After serving as the National Council of Churches’ executive leader for the briefest tenure in the Council’s history, Peg Birk can also look back on the most comprehensive restructuring and redirecting of the NCC since its founding in 1950.

Birk, a nationally known change management expert and Congregational laywoman, took office as Transitional General Secretary of the NCC in July 2012 with the understanding she would serve with the sole purpose of guiding an historic re-envisioning and restructuring of the financially beleaguered Council.

Now, with a new President and General Secretary about to take office and a new organizational structure in place, Birk is returning home to Minneapolis, Minn., on January 1.

The Rev. A. Roy Medley, Chair of the NCC Governing Board, said Birk has been “a tireless and resourceful leader for the Council at a critical point in its history.”

Birk “worked skillfully with board and staff to guide an essential reexamination of the Council’s ministries and resources,” Medley said, “and the NCC is in a far stronger position for mission than it was 18 months ago. We are grateful for her service.”

The NCC’s Past President, Kathryn Lohre, who worked closely with Birk during the transition, said, “The Council is deeply indebted to Peg Birk for leading this 18 month transition with grace, stamina, wisdom, and tenacity,”

“She has successfully implemented a complex plan for re-envisioning and restructuring the NCC under significant pressure for time, resources, and reserves,” Lohre said.
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Former Anglicans who convert to Catholicism must be a bridge to Christian unity and a force for true ecumenism, said the leader of North America’s Anglican ordinariate as four former Anglican priests were ordained to the Catholic priesthood.

“If the Ordinariate is to be anything worthy and worth keeping for the long term, it must be an instrument of Christian unity,” said Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, head of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (POCSP).

In a Dec. 14 ceremony in Ottawa’s Notre Dame Cathedral, Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast ordained Bryan Kipling Cooper, Douglas Hayman, both of Ottawa, John Hodgins of Toronto and James Tilley of Oshawa, Ont., to serve as priests in the Ordinariate.
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Austria’s Vienna Archdiocese has defended its gifts of Catholic churches to Orthodox communities, as part of a current reorganization.

“Our own church is receding in Vienna, whereas other Christian confessions are on the rise because of immigration,” Michael Pruller, the archdiocese spokesman, told Catholic News Service Dec. 19.

“Many large churches were built in the 19th century for parishes numbering tens of thousands. As in other countries, we’re now having to get rid of churches, which can’t be maintained by their small congregations.”

He said the archdiocese had tried to find an “alternative Catholic use” for unwanted churches, to prevent them being turned into “supermarkets and cafes,” but would otherwise hand them over to other Christian denominations. No money is given as compensation, he said.
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The President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), Jerry Pillay, has welcomed progress in the past two years by churches of the Reformed family in South Africa to overcome major hurdles on the path to unity.

“We give thanks to God,” Pillay said at the end of a visit to South Africa by the WCRC South Africa task team from 29 September to 2 October.

The team led by Pillay also included WCRC General Secretary Setri Nyomi, Sabine Dressler of the Reformed Alliance in Germany and Oscar McCloud of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The team had meetings with the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), the Dutch Reformed Church (NGK), the Reformed Church in Africa (RCA) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA). These four churches have been engaged in reunification talks for more than a decade. The team said they felt encouraged about what they heard from the four churches. Challenges that had created mistrust and stalled the process seemed to be dissipating.
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At a service in the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) marked the more than six decades in which the Reformed church family has been based in the Swiss city. In January 2014, WCRC’s operating office moves to Hannover, Germany.

“We gather here to join our hearts in thanksgiving for 65 years of God’s presence,” said WCRC General Secretary Setri Nyomi. He recalled that the Presbyterian World Alliance, a forerunner of WCRC, moved from Edinburgh to Geneva in 1948 to be near to the newly-founded World Council of Churches (WCC).

The service on 5 December was attended by WCRC President Jerry Pillay and officers, current and former staff, representatives of Swiss and German churches, and sister organizations in the Ecumenical Centre, as well as the German Ambassador to Switzerland, Otto Lampe.

“We certainly thank God for the fact that … we could be physically part of a wider ecumenical family,” said the WCRC’s Executive Secretary for Theology and Communion, Douwe Visser, in his sermon. Above all, however, the period in Geneva, he said, was a time of being able to receive God’s word. “Looking at our 65 years of being with you here in Geneva from the perspective of God’s word given to us, we see so much to thank God for.”
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For Pope Francis, the reform of the Catholic Church and its structures “isn’t a project, but an exercise of the Spirit” that will take time, said Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga.

The cardinal, co-ordinator of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, which is working on the reform of the Roman Curia and advising him on Church governance, spoke about the Pope and his approach during a Dec. 4 book presentation at the Vatican.

Other cardinals on the council were in attendance as well for the presentation of Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro’s book, La Mia Porta ‘E Sempre Aperta (My Door is Always Open), an expanded version of the interview with Pope Francis published in Jesuit periodicals around the world in September. Rodriguez said the title of the book could well be the main theme of Pope Francis’ pontificate.
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The Vatican will restart its stalled dialogue with Sunni Islam’s main theological centre, Al-Azhar University, said Fr. Rafic Greiche, spokesman for Egypt’s Catholic Church.

Talks between the Vatican and Al-Azhar were suspended by the Muslim university in 2011 following a series of remarks made by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI.

Greiche spoke to Catholic News Service in Cairo Dec. 4, a day after Comboni Father Miguel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, met at the prominent Muslim university with Abbas Shouman, deputy to Al-Azhar’s grand imam, Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb.

“There was a meeting in a positive atmosphere, and both (sides) agreed to continue,” Greiche said.
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The Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium recently delivered by Pope Francis concerning the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world has stirred interest and appreciation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) as a challenging and inviting document.

“The Apostolic Exhortation is more than simply conveying the message of the Synod on evangelization, but addresses the need for the renewal of the church at all levels from the perspective of the call to be a missional church,” WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said.

“The tone of the document is open and both challenging and inviting,” he added. “It is really inspiring to read as we now try to implement the mandate from our recent assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea. It provides an inspiring interaction between ecclesiological reflections, missionary perspectives and concerns about economic, ecological justice and peace building as significant missionary dimensions of the church.”

“At the recent WCC 10th assembly in Busan we too highlighted the need for the renewal of the church both through a new mission statement that speaks of mission being from the margins of society, and the movement of the church and ecumenical movement toward justice and peace,” Tveit said.

Tveit added that he sees parallels between the “pilgrimage of justice and peace” the WCC fellowship of 345 member churches will be embarking on, especially now after the November assembly and the reflections of Pope Francis.

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Church officials in Germany defended plans by the country’s bishops’ conference to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, insisting they have the Pope’s endorsement.

“We already have our own guidelines, and the Pope has now clearly signalled that certain things can be decided locally,” said Robert Eberle, spokesman for the archdiocese of Freiburg.

“We’re not the only archdiocese seeking helpful solutions to this problem, and we’ve had positive reactions from other dioceses in Germany and abroad, assuring us they already practice what’s written in our guidelines,” he said.
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Putting into practical action the recent progress made in ecumenical relations: that’s the aim of an international commission of Anglican and Catholic bishops, whose leaders held an annual meeting here in Rome this week.

Set up in 2001 to promote closer co-operation between bishops of the two denominations, the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, or IARCCUM, is currently led by Canadian Catholic Bishop Don Bolen and Anglican bishop David Hamid.

Among the projects they’ve been developing is a new website and a way of showcasing practical actions by bishops working together in many different parts of the world. Philippa Hitchen sat down with them both to try and find out more about what’s been going on behind the scenes since last year’s meeting.

Listen here (Real) media01.radiovaticana.va/audio/ra/00401866.RM
Listen here (MP3) media01.radiovaticana.va/audiomp3/00401866.MP3
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The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the International Lutheran Council (ILC), an organization for the purpose of encouraging, strengthening, and promoting confessional Lutheran theology, met to discuss the possibility of extending local and regional informal discussions into an informal ecumenical dialogue process on the international level. The meeting between the PCPCU and the ILC primarily occurred after several informal discussions between some ILC members and Roman Catholic organizations resulted in positive outcomes, especially those held between the Lutheran Theological Seminary Oberursel of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) and the Johann-Adam-Möhler Institute for Ecumenism in Paderborn, Germany. Other informal discussions that contributed to the meeting between the PCPCU and the ILC included those held between The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, and those between Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) and representatives of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, gave an address at today’s inaugural session of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Centre for Inter-religious and Inter-cultural Dialogue (KAICIID). The centre is an independent organisation based in Vienna and founded by Saudi Arabia, Austria and Spain, to which the Holy See adheres in the role of Founding Observer.

The Conference, which ends today, is intended to raise awareness among younger generations to enable them to have an objective, honest and accurate image of one another. From this perspective, three related themes will be considered over the next three years. In 2013, the theme “The Image of the Other” focuses on education, with the presence in Vienna of a number of education ministers from all over the world; next year’s forum will be dedicated to means of communication and finally, in 2015, the Internet will be the focus of attention.
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James E. Winkler, general secretary of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, has been elected General Secretary/President of the National Council of Churches by the NCC Governing Board meeting here.

Winkler will succeed Peg Birk, who has served as Transitional General Secretary of the Council since July 2012. Birk was named to lead the Council through a transitional period of reorganization following the resignation of General Secretary Michael Kinnamon in 2011 for health reasons.

The office of General Secretary/President, formerly General Secretary, is the leading staff position in the NCC.
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For more than two years, a group of Evangelical and Catholic Christians in Saskatoon have been meeting to talk about their common faith in Jesus Christ, discussing what is shared, as well as examining where their understandings and convictions differ.

Formally appointed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Evangelical Ministers Fellowship, the local dialogue group is now in the process of writing a joint statement, just as a second Catholic-Evangelical worship service is being planned for Saskatoon Nov. 14.

It was after the first shared worship service in March 2011 at St. Paul’s Catholic Cathedral that a small group of church and ecumenical leaders met to try and find ways for the two traditions to further engage in common prayer, common witness, common mission and common study. A dialogue group was subsequently launched, with the first meeting held in December 2011.

Rev. Harry Strauss, associate pastor at Forest Grove Community Church (left) and a member of the Saskatoon Evangelical Ministers Fellowship, and Nicholas Jesson, ecumenical officer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, are part of the 20-member dialogue group, which includes 10 representatives from each tradition.

Both Strauss and Jesson are also serving on a four-member committee that is now drafting a joint statement emerging from two years of conversation, study and relationship building.

Strauss describes the joint statement: “We confess our common faith, we acknowledge our differences and we affirm our common mission.”

Although the joint statement is not finished, there are plans to introduce portions at the 7 p.m. Nov. 14 Evangelical-Catholic worship service being hosted by Circle Drive Alliance Church, led by Pastor Eldon Bolt.
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The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) opened on Wednesday, 30 October in Busan, Republic of Korea under the theme “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.”

The opening service of common prayer on the first day of the assembly honoured diverse faith traditions from around the world. The gathering prayer included deeply moving litanies of lamentations, cries and hopes from the churches in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific.

The first plenary session of the assembly welcomed delegates and participants to Busan. The mayor of Busan, Hur Nam Sik, moderator of the Korean Host Committee of the WCC assembly the Rev. Dr Kim Sam Whan and the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit welcomed all the assembly participants.

Tveit expressed thanks to the Korean churches, the city of Busan and the government for their gracious hospitality and welcome. Tveit addressed participants of the assembly which includes some 3000 participants representing 345 member churches of the WCC, including youth, WCC staff members, stewards, co-opted staff, interpreters and more than 1,000 Korean church members and day visitors. All these participants represent more than 100 countries.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has called for the Church to be ‘holy’ and ‘in unity’ as it proclaims the gospel in challenging circumstances around the world.

Archbishop Justin sent a video greeting to the Second Global Anglican Future (GAFCON) Conference, which is taking place in Nairobi this week. He told them that it was his prayer that they would ‘meet Jesus afresh with elation and joy’.

The Archbishop was unable to attend the GAFCON meeting because of previous commitments, including the baptism of Prince George today.

In his message, Archbishop Justin affirms the recent call by the Archbishop of Kenya, Dr Eliud Wabukala, who chairs the GAFCON Primates Council, for the Church to proclaim the gospel confidently.

To do this, Archbishop Justin says, ‘we need to be a Church that is holy’. That is a ‘massive challenge’ to churches in different contexts around the world, but is ‘absolutely critical to our proclamation of the gospel’.

To proclaim the gospel effectively, the Church must also be ‘in unity’, the Archbishop says. ‘It doesn’t mean being unanimous, all saying exactly the same thing in exactly the same way. It means that, as Jesus prays in John 17, that we demonstrate by our love for one another that Jesus is the Son of God and therefore people are drawn to believe in him. We’ve got to find ways of doing that and I don’t underestimate the challenge that is to all of us.’
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During an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican earlier today, leaders from The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) expressed gratitude for the partnership with the Roman Catholic Church that makes it possible for churches to strengthen their commitment to the poor and vulnerable.

“As people who have been encountered by Christ, we are called to accompany the poor and vulnerable. The message of reconciliation entrusted to us turns into the hope for our fragmented world and its yearning for peace with justice,” LWF President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan said in LWF’s greeting to the pope.

Younan expressed gratitude for the ecumenical milestones of the partnership with Catholics, including the recent publication of the report “From Conflict to Communion: Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration in 2017.”

By jointly approaching a shared history which includes elements of pain “the promise of healing appears on the horizon,” Younan said of the publication that outlines the mutual responsibility by Lutherans and Catholics for a common approach to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.

The June 2013 report by the Lutheran–Roman Catholic Commission on Unity marked the first time that both partners have worked together at the global level to tell the history of the Reformation as part of their commitment to deepen Christian unity. Baptism is the focus of ongoing dialogue by the commission, which will mark its 50th anniversary in 2017.
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The only route to reuniting Eastern and Western Christianity is to strengthen the primacy of the pope, according to Orthodox theologians.

And in Pope Francis they detect signs that a window to unity may be opening.

For Catholics used to Orthodox objections to the pomp and presumptions of the Catholic papacy, talk of beefing up Roman primacy — the doctrine that gives the Successor of St. Peter authority over the entire Church — may come as a surprise. But that’s exactly what Orthodox theologians will be discussing with their Catholic counterparts when the North American Catholic-Orthodox Theological Consultation meets Oct. 24 to 26 in Mississauga, Ont.

“Both the North American and the international dialogues have been dealing with issues of primacy and synodality. They are two sides of the same coin,” said Paul Meyendorff, Orthodox delegate to the North American dialogue. “From the Orthodox perspective, synodality is absolutely essential for a proper primacy to function.”
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Il y a 17 ans, les conférences épiscopales de langue française à travers le monde, y compris la Conférence des évêques catholiques du Canada (CECC), avaient convenu d’entreprendre la traduction intégrale de la Bible pour usage liturgique. Depuis le Concile Vatican II, certains textes bibliques pour célébrer la Messe et les sacrements ont été traduits; mais il a été convenu que ceux-ci méritaient une révision. Il en est résulté une traduction intégrale et révisée de la Bible liturgique, qui sera publiée en français le 22 novembre prochain. Une édition populaire à reliure souple sera disponible aux Éditions de la CECC au début de la nouvelle année.
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As top-level domain names are being rolled out and up for grabs, the Vatican has scored control of .catholic.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which coordinates the assignment of Internet domain names and addresses around the world, has been allowing entities to apply for ownership of hundreds, and soon thousands, of new domain names such as .london, .insurance and .xbox, among others.

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications completed the application process last summer and just received approval that it will now control the new Internet address extension .catholic and decide who is allowed to use it.

The Vatican will control .catholic and its equivalent in other languages using Latin letters, as well as the equivalent of the word “Catholic” in the Cyrillic, Arabic and Chinese alphabets. Its request for .catholic in Chinese is number one on the ICANN list of priority domain names, right above .Amazon in Japanese.
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The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) begins at the end of October and promises to be one of the most diverse gathering of Christians in the world.

The assembly will be an opportunity for renewing the worldwide ecumenical movement – infusing it with honesty, humility and hope, according to the WCC general secretary.

As to why this is the case, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary, and a Lutheran pastor from the Church of Norway says, it is “through humility, honesty and hope that we can live together as humanity and a Church in a world, where justice and peace are fundamental initiatives and not merely words.”

The theme of the WCC assembly is a prayer “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.

The assembly will take place from 30 October to 8 November in Busan, Republic of Korea.

It will bring around 3,000 participants from Asia, Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East, North America and Latin America, including a large number of young people and several thousand Korean Christians.
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The Roman Catholic co-chair of the Third Anglican/Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) has expressed his personal view that, seeing how in 1993 certain relaxations were made in the Vatican’s rules on eucharistic sharing, further relaxation is possible.

Speaking last week to the Gazette editor following a joint session of the National Advisers’ Committee on Ecumenism of the Irish (Roman Catholic) Episcopal Conference and representatives of the Church of Ireland’s Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue, at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, the Most Rev. Bernard Longley — Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham and ARCIC III co-chair — referred to the changes in “specified circumstances” set out in the 1993 Ecumenism Directory.

He commented, “Given that that represents a change, and a very significant shift away from the impossibility to the limited possibility, then I could imagine and foresee one of the fruits of our ecumenical engagement as moving towards a deeper understanding of communion and a deeper sharing, a deeper communion between our churches which perhaps would lead to reconsideration of some of the circumstances.”
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The Anglican-Lutheran International Co-ordinating Committee (ALICC) held its first meeting in the Cultural Centre Sofia, Helsinki, Finland from 19 to 25 September 2013, under the leadership of the Most Reverend Maurício Andrade, Primate of Brazil, and of Bishop Michael Pryse of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. The meeting was hosted by the Lutheran World Federation with the generous assistance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

The Co-ordinating Committee studied the mandate given by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Anglican Communion. The focus of this work is to monitor and encourage existing Anglican-Lutheran relations, as well as to advance co-operation between the two Churches in areas where there are not yet any formal agreements. To enable the Committee to function as an encourager as well as a catalyst, the Committee has begun a process of mapping agreements, initiatives and projects in different regions. This mapping project is an ongoing task for the Committee and we urge Churches, in both communions, to provide information to further this task.
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Writing in one of Italy’s major secular newspapers, Pope Francis called for a “sincere and rigourous dialogue” between the Church and non-believers as an “intimate and indispensable expression” of Christian love.

The Pope’s words appeared in a 2,600-word letter published in the Sept. 11 edition of the Rome daily La Repubblica, in reply to recent articles by Eugenio Scalfari, a co-founder and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper.

An “open and unprejudiced dialogue” between Christians and those of no religious faith is “rightful and precious” today for at least two reasons, Pope Francis wrote. Such a dialogue could “open doors for a serious and fertile encounter” between secular culture and Christian culture, which have lost the ability to communicate due largely to modern views of faith as the “darkness of superstition opposed to the light of reason.”
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Montreal Archbishop Christian Lépine has warned against the Parti Quebecois’ plans to enshrine Quebec values in a charter.

Once Quebec “values” are enshrined in such a charter, they are “frozen in time” and the charter “puts pressure on everyone, on institutions and individuals,” Lépine said in an interview from Montreal.

On Sept. 10, the Quebec government released details of the proposed Charter of Quebec Values that would prohibit public servants from wearing visible signs of religious belief such as Jewish skullcaps, Muslim hijabs, Sikh turbans, large crucifixes or Star of David jewellery. The government released a chart showing that small symbols such as a tiny crucifix around the neck or on earrings or a small Star of David ring would be allowed. These rules would apply to everyone employed in the public sector. The charter would also bar people whose faces are covered from providing or receiving public services.
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In the name of the Triune God, and with the blessing and guidance of our Churches, the International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue (ICAOTD) met in Novi Sad, Serbia during 4-11 September 2013 at the invitation of Patriarch Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Commission is grateful for the generous hospitality extended by Bishop Irinej and the Diocese of Backa of which Novi Sad is the see city.

Continuing its focus on Christian anthropology, specifically what it means to be a human person created in the image and likeness of God, the Commission devoted significant efforts to the review of the draft of its joint theological work on the subject. Reflection on the theology of the glory of creation and the uniqueness of humanity in the created order drew the Commission into deep discussion. Further, the Commission worked at length on the specific expression of image and likeness, considering the thematic components of the subject, with particular attention to its scriptural basis. As part of the discussion of human relationships, the Commission observed that it is the teaching of all the Orthodox and Anglican churches that marriage is between a man and a woman. The draft text, which was developed through the studies of previous meetings, was enhanced at this meeting by contributions on the subjects of the human being in society; the human being as a social being; attaining personhood through community from a traditional African perspective; and repentance, transformation and holiness. The Commission agreed that a newly appointed drafting group would work with the existing draft for the next meeting, taking into account the many pertinent comments and theological considerations presented at this meeting.
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Ahead of a new season, U.S. Christians are debating the wisdom of being fans of the country’s most popular sport because of the violence inherent in American football. On one side of the debate are believers like Rev. Rick McDaniel, who in an op-ed for Fox News Saturday said that football is biblical. “There is much in the Bible that supports the qualities needed for playing football,” he said. McDaniel cited godly character traits such as hard work and self-sacrifice as coming from playing football. In addition, he noted that players learn how to win or lose gracefully. On the other hand, there are those who disagree with the pastor. These Christians say that the game is far too brutal and should not be endorsed by a follower of Jesus.
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Pope Francis is leading the Catholic Church on an extraordinary campaign to prevent President Barack Obama’s proposed military strike on Syria.

On Sept. 4, the pope appealed to leaders of the G-20 nations to “lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution” to the Syrian civil war and promote instead a “peaceful solution through dialogue and negotiation.” The next day, his foreign minister sent the same message in a special meeting with the Vatican diplomatic corps. And on Sept. 7, the pope was scheduled to lead a prayer vigil for Syria in St. Peter’s Square — an event that the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said would be unprecedented, in both scale and importance of setting, as a papal gesture for peace.

Exceptional as they are, however, Pope Francis’ actions have followed in close continuity with the spirit and record of his predecessors.

On the first visit by a pope to the United Nations, in 1965, Pope Paul VI memorably called for “No more war, war never again.” Blessed John Paul II was a constant campaigner for peace, calling the interfaith meetings in Assisi, praying for an end to violence in the Balkans, and doing everything he could, publicly and privately, to prevent the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
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In an ecumenical celebration at the cathedral of Lausanne, Switzerland, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary preached on the theme of the WCC’s upcoming Busan assembly. He encouraged churches to continue their journeys towards justice and peace.

Held on 1 September, the celebration was organized by the Council of Christian Churches in Switzerland, the Community of Christian Churches in the canton of Vaud (CECCV) and the WCC. Speakers also included officials of the Anglican, Orthodox and Roman Catholic communions.

The event celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Community of Christian Churches in the canton of Vaud as well as ecumenical work of the Swiss churches spanning many years.

The celebration gathered more than a hundred representatives of Swiss churches of diverse denominations, including Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelical and Pentecostal, as well as members of international ecumenical organizations based in Geneva.

Special prayers were offered for the Swiss delegates to the WCC assembly.

The 10th Assembly of the WCC will take place from 30 October to 8 November in Busan, Republic of Korea. The assembly will address the theme “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary, called the Busan assembly “a pilgrimage of justice and peace”.
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À l’occasion d’une célébration œcuménique à la cathédrale de Lausanne (Suisse), le pasteur Olav Fykse Tveit, secrétaire général du Conseil œcConseil œcuménique des Églisess=’c2c-text-hover’ title=’Conseil œcuméniques des églises’>COE), a dit une prédication sur le thème de la prochaine assemblée du COE à Busan. Il a encouragé les Églises à poursuivre leur cheminement vers la justice et la paix.

Tenue le 1er septembre, la célébration était organisée par la Communauté de travail des Églises chrétiennes en Suisse, la Communauté des Églises chrétiennes dans le canton de Vaud (CECCV) et le COE. Parmi les intervenants figuraient aussi des représentants officiels des communions anglicane, orthodoxe et catholique romaine.

L’événement célébrait le 10e anniversaire de la Communauté d’Églises chrétiennes dans le canton de Vaud, ainsi que les nombreuses années d’action œcuménique des Églises de Suisse.

La célébration a réuni plus d’une centaine de représentants d’Églises suisses de confessions diverses, notamment catholique, orthodoxe, protestante, évangélique et pentecôtiste, ainsi que des membres d’organisations œcuméniques internationales installées à Genève.
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Brother Jeffrey Gros, 75, former director of Faith & Order for the National Council of Churches, died in Chicago August 12.

“Jeff Gros was passionately devoted to his church and to the quest for church unity,” said Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, NCC associate general secretary, Faith & Order and Interfaith Relations, who served as a Faith & Order intern from 1989 to 1990 during Gros’ tenure at the Council.

“He was a model for the Council’s commitment to ecumenical cooperation and a mentor both to his contemporaries and to future generations of ecumenists, including me,” Kireopoulos said Tuesday.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed condolences following the death of Brother Jeffrey Gros, recalling his significant contributions to Christian unity and ecumenical dialogue as a Catholic theologian.

“It is with deep sadness that we have received the news of Brother Jeffrey Gros’s passing away. We remember his profound contributions to Christian unity and his support of the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order,” said the WCC general secretary.

“We thank God for the life and work of Brother Jeffrey Gros,” Tveit added.
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The President and Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism is pleased to announce that Dr. Adriana Bara has been appointed Executive Director of the CCE as of August 1st, 2013.

Originally from Romania, Adriana Bara with her husband and two children moved to Canada several years ago. With a degree in civil engineering, she worked for a few years in this field and then pursued studies in theology first in Romania and then in Montreal (M.A. Concordia and Ph.D. Université de Montréal). She has been teaching at Concordia University since 2009. Dr. Bara worked at the Centre for Research and Documentation of Saint Joseph’s Oratory and since 2008 as volunteer with the Canadian Society of Patristic Studies where she is Communications Officer and Editor of the e-Bulletin.

An active member of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Dr. Bara is fluent in three languages. From her youth, she has recognized the importance of respecting human rights and is convinced of the key role played by ecumenism and interreligious dialogue in our modern pluralistic society. This is one of the reasons she chose to settle in Canada. She attaches great importance to dialogue, openness and acceptance of others. These are also the values of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. The President and Board of Directors are confident that Dr. Bara will lead the Centre with intelligence and discernment in an environment increasingly multicultural and multireligious.
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The world will pray with Canada this January, and in a special way with native Canadians. For the second time in the 106-year history of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Canadians have written the biblical reflections, prayer services and educational materials to be used worldwide.

Celebrated Jan. 18-25, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is prepared each year in a different country under the direction of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome and the Geneva-based World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission. Since the two major ecumenical organizations took over the annual event in 1968, Canada is just the second country to be asked twice to prepare the worship and study material.

Coming back to Canada, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity wanted to make sure the material is fresh and reflects a different perspective. In 1989 Canada’s offering was prepared by the Canadian Council of Churches. This time, preparations were led by the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal and the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism in Saskatoon.
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Pentecostals and Charismatics are among the fastest growing Christian groups in the world. The question is to what extent the Pentecostals understand themselves as a church or a movement. This existential and ecclesiological issue remains ambiguous.

These views were shared by Dr Tamara Grdzelidze at the second Empowered21 (E21) Global Scholars Consultation, held from 8 to 10 July in Sydney, Australia.

Grdzelidze, programme executive for the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches, participated in the consultation as an observer, along with Prof. Neil Ormerod of the Roman Catholic Church.

The consultation gathered Pentecostal scholars, mostly from Asia, to reflect on ecclesial, sociological, theological and academic challenges that “Spirit-empowered” Christianity faces in the 21st century.

The group of Pentecostal and Charismatic scholars are preparing for the Empowered21 Global Congress, set to take place at Jerusalem in 2015.
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Many Catholics who identify themselves as either conservatives or progressives will be disappointed in Pope Francis, whose program of spiritual renewal, doctrinal continuity and emphasis on the poor fits none of the traditional moulds, a top German cardinal said.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, a theologian and retired president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said Pope Francis will also face resistance within the curia, which needs both organizational revamping and a change of mentality.

Attempts at reform will bring resistance and difficulties “just like with every big institution,” he said in a July 16 interview with the Italian newspaper Il Foglio.

“However, this pope is very determined: He knows what he wants,” he said.
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The American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Shalom Hartman Institute have partnered together on a soon-to-be-completed educational program on Judaism for 16 Christian leaders.

The partnership, known as the Christian Leadership Initiative (CLI), has allowed Christian leaders of diverse denominations to engage in long-distance study of classical Jewish texts with leading Israel scholars over a 13-month period. The program began in Jerusalem in July 2012 and will finish there this year in the program’s final stage from July 17-25.
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The General Secretary of the United Church of Canada, Nora Sanders, has issued a message to the church’s General Council to announce that the General Synod of the United Church of Christ (USA) has accepted the United Church of Canada as an ecumenical partner. The announcement, issued 11 July, follows.
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The Lutheran World Federation has lauded the full communion of Canada’s Lutheran and Anglican churches, marked in an unprecedented Joint Assembly as a key development that can help global church unity.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) held their first fully integrated national gathering in Ottawa, from July 3 to 7 Lutheran World Information has reported.

The churches entered into a relationship of full communion, called the Waterloo Declaration in 2001, which means they work closely together in all respects, exchanging clergy and establishing joint congregations, while remaining separate church bodies.

At the meeting the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit expressed deep admiration for the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada for holding their first-ever joint assembly in Ottawa, Canada.

“You have refused to say ‘I have no need of you’ [1 Corinthians 12:21] but rather have said that with the other you can better live out your calling as churches here in Canada and the world,” said Tveit, a Norwegian theologian.

“You do this in the context of belonging to a much bigger Christian family, therefore the efforts you make have the potential to transform beyond yourselves.”
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The Church of England’s General Synod has reaffirmed its commitment to women bishops and called, less than a year after the previous proposals were rejected, for new draft legislation to be introduced. It will be considered by the Synod in November 2013, with the aim of reaching the stage of Final Approval in July or November 2015.

This was the first time Synod members had met since November 2012, when the previous draft legislation narrowly failed to secure the requisite majority in the House of Laity, despite enjoying the support of 73% of the Synod’s members overall.

The Synod reached its decision at the end of this today’s debate, after its members had devoted much of Saturday to facilitated discussions on the options available. Introducing the debate, the Rt Revd Nigel Stock, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, who chaired the Working Group set up by the House of Bishops to advise on new legislative proposals, said, “I believe that option one, together with a mandatory mediation process and including as it does a declaration or, possibly, Act of Synod deserves to be taken very seriously as a means to provide the basis for securing the necessary majorities in the lifetime of this Synod.”
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Three rabbis and a Pope: High praise for Francis after visit to Vatican

“This man is a mensch.” Standing alone, this is an unremarkable sentence. But from a rabbi about a pope?
This was what Rabbi Shmuel Goldin of Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood, the president of the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America, said about Pope Francis.

Here’s another thought, from Rabbi Noam Marans of Teaneck, the Conservative rabbi who is director of interreligious and intergroup relations at the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

“Pope Francis is the quintessential religious symbol par excellence; unassuming, unscripted, warm. It is a religious experience to be in his presence.”

And a third, from Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn of New Milford, the Orthodox rabbi who is the American director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation in Israel.

“He is very warm.”

The three of them were among the 25 or so Jews who met with the pope last week. Each represents his organization in the umbrella group called the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (which is abbreviated as IJCIC, uneuphoniously pronounced Idge-kick). IJCIC is the official liaison between the Jewish world and the Vatican.
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Faith can be a powerful ally in addressing issues of social justice, said Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. He called faith a bearer of unique perspectives on eradicating poverty, balancing amidst globalization, combating fundamentalism, racism, and developing religious tolerance during conflicts.

Bartholomew I was interviewed for Independent Balkan News Agency on 1 July, speaking on behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, a founding member of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

“It is precisely the role of religion to respond to the needs of the world’s poor as well as to vulnerable and marginalized people. In fact, it is a rare instance where a faith institution is not a defining marker of the space and character of a community,” he said.
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June 29, 2013 – Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

On this day when we commemorate the two “pillars of the church”—the apostles Peter and Paul—the heads of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada are issuing “A Word to the Churches.”

This joint declaration comes just a few days before the four North American church leaders will gather with hundreds of other Anglicans and Lutherans at the first Joint Assembly of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, an example of how our churches are drawing closer together in full communion.
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“Your presence is the sign of the profound bond that unites the Church of Constantinople with the Church of Rome in faith, in hope, and in charity,” Pope Francis said this morning on receiving the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarch, which had arrived in Rome to celebrate the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. The tradition of exchanging visits for the occasions of the respective patronal feasts dates back to 1969. The Pope emphasized that “fraternal gathering is an essential part of the journey towards unity.”

“The search for unity among Christians is an urgent task—you have said that ‘it is not a luxury, but an imperative’—from which, today more than ever, we cannot prescind. In our world that hungers and thirsts for truth, love, hope, peace, and unity, our witness demands that we should at last be able to proclaim, with one voice, the good news of the Gospel and celebrate together the Divine Mysteries of our new life in Christ. We are well aware that unity is primarily a gift from Gift that we must pray for unceasingly, but we all have the task of preparing the conditions, of cultivating the soil of the heart so that this extraordinary grace may be received.”
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Pope Francis, who recently spoke of a need to increase the common responsibility all bishops hold for the universal church, told a delegation of Orthodox leaders that the Catholic Church can learn from the synod structure of the Eastern Christian churches.

Dialogue for Christian unity is not a theoretical exercise for theologians, but an essential, practical tool for growing in faith and for evangelization, Pope Francis told a delegation from the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople.

“This is not merely a theoretical exercise, but one of getting to know each other’s traditions in order to understand and even learn from them,” the pope said during the meeting June 28.

Pope Francis said he was referring particularly “to the reflection of the Catholic Church on the meaning of episcopal collegiality and the tradition of synodality, so typical of the Orthodox churches,” in which the synods function as a symbol of the unity of the local churches and as a governing body united to the patriarch or spiritual leader of the church.
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Close to 1,000 Anglicans and Lutherans from across Canada will be gathering in Ottawa in July for what the Anglican Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, says is an “historic and exciting moment” in church history.

For the first time since 2001, when they signed a declaration of full communion, the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) will be holding a joint assembly from July 3-7 at the Ottawa Convention Centre.

With the theme of “Together for the love of the world,” it will be a meeting quite unlike any other meeting,” say Archbishop Hiltz and Lutheran National Bishop Susan Johnson.

Each church will still hold separate sessions to deal with elections and specific church matters but will join together for worship and issues of common interest.
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On the 25th anniversary of the illicit ordination of four bishops by traditionalist Bishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Society of Saint Pius X indicated a definitive break of talks with the Catholic Church. In a statement June 27, three of the four bishops originally ordained by Lefebvre expressed “their filial gratitude towards their venerable founder who, after so many years spent serving the Church and the Sovereign Pontiff, so as to safeguard the Faith and the Catholic priesthood, did not hesitate to suffer the unjust accusation of disobedience.” The document – titled “Declaration on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the episcopal consecrations (30th June 1988 – 27th June 2013)” – is signed by Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais and Alfonso de Galarreta.
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The Secretary General today announced the names of Anglican members who have agreed to serve on one of two international co-ordinating bodies.

Both the Anglican-Lutheran International Co-ordinating Committee (ALICC) and the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council (AOCICC) reported to the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Auckland, New Zealand in November 2012 and the ACC renewed their mandates.
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Events in Christianity that led to the Reformation nearly half a millennium ago split the Roman Catholic Church, ushering the advent of Protestant churches.

When the 500th anniversary is commemorated in 2017, Lutherans and Catholics hope to be drawn closer in the quest for church unity.

Catholic and Lutherans announced a special joint publication Monday entitled From Conflict to Communion for this that helps bury many past differences and brings Catholics and Lutherans closer together.

“The awareness is dawning on Lutherans and Catholics that the struggle of the 16th century is over,” the report said. “The reasons for mutually condemning each other’s faith have fallen by the wayside.”
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The Anglican Church of Canada’s first National Indigenous Bishop explored the challenge and the promise of reconciliation at a Summer Ecumenical Institute organized by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism June 10-13 at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon. Reconciliation is critical to understanding what new life in Christ is meant to be, he said, citing a New Testament understanding of reconciliation as central to what Jesus came to do. “Reconciliation is critical to Christian identity, it is fundamental to the primary response to the Good News of Jesus Christ. I think it is impossible to overstate this. This is why we say ‘forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us’ – because reconciliation is key to the acceptance and experience of Jesus and the message of Jesus,” he said.
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In their first meeting, Archbishop Justin and Pope Francis both spoke this morning of the bonds of “friendship” and “love” between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

The two leaders agreed that the fruits of this dialogue and relationship have the potential to empower Christians around the world to demonstrate the love of Christ.

The Archbishop and the Pope agreed on the need to build an economic system which promotes “the common good” to help those suffering in poverty.
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