the Orlando Sentinel The director of the Vatican department that deals with other Christians said Monday that Pope John Paul II is working toward Christian unity but not a single superchurch. Nevertheless, Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, the Dutch-born head of the Vatican secretariat for Christian unity, denied the pope is dragging his feet on forging
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The Vatican’s chief ecumenical officer called Monday for a new effort to draw Roman Catholicism and the World Council of Churches into a closer relationship, challenging a widening perception that the church’s commitment to cooperative Christian efforts is flagging.

Johannes Cardinal Willebrands, the Dutch-born president of the Vatican’s Secretariat for Christian Unity, contended at a news conference that Catholic collaboration with other Christian denominations, fueled by reforms enacted at the Second Vatican Council two decades ago, remains a central church policy.
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In a letter described by religious leaders as “unprecedented,” Pope John Paul II told the presiding bishop of the Lutheran Church in America that Christian unity “continues as a priority in the Catholic Church today” and praised the agreements by joint Lutheran-Catholic theological commissions over the last two decades. The Pope’s letter came in response to a letter from Bishop James R. Crumley Jr. of New York, who wrote the pontiff May 22 asking him to encourage U.S. Roman Catholics to study the last report issued by the joint commission, a 21,000-word study on “justification by faith,” a key doctrine of the Protestant Reformation.
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[REGINA – Canadian Press] The Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the world’s 70 million Anglicans, has called again for greater Christian unity. “We must seek Christian unity not as a fearful coalition in headlong retreat from the secular world,” Most Rev. Robert Runcie told about 1,300 people at a service yesterday in the Saskatchewan Centre
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by E. J. Dionne, New York Times Pope John Paul II celebrated his 65th birthday today before cheering crowds with talk of Christian unity and a stern warning to youth against the exploitation ”of our weaknesses and our passions.” John Paul, who has been criticized by some Protestant leaders for slowing ecumenical dialogue, called on
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by Jack Houston, Chicago Tribune The newly installed head of the National Council of Churches, in his first address before the ecumenical body’s governing board, called Wednesday for a public confession of past institutional sins, a healing of internal structure and a renewed commitment to the council’s goal of Christian unity and service to society.
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by Robert O’Connor, Chicago Tribune Last December, Rev. David Armstrong, minister of the First Limavady Presbyterian Church, performed what in most parts of the world would have been a little noted act of courtesy: He exchanged Christmas greetings with a neighbor, the pastor of the local Roman Catholic church. Last week he left town. He
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Following are excerpts from Pope John Paul II’s letter on Martin Luther, dated Oct. 31, and addressed to Johannes Cardinal Willebrands, Archbishop of Utrecht. The letter, which was written in German, was translated by The Associated Press from a text in Italian released today by the Vatican.

November 10, 1983, is the 500th anniversary of the birth of Doctor Martin Luther of Eisleben. On this occasion, numerous Christians, especially of the Lutheran-Evangelical confession, remember that theologian who contributed in a substantial manner to the radical change of ecclesiastical and secular reality in the West. Our world still experiences his great impact on history.

For the Catholic Church the name of Martin Luther has through the centuries been tied to a painful period in history, in particular to the experience of profound ecclesiastical divisions.

For this reason, the 500th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther must be for us an occasion to meditate, in Christian truth and charity, on that event engraved in history that was the epoch of the Reformation. It is time that we distance ourselves from historic events and assure that they are often better understood and evoked.
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“Many people today think the ecumenical movement is losing momentum; but, in fact, many marvelous things are taking place,” says Father Irenée Beaubien, SJ, director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism here. He cited the example of the fruitful dialogue which has been going on for the past seven years between representatives of the Catholic and United Churches.
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The Roman Catholic Church of the Netherlands and the Dutch Reformed Church, oldest of the Dutch Protestant churches, with roots in the Reformation of the 16th century, announced today that they had agreed to recognize each other’s baptism.

This latest step toward church unity in the Netherlands was announced by Bernard Cardinal Alfrink, leader of the Dutch Roman Catholic hierarchy, and the Rev. Dr. Gerit de Ru, president of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church, at a news conference here.
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