The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has welcomed a recent resolution by the German Catholic bishops’ conference to make it possible for Catholic-Lutheran married couples to receive the Eucharist together.

This development follows the Joint Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration of the Reformation in 2016, where the LWF and the Catholic Church expressed it as a joint pastoral responsibility to “respond to the spiritual thirst and hunger” of many of their members “who yearn to receive the Eucharist at one table, as the concrete expression of full unity.”

In the German Bishops Conference earlier this month, the Catholic bishops agreed to provide an orientation that would help local Catholic priests and their bishops to formally decide on a case-by-case basis to open the Eucharist to Protestant spouses, which in Germany would include Lutherans, Reformed and members of united churches.
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In what’s believed to be the first formal ecumenical meeting between the Anglican Church of Canada and Mennonite Church Canada, members of each church learned what both might be able to share with one another in Waterloo, Ont., February 2-3.

Among other things, Anglican dialogue members expressed a desire to learn from Mennonites “how to be a prophetic voice from a position where you don’t necessarily have influence or power,” says the Rev. Scott Sharman, who participated in the meeting as the Anglican Church of Canada’s animator for ecumenical and interfaith relations.

The goal of the dialogue at this point is primarily for each to learn from and be enriched by the other, says Sharman. “I don’t think that anyone would take anything off the table as possibilities of what it might grow into, but also, at the same time, we’ve not gone into it with a stated goal of working towards establishing a full communion relationship such as we have with the ELCIC [Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada],” he says. “I think there’s an openness to seeing where the spirit leads and where the conversations take us, but the path hasn’t necessarily been set out in advance.”
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Meeting at the Taizé Community in France, the Global Christian Forum Committee chose Dr Casely Essamuah to serve in the central role of its Secretary. Dr Essamuah will take up the position on 1 July 2018, following the retirement of the Rev Dr Larry Miller who has led the GCF for the last six years.

Originally ordained in the Methodist Church, Ghana, Dr Essamuah has worked for the last 13 years as Global Missions and Local Outreach Pastor of the Bay Area Community Church, Annapolis, MD. Dr Essamuah describes himself as “evangelical and ecumenical.” Coming originally from Africa and now ministering in North America, he views himself as a “bridge-builder” between the churches in the global north and global south.

“In a time when the majority of the world’s Christians now live in the southern hemisphere, creating new tensions and challenges in the life of world Christianity, Dr Casely Essamuah is uniquely equipped to serve the cause of unity in the global body of Christ in the role of Secretary of the Global Christian Forum,” said Rev. Wes Granberg-Michaelson, co-chair of the Search Committee.
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Senior Anglican leaders have endorsed Pope Francis’ call for an ecumenical day of prayer and fasting for peace, with a particular focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Pope Francis made his call on Sunday in his traditional Angelus address to crowds in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican. It has now been endorsed by the acting primate of the Anglican Church of South Sudan, the secretary general of the Anglican Communion, and the deputy director of the Anglican Centre in Rome.

“Faced with the tragic continuation of conflict in several parts of the world, I invite all faithful to a special day of prayer and fasting for peace on this coming 23 February, Friday of the First Week of Lent,” Pope Francis said. “We will offer this in particular to the populations of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and of South Sudan.

“As on other similar occasions, I also invite non-Catholic and non-Christian brothers and sisters to participate in this initiative in the ways they consider most appropriate, but all together.
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Speaking at the recitation of the Angelus prayer last Sunday, the Pope invited all women and men of goodwill to join him in praying for an end to violence and conflict, especially in South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Addressing the crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square, the Pope said: “Faced with the tragic protracted situations of conflict in different parts of the world, I invite all the faithful to take part in a special Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace”.

Noting that February 23rd falls on a Friday during the first full week of Lent, the Pope asked people to pray especially for those suffering violence in the DRC and in South Sudan, where political unrest and a protracted civil war continues to claim thousands of lives.
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A dialogue document on Church, Eucharist and Ministry published by Lutherans and Roman Catholics in Finland in 2017 could pave the way for an international declaration between the two Christian churches, church leaders in the Nordic nation say.

Communion in Growth, a report from the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Commission of Finland, found that despite differences of emphasis between the Roman Catholic Church in Finland and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Eucharist and (ordained) Ministry, they don’t need to be church dividing issues in the light of the achieved consensus on the basic truths of faith regarding these themes.
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“One faith, one baptism, one grace.” That is the title of the first national bilateral agreement between the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark The Methodist Church in Denmark (as a part of the United Methodist Church).

With this agreement about church communion, the churches acknowledge each other as equal churches, including acknowledging each other’s baptism, Eucharist and offices. Furthermore, the churches confirm that they can co-celebrate Church services and that a pastor does not need to be re-ordained if he or she is called to minister in the other church.

ELCD and The Methodist Church have enjoyed full communion, ever since ELCD joined the Leuenberg Agreement in 2001, which is a co-operation agreement between the protestant churches in Europe. The Methodist Church joined this co-operation in 1994.

It is thus a local implementation of the Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe, which after years of in-depth ecumenical dialogue is being carried out.
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Changes now being considered to the structure of the United Church of Canada could conceivably ease clergy-sharing and other forms of cooperation between that church and the Anglican Church of Canada, say some leaders from the two churches.

One challenge now facing merged Anglican and United congregations, as noted in a report issued following the conclusion of the most recently completed round of dialogue between the two denominations, is that they lack an agreement allowing the interchangeability of ministries. Clergy of one church have been allowed to serve as clergy for the other generally only in circumstances regarded as exceptional, such as in ecumenical shared ministries, for which special permission needs to be granted by the authorities of each denomination.
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New and returning members of the Anglican Church of Canada-United Church of Canada Dialogue came together last month for the first meeting since the renewal of their mandate at General Synod 2016.

Gathering from Nov. 27-30 at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre in Mississauga, representatives from the two churches reviewed the achievements of past iterations of the dialogue—as documented in The St. Brigid Report and Called to Unity in Mission—and explored ways to move forward in the mutual recognition of ministers and ministry.

The Rev. Dr. Scott Sharman, animator for ecumenical and interfaith relations and Anglican staff support to the dialogue, said that much of the dialogue focused on how mutual recognition currently manifests itself at the grassroots level.

“Oftentimes, the way that question was being considered was as though that mutual recognition would have to happen at the level of the national churches at the same time,” Sharman said.
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Over 60 faith leaders and organizations in Canada have signed a letter addressed to The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, concerning the removal of section 176 from the Criminal Code of Canada, as proposed under Clause 14 of Bill C-51, “An Act to Amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act and to Make Consequential Amendments to Another Act”. The interfaith letter was co-authored by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and the Association for Reformed Political Action. Representatives from a variety of faith traditions have endorsed the letter, including from the Sikh, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Buddhist traditions.

The Conference also intervened on 30 October 2017 concerning Clause 14 of Bill C-51, which included a written submission to the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, followed by oral presentations before the Standing Committee by the Most Reverend Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil and President of the CCCB and His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, with the assistance of Mr. Bruce F. Simpson, a partner specialized in criminal law with Barnes Sammon LLP.
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Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed that government actors have a duty to specifically consider religious freedom concerns when raised by claimants in its Ktunaxa Nation v. British Columbia decision. This historic case – the first Indigenous religious freedom claim to be heard by the Supreme Court – raised questions about the scope of religious freedom, and the means by which religious communities can practise and manifest their faith. Christian Legal Fellowship (CLF) and The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) jointly intervened in the case.

The litigation arose from a proposed ski resort on land that is sacred to the Ktunaxa people. The Ktunaxa Nation opposed the development on the basis that it would desecrate the sacred site and would interfere with a variety of their spiritual practices.

The British Columbia Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources approved the development but did not specifically address how the decision would impact the Ktunaxa Nation’s section 2(a) Charter right to freedom of religion.

The Supreme Court upheld the Minister’s ultimate decision; however, the Court was divided 7-2 on some of their underlying reasons.
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During a special service to commemorate 500 years of the Reformation at the Westminster Abbey today, representatives of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Roman Catholic Church received the Anglican Communion’s affirmation of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ).

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby presented LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Martin Junge and the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) Bishop Dr Brian Farrell with the 2016 Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) resolution “welcoming and affirming the substance of the JDDJ.”

The event was witnessed by the General Secretaries of the World Methodist Council (WMC) and the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) Rev. Ivan Abrahams and Rev. Dr Chris Ferguson respectively.

Addressing the congregation, Archbishop Welby said, “When the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999, you resolved the underlying theological question of 1517, in a decisive moment for all churches in the search for unity and reconciliation.” The ACC resolution, he said, “welcomed and affirmed the substance of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, noting its profound convergences with our own dialogues with Lutherans and Catholics.”

Receiving the Anglican action on the JDDJ, General Secretary Junge said its public presentation on Reformation Day itself was significant on the journey toward church unity. “We are grateful to God that together with Catholic, Methodist and Reformed sisters and brothers, we are witnessing today the affirmation of the substance of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Anglican Communion. May this moment serve as an important witness on the way of growing unity among our churches,” he said.
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Church and political leaders have marked the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Reformation in Wittenberg, Germany where on 31 October 1517 he published his 95 Theses denouncing church abuses.

“It was an act of liberation when, 500 years ago today, the Augustinian monk Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in Wittenberg, perhaps even a few metres from here, on the door of this church,” Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chairperson of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, said in his sermon at the 31 October service at Wittenberg’s Castle Church.

“A spiritual renewal went out from Wittenberg, to people in Germany, Europe and worldwide. To men and women from all social classes,” said Bedford-Strohm.

The service opened with the singing of Luther’s hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” whose words are inscribed around the tower of the Castle Church, and included music by 18th century composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and chancellor Angela Merkel joined church leaders at the service, including Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, and the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.
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The Episcopal Church-United Methodist Dialogue Committee met in Washington, D.C., to continue its work on establishing a full communion relationship between the two denominations.

The committee has adopted a draft proposal for full communion titled A Gift to the World: Co-Laborers for the Healing of Brokenness (The Episcopal Church and The United Methodist Church, A Proposal for Full Communion) and is seeking feedback from laity, clergy and bishops in both denominations before an official resolution could be presented to respective legislative bodies.
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One of Canada’s most influential and controversial theologians, among the few remaining living links to the Second Vatican Council, has died.

Gregory Baum, author of the first draft of Nostra Aetate, was 94 years old.

Baum was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Montreal Oct. 8. “I’m disappearing inside,” he told a friend. He decided not to continue the dialysis treatment which had kept him alive the last four years.

As a young theologian, Baum shot to prominence in the early days of the Second Vatican Council, mentored by Cardinal Augustin Bea. A key ally of Pope St. John XXIII, Bea looked for credible Catholic experts on Catholic-Jewish relations and found his man in Baum.
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Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, says sanctions will likely be placed on the church by the primates of the Anglican Communion if it proceeds to amend the marriage canon (church law) to allow same-sex marriages.

He also questions whether the primates, by taking these punitive measures, are moving beyond the original purpose of their yearly meetings.

“Oh yes,” Hiltz replied Thursday, October 12 when asked by the Anglican Journal if he expected the primates would impose sanctions on the Canadian church if a motion to amend the marriage canon passes its required second reading at General Synod in 2019.

Hiltz had recently returned from the 2017 meeting of primates from across the Anglican Communion held in Canterbury, England., October 2-6. On the second day of the meeting, the Scottish Episcopal Church, which voted in June to allow same-sex marriages, agreed to accept the same “consequences” that the primates had imposed on The Episcopal Church (TEC) in 2016 after its decision to allow same-sex marriages.
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In the spirit of the recommendation of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) that there should be regular meetings of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops in individual countries to discuss common concerns, a sixth such meeting of Irish bishops took place in Dublin on Saturday, 28th September. Thirteen bishops were present representing the Irish Episcopal Conference and the House of Bishops. In an atmosphere marked by positivity and candour, the bishops discussed a wide range of issues of common interest in relation to the ministry and service churches offer in Irish society, both north and south of the border. These included education; engagement with young people; the World Meeting of Families, emphasizing its ecumenical possibilities; the plight of refugees and migrants; and current social issues. All the participants said the experience was very valuable as they shared insightful perspectives that engendered renewed commitment to promoting the Kingdom of God.
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The Episcopal Church-United Methodist Dialogue met in Washington, D.C. at the United Methodist Building on October 2-4, 2017. Episcopalians present were the Right Reverend C. Franklin Brookhart (co-chair); the Reverend Dr. Thomas Ferguson; Dr. Deirdre Good; Mr. Richard J. Mammana, Jr. (staff); the Reverend Mariclair Partee Carlsen; the Right Reverend David Rice; and the Reverend Margaret Rose (staff). United Methodists present were the Reverend Patricia Farris; the Reverend Dr. James Howell; the Reverend Dr. Pamela Lightsey; Bishop Gregory Palmer (co-chair); the Reverend Dr. Kyle Tau (staff); Bishop B. Michael Watson; and the Reverend Dr. Robert Williams. The Reverend Dr. Jonathan Linman was an invited observer from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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The Rev. Najla Kassab, a minister in the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL), has been elected president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), which groups more than 225 churches in over 110 countries.

“With her experience and many gifts, Najla’s vision, insight, spiritual strength and grace make her the right person to lead us forward as president,” said Alison McDonald, the moderator of a Nominating Committee that brought a slate of nominees for the WCRC Executive Committee to its General Council.

The elections took place on 7 July, the final day of the Council, which has been meeting in the eastern German city of Leipzig since 29 June. Of the 22 members of the new Executive Committee, 10 are men and 12 women; 15 are ordained and 7 are lay people. Five of the members of the Executive Committee are young adults under 30 years of age, including one of the vice-presidents.
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Last week, the Canadian Churches Forum and the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) came together at the CCC Governing Board meetings to make some important decisions about the future of their relationship and work. A motion was adopted that the CCF become the “Forum for Intercultural Leadership and Learning (FILL): A Reference Group of the Canadian Council of Churches.”

Moving more fully into the Council in this way opens the potential of working more closely with the CCC’s 26 member denominations and their diversity and experience. The Canadian Council of Churches is the broadest and most inclusive ecumenical body in the world, representing denominations of Anglican; Evangelical; Free Church; Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox; Protestant; and Catholic traditions. Together, the CCC churches represent more than 85% of Christians in Canada.

Also being considered are some shifts that will make Forum program alumni and others more creatively part of the work with a larger portion of this reference group’s resources going to supporting and networking people across Canada with a calling to intercultural ministry.
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Anglicans and Roman Catholics should see in each other “a community in which the Holy Spirit is alive and active,” the latest communiqué from the official ecumenical dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church says.

Members of the third-phase of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) met in the central German city of Erfurt early this month for their seventh meeting. They chose to meet in the city to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation – it is here that Martin Luther was ordained and lived as a monk.

During their meeting, the members of ARCIC agreed the text of a new statement looking at Anglican and Roman Catholic ecclesiology. Walking Together on the Way: Learning to be Church – Local, Regional, Universal, to be known as The Erfurt Document, will be published next year.
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Un groupe d’épiscopaliens et de méthodistes a rendu publique sa proposition visant à une pleine communion entre les deux confessions.

La mise en œuvre intégrale de la proposition prendra au moins trois ans. La Convention générale de l’Église épiscopale et la Conférence générale de l’Église méthodiste unie doivent approuver l’accord qui est l’aboutissement de 15 années d’exploration et de plus de 50 ans de dialogue officiel entre les deux églises. La prochaine Convention générale de l’Église épiscopale se tiendra en juillet 2018 à Austin (État du Texas). La Conférence générale de l’Église méthodiste aura lieu en 2020.
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A group of Episcopalians and Methodists has released its proposal for full communion between the two denominations.

Full implementation of the proposal will take at least three years. The Episcopal Church General Convention and the United Methodist Church General Conference must approve the agreement, which culminates 15 years of exploration and more than 50 years of formal dialogue between the two churches. General Convention next meets in July 2018 in Austin, Texas. The General Conference’s next meeting is in 2020.
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he Episcopal Church–United Methodist Dialogue group have prepared A Gift to the World: Co-Laborers for the Healing of Brokenness; The Episcopal Church and The United Methodist Church – A Proposal for Full Communion, the result of dialogue for a formal full-communion relationship.

In a recent letter, Bishop Frank Brookhart of Montana, Episcopal Church co-chair of the committee, with Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, the United Methodist Church, Ohio West Episcopal Area, offered, “The relationships formed over these years of dialogue, and the recognition that there are presently no theological impediments to unity, paved the way for this current draft proposal.”
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In his greetings to the Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Chris Ferguson, general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), called for consideration of a joint meeting between the organizations.

“There are many things that we can and should do together,” Ferguson said. “I give thanks that God has given us the gift of partnership in mission, witness and diakonia with LWF. I hope that in six or seven years we will be able to celebrate our general assemblies in the same time and place. Separate meetings, yes, but joined for common worship, reflection and witness together. Can you imagine that! Let’s think about it!”

Ferguson noted that the two organizations continue to grow closer together, despite the WCRC’s move from Geneva to Hannover. In particular he raised the WCRC’s upcoming association with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), which will be signed at a special worship service in Wittenberg during the WCRC’s General Council.
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In 2017, we mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. This Festschrift in honour of Monsignor John Radano, who served as head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity‘s Western section for nearly 25 years, offers a window on what has been achieved through ecumenical dialogue over the past 50 years. It also reminds us of the importance of ecumenical friendship in advancing the cause of Christian unity.

Since the Reformation, Christian unity has suffered many failures. Yet, especially in more recent times, it has also celebrated encouraging successes. Disparate Christian traditions are beginning to trust each other. Will Christians eventually find one shared identity? What are the theological and ecclesial challenges ahead? This timely collection of essays by prominent Catholic and Protestant ecumenists witnesses a hope for a future Christian unity born out of 50 years of honest and genuine dialogue.

Towards Unity – a collection of papers by major ecumenical contributors – reflects with passion and hope on bilateral dialogues, the ecumenical movement, and organizations that promote multilateral relationships. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, the scandal of division is giving birth to renewed relationships, dialogue, and awareness.
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A five-year discussion of baptism among Mennonites, Catholics and Lutherans has yielded new insights.

Representatives of the Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Lutheran World Federation, and the Mennonite World Conference gathered Feb. 9-14 in Augsburg, Germany for the fifth and final meeting of the Trilateral Dialogue Commission on Baptism.

John Rempel of Canada said reflecting on each group’s practice of baptism helped participants learn to respect, trust and challenge each other.

“From the Lutherans, I have seen more clearly that their concern about justification by grace through faith is not that discipleship is a secondary matter,” said Rempel, who is professor emeritus of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., and the Toronto School of Theology. “Their concern is that following Christ be a lifestyle of gratitude for God’s grace and not good works to earn God’s favour.

“From the Catholics, I have learned that the sacrament of baptism does not have an automatic role in salvation. If someone persistently lives life against the Spirit of Christ, baptism will not save them.”
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Governors of the Anglican Centre in Rome are very pleased to announce the appointment of Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi, Primate of the Anglican Church of Burundi from 2005 until 2016 as the Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. He succeeds Archbishop David Moxon who retires in June.

Born in 1948, Archbishop Ntahoturi grew up in a small village in Matana, Southern Burundi, the son of a poor farming family. After training at Bishop Tucker Theological College in Mukono, Uganda, he was ordained in 1973. He came to England to further his theological training at Ridley Hall and St John’s in Cambridge, where he is now an honorary Fellow, and then at Lincoln College, Oxford. After his studies, he returned to Burundi where he joined the civil service, becoming chief of staff to President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza. After the overthrowing of President Bagaza in 1987, in a military coup, he was jailed from 1987 to 1990. In 1992, he became Provincial Secretary of the Anglican Church of Burundi until 1997.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury is encouraging Christians of all denominations to join in with a ten day global prayer initiative “Thy Kingdom Come” from Ascension Day to Pentecost. What began last year as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer. Last year more than 100,000 people joined in and in 2017 it’s expected to be on a bigger scale. Launching the initiative, which runs from 25 May to 4 June, Archbishop Justin said: “When the wind of the spirit is blowing, hoist the sails and go with the wind. It’s not a Church of England thing, it’s not an Anglican thing, it’s a Christian thing.”
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As we mark the annual week of prayer for Christian Unity, Catholics have much to celebrate because 2016 was “truly an ecumenical year”. That’s the view of Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who accompanied Pope Francis on all his ecumenical journeys throughout the past year.

The cardinal was reflecting on the theme for this week of prayer which is centred on a verse from St Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians: ‘Reconciliation: the love of Christ compels us’. Members of the Council of Christian Churches in Germany were asked to prepare material on this theme which is set in the context of this year’s 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

Cardinal Koch says the leitmotif for this week of prayer is reconciliation, proposed by Christians in Germany, where the Reformation began. While we have much gratitude for the Reformation and the rediscovery of all that is in common between Lutherans and Catholics, he says, we must also recognise the painful history of the last 500 years. Though Luther did not want to divide the Church, he notes the “horrible confessional wars” that followed the Reformation “transformed Europe into a red sea of blood”. We must acknowledge both of these pages, he says, working for repentance and reconciliation, but also showing gratitude for the gifts of the Reformation.
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Our Lord and his apostles used many figures of speech to describe the Church. From our beloved St. Paul: “We are God’s fellow labourers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9). “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor. 12:27). Or Jesus’ words: “Fear not, little flock” (Luke 12:32a). “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5a).

Many of us have admired a well-ordered cathedral, such as St. Paul’s, London, or All Saints, Nairobi. We recognise — almost unconsciously — the beauty of the human person, of a pastoral scene or vineyard. No wonder they make fitting images for the Church, the heavenly Jerusalem, a city “at unity with itself” (Ps. 122:3).

Our experience of the Church’s unity tends to fall short of these glorious figures. We see “hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions” (see Gal. 5:19-21).

In recognition of this, Anglicans have turned to other images over the past 14 years: among them, “walking together in synodality,” “walking apart,” or even “walking at a distance.” This language proves useful, vividly illustrating different degrees or intensities of communion: some choose to be close; some go their own way; some wander onto the wrong path.

Through such images, we see how harmony, order, and unity are gifts received, but also unwrapped and used. A field must be cultivated, a building maintained, a vine pruned.
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“This year, churches around the world will be marking the great significance of the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation in Europe, dated from Martin Luther’s 95 Theses protesting against the practice of indulgences, on 31 October 1517 at Wittenberg. The Church of England will be participating in various ways, including sharing in events with Protestant church partners from Continental Europe.

The Reformation was a process of both renewal and division amongst Christians in Europe. In this Reformation Anniversary year, many Christians will want to give thanks for the great blessings they have received to which the Reformation directly contributed. Amongst much else these would include clear proclamation of the gospel of grace, the availability of the Bible to all in their own language and the recognition of the calling of lay people to serve God in the world and in the church.

Many will also remember the lasting damage done five centuries ago to the unity of the Church, in defiance of the clear command of Jesus Christ to unity in love. Those turbulent years saw Christian people pitted against each other, such that many suffered persecution and even death at the hands of others claiming to know the same Lord. A legacy of mistrust and competition would then accompany the astonishing global spread of Christianity in the centuries that followed. All this leaves us much to ponder.
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While attending an ecumenical service at a Lutheran church in Rome a year ago, Pope Francis encountered a Lutheran woman who was married to a Roman Catholic. She asked the Pope why she could not receive the Eucharist while attending Catholic services with her husband.

Caught unawares by this spur-of-the-moment question, Pope Francis’ immediate reply was to suggest that the woman should follow her conscience. It was the type of pastoral response that has become a trademark of Pope Francis, but it would be a mistake to believe his intention was to introduce a new Church teaching. His pastoral response does, however, signal that ancient barriers may well be in the process of reform.

Most Roman Catholics are probably aware that Protestants should not receive communion at a Catholic celebration of the Eucharist. But few probably know the reason why. Likewise, it is also fair to suggest that Catholics attending a Protestant service are often uncertain whether it is proper to receive Eucharist in a Protestant church.

Amid this uncertainty, I suspect a common response today from both Catholics and Protestants is to feel less conscience-bound to refrain from eucharistic sharing at each other’s gatherings.
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Catholic and Orthodox leaders have pledged to stand together against fundamentalism and terrorism, as well as resisting forces working to erode and destroy religious belief in Europe.

“Terrorist violence against people considered unbelievers or infidels is the extreme degree of religious intolerance — we unreservedly condemn it and deplore that such acts have developed in the soil of a misguided religious culture,” the church representatives said in a joint message Jan. 13.

“The constitutions of our states guarantee the fundamental rights of the human person. Nevertheless, in our societies, forces are always at work to marginalize or even erase religions and their message from the public space. We believe Europe needs more than ever the breath of faith in Christ and the hope it provides.”

The 14-point message was published after a Jan. 9-12 meeting of the European Catholic-Orthodox Forum, co-chaired in Paris by Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, former president of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, and Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

It said Catholic and Orthodox bishops deplored “crimes that may have been committed in the name of religion,” but believed their churches should not be blamed “for attitudes of intolerance that are inadmissible nowadays, but used to be shared by societies in the past.”
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According to a story often repeated in the diocese of Quebec, when the first Anglican bishop, Jacob Mountain, arrived in Quebec City in 1793, he was greeted on the dock by his Roman Catholic counterpart, Bishop Jean-François Hubert.

“Your people are waiting for you,” said Hubert, welcoming Mountain to his new home.

While relations between French Catholics and English Protestants in Quebec have not always been so cordial, the leadership of the two churches have long understood the practical need to work together in a province where religion historically has played an outsized role in public life.
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A group of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops have acknowledged both churches’ failure to protect children, women and indigenous peoples. In a statement issued by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) today following the group’s historic meeting in Canterbury and Rome last month, they call on the Church to repent and seek justice for victims. They say that, “at the foot of the Cross we, as bishops, have reflected on an ‘ecumenism of humiliation’. We lament our failures and share the brokenness of our church communities.”

They continue: “We failed to protect vulnerable people: children from sexual abuse, women from violence, and indigenous peoples from exploitation.

“In this communion of shame, we confess that our own feeble witness to God’s call to life in community has contributed to the isolation of individuals and families, and even to that secularisation which removes God from the public space. We, as bishops, are called to lead the church in repentance and to seek justice for the abused.”

The bishops have called their statement “an appeal from the IARCCUM bishops to the bishops and the people of the Anglican and Catholic communities.”
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A call for Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from around the world to work more closely together in witness and joint mission is part of the ongoing fruit of a unique eight-day gathering held earlier this fall in Canterbury and Rome, says Regina Archbishop Donald Bolen.

“We were commissioned as pairs of bishops to go and work together, to witness together wherever possible, and to encourage our brother bishops to work together,” says Bolen, one of the bishops from around the world commissioned for the task by Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

“The ongoing story is what the pairs of Anglican and Catholic bishops can do together across Canada, and across the world.”

The purpose of the summit was to discover where Catholics and Anglicans can give greater witness to their common faith and collaborate in mission to the world, based on 50 years of dialogue and the agreed statements of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and the IARCCUM document, “Growing Together in Unity and Mission.”
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The appointment has been announced today of the Revd Dr Will Adam as the Archbishop’s Ecumenical Adviser. As well as these duties, the role includes being Ecumenical Officer at the Council of Christian Unity (CCU).

This post will build on the creative joint working that has been established between Lambeth Palace and CCU to further the ecumenical ministry of the Archbishop.

Archbishop Justin Welby said: “I am delighted that Will Adam will be bringing his considerable experience and expertise to this post. His understanding of both national and international ecumenism will be a real asset to the work at Lambeth and at CCU. There are wonderful opportunities in ecumenism in these times, and we must always strive to be obedient to Jesus’ desire that his Church ‘may be one’.”
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Third Meeting of the Informal Dialogue Group between the International Lutheran Council and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. On October 14-15, the Informal Dialogue Group between the International Lutheran Council (ILC) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity met. This time the gathering took place at the Johann-Adam-Möhler-Institute for Ecumenism in Paderborn, Germany.

The conversations centered on the Lutheran perception of the Roman Catholic liturgy. They focused particularly on the Roman Catholic understanding of the presence of Christ’s sacrifice and the sacrifice of the Church in the Lord’s Supper. It became apparent that there were different ways of thinking—not only between Lutheran and Roman Catholic approaches to the topic, but also in the various Roman Catholic Eucharistic prayers themselves. The debate centered in particular on the problem whether and to what extent the Church might play a distinct, or “active”, role in the performance of the liturgy.

The next meeting is scheduled for June 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. In preparing for this meeting, cross-confessional pairings were formed. They are meant to engage with the following topics: the understanding of co-operation of the Church (“synergeia”) and sacrifice; the theological understanding of “time”, that is to say the relationship between the history of salvation and the “event” of salvation, or the issue of the realization of salvation in the liturgy; the understanding of sacrifice against the background of article 24 of the Augsburg Confession and its Apology, and in The Examination of the Council of Trent by Martin Chemnitz, looking also at the document “The Eucharist” (1978); and questions concerning the office of the ministry and ordination. Moreover, they plan to identify and describe areas of major agreement between the Roman Catholic Church and the churches in the International Lutheran Council. The resulting texts will serve to steer the further debates in the year to come, and secure the results of this informal dialogue.
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The Catholic Church insistence that it cannot ordain women to the priesthood and episcopacy is a teaching likely to last forever, Pope Francis said.

After being hosted by the Lutheran Church of Sweden, which is led by Archbishop Antje Jackelen of Uppsala, the nation’s first woman primate, Pope Francis was asked Nov. 1 if the Catholic Church might one day have women priests and bishops.

As he has done in the past, the pope responded that the question was settled in 1994 by St. John Paul II, who taught that because Jesus chose only men as his apostles, the ordination of women in the Catholic Church is not possible.

He was asked, “Really? Never?” And he responded, “If one carefully reads the declaration of St. John Paul it goes in that direction, yes.”
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Commemorations of next year’s 500th anniversary of the Reformation – which led to the separation of protestant churches from the Catholic Church – have begun with a combined prayer service in Lund Cathedral, Sweden, attended by Pope Francis and the Revd Dr Martin Junge, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation. The participation of Pope Francis at the start of the year of commemorations is hugely significant and symbolises the growing ecumenical thaw which has been taking place over the past 50 years.

The prayer service is taking place in Lund Cathedral, which began life in 1080 as the seat of the Catholic archiepiscopal diocese of Lund; but since Danish Reformation in the 1520s and 1530s, has been a Lutheran cathedral. It became part of the Church of Sweden when the Province of Skåne (Scania) was ceded from Denmark to Sweden in 1658.

Through the Porvoo Communion, the Church of Sweden is in full communion with several Anglican churches, including the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, the Lusitanian Church of Portugal, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain, and the Church in Wales. Elsewhere across the globe, other Anglican churches are in varying degrees of unity and communion with other Lutheran churches.

“We are on our way from conflict to communion,” Archbishop Antje Jackelén, leader of the Church of Sweden, said at a press conference, referencing the ground-breaking 2013 joint report between the two churches. “We are going to express our joy and gratitude for what we have in common: namely, the Gospel of Jesus Christ which unites us – that can be celebrated never enough.

“But there are also things that we definitely do not want to celebrate; but to repent and express our lament and sorrow; and that is, of course, the pain that division has caused throughout so many centuries.”
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Professing belief in the resurrection of the dead and affirming that the human body is an essential part of a person’s identity, the Catholic Church insists that the bodies of the deceased be treated with respect and laid to rest in a consecrated place.

While the Catholic Church continues to prefer burial in the ground, it accepts cremation as an option, but forbids the scattering of ashes and the growing practice of keeping cremated remains at home, said Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

“Caring for the bodies of the deceased, the church confirms its faith in the resurrection and separates itself from attitudes and rites that see in death the definitive obliteration of the person, a stage in the process of reincarnation or the fusion of one’s soul with the universe,” the cardinal told reporters Oct. 25.
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Pope Francis will join people from all over the world in celebration of the ecumenical developments of the Catholic and Lutheran Churches. The event takes place 31 October in southern Sweden. The celebration will be divided into two, one in a cathedral in Lund and one for 10,000 people in a sports arena in Malmö.

The 31 October is called “Reformation Day” by Lutherans. It was the day Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

The Lund Cathedral ceremony will be a prayer with the pope and the president of the Lutheran church together. It’s the first time for something like this to happen. Then later that day, there will be performances, songs and prayers in Malmö. All of them will be under the general theme of “Together in Hope”.

The programme will include testimonies of people from around the world. One of the speakers is Marguerite Barankitse, the “Mother of Burundi”. She is the founder of “Maison Shalom”. It helps orphans of the civil war lead a normal life. They can get an education and have a chance at a good future. She has experienced brutal war, but continues to have hope for peace.
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The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, paid a private visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at Lambeth Palace yesterday (Tuesday). Patriarch Kirill was in the UK to mark the 300th anniversary of the Diocese of Sourozh – the Russian Orthodox Church in Britain and Ireland. Earlier, Archbishop Welby and the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, were in attendance when Patriarch Kirill visited The Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Bishop Chartres takes the lead on the C of E’s relationships with the Orthodox Churches, and was also present at Lambeth Palace for the meeting with Patriarch Kirill and his delegation.

Archbishop Welby and Patriarch Kirill spoke about “their shared compassion for Christian, and other, minorities in many parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, where they have been systematically targeted and persecuted and their communities decimated,” a Lambeth Palace spokesperson said.
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Canada’s Catholic bishops will no longer be part of Canada’s ecumenical social justice coalition known as Kairos.

The decision taken by a majority of bishops at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual plenary meeting was prompted by a combination of ideological differences and minor legal changes in the structure of the ecumenical coalition to meet tax compliance concerns of the Canada Revenue Agency. For legal and tax purposes, Kairos has been a part of the United Church of Canada since it was founded in 2001.
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Joe Tosini believes that on the last day Jesus will judge people on whether they fed the hungry, clothed the naked and, especially, whether they loved one another, not on whether they were baptized with a sprinkling of water as an infant in a Catholic Church or by being plunged into a pool as an adult in an evangelical service.

Tosini, a Pentecostal Christian, is founder of the Phoenix-based John 17 Movement, an ecumenical initiative about forming relationships and friendships among Christians.

Unlike the formal ecumenical dialogues the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and mainline Protestant churches engage in, the John 17 initiative does not involve theological dialogue and the examination of doctrinal similarities and differences.
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If Christians are called to live their faith concretely, then they cannot leave out concrete signs of the unity to which Jesus calls them.

And just because the formal Anglican-Roman Catholic theological dialogue has been forced to grapple with new church-dividing attitudes toward issues such as the ordination of women and the blessing of same-sex marriages, it does not mean that common prayer led by Anglican and Catholic leaders and concrete collaboration by Catholic and Anglican parishes are simply window dressing.

Dozens of Catholic and Anglican bishops and several hundred priests and laity from both communities gathered in Rome in early October to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Vatican meeting of Blessed Paul VI and Anglican Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury, almost 50 years of formal theological dialogue through the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (known as ARCIC) and the 50th anniversary of the Anglican Center in Rome.

The celebrations, highlighted by an ecumenical evening prayer service Oct. 5 with Pope Francis and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, coincided with a meeting of a newer body, the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, known as IARCCUM.
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Members of the official Anglican-Orthodox dialogue have met this week to discuss a range of bioethical and moral issues. The discussion was “a practical follow-up” to their agreed statement In the Image and Likeness of God: A Hope-Filled Anthropology, which was published last year after their talks in Buffalo, New York. At this week’s talks in Armagh, Northern Ireland, the International Commission for Anglican–Orthodox Theological Dialogue (ICAOTD) began to explore issues including contraception, abortion, reproductive technology, stem cell research, organ transplants, artificial life support, assisted dying and euthanasia.

The Commission studied four papers unpacking the themes: “Christian Ethics and the Beginning and End of Life: Themes in Anglican Reflection”, by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams; “Bioethical Themes: Transplants and Euthanasia”, by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Kition; “Survey of Anglican Church Documents on Beginning and End of Life Issues”, by the Revd Canon Philip Hobson; and “Medical Bioethics: An Orthodox Christian Perspective for Orthodox Christians”, by Protodeacon Basil Andruchow.

“What is new for Anglican-Orthodox dialogue is the discussion of morals, and the practical outworking of the common vision of the human person finalised last year in the agreed statement,” the Anglican Communion’s director for unity, faith and order, the Revd Canon John Gibaut, said. “This year’s meeting signals a new direction, which is both theological and deeply pastoral.
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The bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories have issued pastoral guidelines for clergy dealing with Catholics who are considering euthanasia or assisted suicide, which is now legal in Canada.

The 32-page document, written for priests and parishes, gives guidance on when people in such situations are eligible to receive certain sacraments or a Catholic funeral. It includes references to canon law and pastoral guidance for special circumstances.

The document specifically addresses the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick.

“In our day a priest may encounter a penitent who has officially requested physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia,” the document says. “The penitent has not yet been killed, nor has he/she committed suicide, but he or she has initiated the process, which is already a grave matter.

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Following the common lunch in the Sacred Convent of the Franciscans in Assisi, at approximately 15:15, the Pope met individually His Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople; His Holiness Ignatius Ephrem II, Patriarch of Antioch Syrian Orthodox His Grace Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Church of England; Professor Zygmut Bauman, sociologist and philosopher (Poland); Professor Din Syamsuddin, chairman of the Ulema Council, (Indonesia); Chief Rabbi David Rosen (Israel).

At 16:00, the representatives of different religions prayed for peace in different places of Assisi. All Christians gathered in the Lower Basilica of St. Francis for an Ecumenical prayer during which all the countries of war are named and a candle is let for each country. The Holy Father then offers the following meditation:
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