Pope Francis and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, pledged to support each other with their prayers and to continue the search for full unity between their communities.

Meeting at the Vatican June 14, praying together in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace and eating lunch together in the papal residence, both remarked on the fact that Pope Francis’ inaugural Mass was celebrated March 19 and Archbishop Welby’s installation was March 21.

“Since we began our respective ministries within days of each other, I think we will always have a particular reason to support one another in prayer,” Pope Francis said. He also thanked the new Anglican leader for praying for him during his installation at Canterbury Cathedral.

Archbishop Welby told him, “I pray that the nearness of our two inaugurations may serve the reconciliation of the world and the church.”
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«Noi dobbiamo lavorare ogni giorno, pregando e testimoniando Cristo, per la piena e visibile unità della Chiesa che significa un corpo con molte membra»: questa è la finalità del Prairie Centre for Ecumenism (Cpe) che promuove, anche quest’anno, un incontro di riflessione teologico-pastorale dal titolo «Reconciling Churches/Reconciling Peoples». L’incontro, in corso in questi giorni, vuole essere un’occasione per approfondire e per rafforzare il cammino ecumenico dei cristiani in Canada al quale il Cpe contribuisce con incontri e progetti pensati per le comunità locali.
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Leading Orthodox Christian and Jewish interfaith officials, scholars and clerics discussed the crucial importance of protecting the environment and religious values and condemned growing incidents of anti-Semitism and religious prejudice around the world during a three day conference to help improve relations between these two ancient faith communities. Co-sponsored by the Liaison Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Office of Interreligious and Intercultural Affairs, and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), a Jewish umbrella group, the meeting was the latest in an on-going effort to improve relations and dialogue between Orthodoxy and Judaism.

Noting that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has declared 2013 the Year of Global Solidarity, Metropolitan Emmanuel said: “It is well documented that Greeks living in Thessaloniki at the time of the Shoah stood with their Jewish neighbors and friends. Today, more than ever, we must stand together to battle the evils of anti-Semitism, religious prejudice and all forms of discrimination.”

Schiffman said: “These meetings are extremely important for both the Jewish people and Orthodox Christianity because we share a long history and common roots. We are committed to building mutual respect and better understanding between our two faiths.”
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The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, on 3 June spoke to a United Nations conference in Geneva, where he addressed “the role of religion in the search for justice and peace.”

The conference at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, was called by UN Geneva director general Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in search of “a comprehensive framework” or new paradigm for UN work with its partners in the areas of global economy, ecology, education, health, security, and governance.

Calling for “an open, proper, critical and constructive reflection on the role of religion in our work for justice and peace and in our local and global life together,” Tveit urged the international community to grapple more deeply with religion. “It must go beyond discussions about ‘misuse’ of religion,” he said.

“It must also include a self-critical reflection on what our religions are teaching and representing today.”
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Asserting that “We are in danger of losing what the ecumenical spirit is all about,” historical theologian and longtime ecumenical activist Keith Clements argued on 28 May at a presentation in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva that people and churches need to rediscover the essential “ecumenical dynamic” at the heart of the movement.

“There is a need… to restore the word ecumenical to proper and positive use… The story, past and to the present, needs to be told,” he has written.

At once critical and encouraging, Clements complained that often “an obsession with identity today,” evident in resurgent confessionalism, ethnocentrism and nationalism, leaves people less willing “to step outside their home, their tradition and inhabit another’s tradition,” meet each other’s needs and serve the larger good.
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Inspirés par l’exhortation de l’apôtre Pierre à défendre« l’espérance qui esten vous » (1 Pierre 3,15), les membres du Dialogue anglican et catholique romain du Canada (ARC du Canada) travaillent sur un projet visant à unir leurs voix pour rendre compte de cette foi.

En utilisant comme point de départ certaines des questions fondamentales qui préoccupent encore aujourd’hui pratiquants autant que non-pratiquants, les membres de l’ARC du Canada rédigeront divers articles, concis et intelligibles, offrant des réponses basées sur la tradition chrétienne commune partagée par les catholiques et les anglicans.

Parmi les questions qui seront abordées par le projet de Témoignage Commun on peut retrouver: Pourquoi croire? Pourquoi le monde est-il comme il est? Quelle est ma mission dans la vie? La science et la foi sont-elles compatibles? À quoi sert l’église? Est-ce souffrir sert à quelque chose? Est-ce tout ira bien?
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Muslim leaders from across the globe knelt in prayer for the Holocaust dead at Auschwitz’s notorious Wall of Death on Wednesday, in an emotional visit to the Nazi German death camp in southern Poland.

Imams from Bosnia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States offered traditional Muslim “salat” prayers facing south toward their holy city of Makkah, shoes removed, during a Holocaust awareness visit to the site.

Thousands of Auschwitz prisoners perished at the wall, which is grey and still riddled with bullet holes. It is a stone’s throw from the infamous wrought iron “Arbeit macht frei” (Work makes you free) gate at the camp’s entrance.
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Inspired by the apostle Peter’s exhortation to offer “an account of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15), members of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue of Canada (ARC Canada) are working on a project aimed at giving such an account with one voice.

Using as their starting point some of the fundamental questions that continue to be asked by people inside and outside the church, members of ARC Canada are composing short, accessible pieces of writing that offer responses rooted in the common Christian tradition shared by Catholics and Anglicans.

Among the questions being addressed by the Common Witness Project are: Why believe? Why is the world the way it is? What is my mission in life? Are science and faith compatible? What good is the church? Is suffering good for anything? Will it be okay?
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The new director of Rome’s Anglican Centre, former Archbishop of New Zealand David Moxon was officially welcomed to his new post on Thursday at an ecumenical prayer service in Rome’s Oratory of St Francis Xavier, run by the Caravita international Catholic community.

Archbishop Moxon has extensive ecumenical experience and is currently co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, or ARCIC, which recently held its third meeting in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. He also serves as the Archbishop of Canterbury’s representative to the Holy See and will be officially installed by Archbishop Justin Welby who is expected to visit the Vatican later this year.
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A couple of interesting ecumenical developments occurred of late regarding [Catholic] relations with the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion. First, His Holiness Tawadros II, the Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, has been on an official visit to Rome (since the third century the Patriarchs of Alexandria have used the title “pope”). He arrived on May 9 and left May 13. The visit marked the first time that Pope Francis has received the head of another Christian church or ecclesial community since his installation in March, and it is also Pope Tawadros’ first trip outside Egypt since his election last November.
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An upcoming World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation in Bangkok will attempt a distinctive mode of inter-religious dialogue.

In collaboration with the Christian Conference of Asia and organized by the WCC unit on Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation an “interface” of 25 Buddhists and Christians will take place 27 to 31 May in Bangkok, Thailand, and center on themes of life, justice and peace, central elements in the WCC 10th Assembly theme.

“Today’s multi-religious environment does not just provide Christians with the ‘context for’ engaging in the pursuit of life, justice and peace; rather it opens the possibility of ‘collaboration with’ people from other faiths who are already engaged in such pursuits,” said Peniel Rajkumar, programme executive in the WCC’s inter-religious dialogue unit.
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Two member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) from Reformed and Lutheran traditions have united to become the United Protestant Church of France (L’Église Protestante Unie de France). The merger of the Reformed Church of France (L’Église Réformée de France) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France (L’Église Évangélique Luthérienne de France) was celebrated at a joint national synod from 8 to 12 May in Lyon, France. The synod adopted revised texts for the constitution and rules of the new church. The revisions reflect inputs gathered from parishes in 2011. Public education and a communication campaign have been accompanying the merger process. WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, who attended the celebration in Lyon, praised the efforts of both churches in creating one transformative structure. He said that this undertaking “reminds us that the unity to which we are called in Christ can be hard work as well as joyful. For many of us in places far away from France your union gives hope that our own work may also bear fruit.”
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The visit of Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, “strengthens the bonds of friendship and brotherhood that already exist between the See of Peter and the See of Mark, heir to an inestimable heritage of martyrs, theologians, holy monks, and faithful disciples of Christ, who have borne witness to the Gospel from generation to generation, often in situations of great adversity,” said Pope Francis on receiving the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt this morning. The pontiff remarked on the memorable meeting that took place, 40 years ago, between the predecessors of both, Pope Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III, which united them “in an embrace of peace and fraternity, after centuries of mutual distance.”
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For the first time, Lutherans and Roman Catholics at the global level have worked together to tell the story of the Reformation as part of their commitment to deepen Christian unity.

The publication From Conflict to Communion will be published this month by the Lutheran – Roman Catholic Commission on Unity. The commission is mandated by The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) to facilitate the global ecumenical dialogue between the two Christian World Communions.

LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations Rev. Dr Kaisamari Hintikka said the publication From Conflict to Communion: Lutheran–Roman Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017 contributes to strengthening the commitment to work for the visible unity of the Church. It will be presented to the LWF Council at its meeting this June.
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Le Centre canadien d’œcuménisme est à la recherche d’un directeur général. Situé au centre-ville de Montréal, le Centre, à caractère national, a pour mission de promouvoir l’œcuménisme et les relations interreligieuses au Canada par l’éducation, le dialogue et la spiritualité.

The Canadian Centre for Ecumenism invites applications for the full-time position of Executive Director. The mission of this national centre, based in Montreal, is to promote ecumenism and interfaith relations through education, dialogue and spirituality.
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Reformed and Catholic theologians recently concluded the latest in a decades-long series of ongoing international talks on a matter theologians see as central to the disputes of the Reformation era. Theologians from the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity met from April 7-13 as part of the third session in the fourth phase of the Catholic-Reformed dialogue which will conclude in 2017. The theme of the phase is “Justification and Sacramentality: The Christian Community as an Agent for Justice.” The talks began in 1970. The next meeting in the series will take place in Scotland. The themes to be covered are Justification: Holy Communion/Eucharist and Justice” and “Justification and Justice: Sanctification/ Universal Call to Holiness.” The ongoing dialogue could eventually determine if the World Communion of Reformed Churches aligns itself with a joint document on the doctrine of justification agreed to by Roman Catholics and a top Lutheran body in 1999.
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With the help of pagans, Jains and people of a range of other faiths, the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions has raised more than $144,000 in two weeks using a crowdsourcing campaign in a desperate bid to survive a financial crisis. The Chicago-based interfaith network was recently ordered by a U.S. court to pay $276,000 in expenses related to its 2004 meeting in Barcelona, Spain. Deadly train bombings in Madrid months beforehand prompted a drop in expected attendance. The council took out a loan and was involved in a lengthy dispute about how to make up for lost revenue. Mary Nelson, the interim executive director of the council, said the group had raised about half of the funds needed, but individuals and groups who took part in its crowdsourcing campaign have apparently helped her organization survive.
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Pope Francis has set up an advisory board of eight cardinals from around the world to help him govern the Catholic Church and to help him reform it. Briefing journalists Saturday the head of the Holy See press office, Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the communiqué came exactly one month since Pope Francis’ election following the February 11 resignation of his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI. He said it shows that Pope Francis “listens attentively” to the suggestions of the College of Cardinals – his closest collaborators. The formation of the group came after reading the mood of cardinals at the conclave that elected the pontiff on March 13. That meeting took place behind closed doors. The Vatican spokesman also noted that the group will have no legislative power and that its main function is to “help” and “advise” the Pope. Lombardi also noted the advisers would in no way interfere in the normal functions of the Roman Curia, the body responsible for daily governance of the Vatican and the Catholic Church.
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Emilio Castro, 85, pastor, ecumenist, and missionary statesman, April 6, 2013, in Montevideo, Uruguay. Castro grew up in Montevideo and studied at the theological faculty in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before serving Methodist congregations in Uruguay and Bolivia. In the 1960s he participated in ecumenical activities that paved the way for the formation of the Latin American Council of Churches in 1979. During the severe political and social unrest of the 1970s, he was involved in fostering dialogue between political groupings. Castro joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) as director of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism in 1973, and then from 1985 to 1992 he served as general secretary of the WCC and was editor of the Ecumenical Review. Castro received a doctorate from the University of Lausanne in 1984. His publications include Freedom in Mission: The Perspective of the Kingdom of God–an Ecumenical Inquiry (1985), When We Pray Together (1989), and, in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, “Liberation, Development, and Evangelism: Must We Choose Mission?” (2, no. 3 [1978]: 87-90), and part I of “Mission in the 1990s” (14, no. 4 [1990]: 146-49).
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A new Canadian bishops’ document summarizing themes of recent church teaching on the environment is an urgent cry for action, says Bishop Donald Bolen of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. “Recent church teaching and papal statements are clearly telling us that the way we are living is not sustainable,” said Bolen, one of the bishops on the Canadian bishops’ Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, which released the new resource April 8 entitled “Building a New Culture: Central Themes in Recent Church Teaching on the Environment.” “Care of the environment is a growing area of concern for the Church and for all human beings, and in fact the Church has been speaking about this – and in particular, recent popes have been speaking about this – not only with regularity, but with passion,” said Bolen.
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The world’s first Arms Trade Treaty is “a milestone in efforts to bring commerce in deadly weapons under much-needed controls,” according to the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). “This long-overdue act of international governance means that people in many parts of the world who live in fear for their lives will eventually be safer,” the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit commented on Arms Trade Treaty, adopted on 2 April, voted by 155 countries at the United Nations in New York, USA. “Churches in all regions share in the suffering caused by armed violence,” Tveit noted. “We can all now give thanks that national authorities responsible for public safety and well-being have finally adopted binding regulations for the global arms trade.”
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Pope Francis’ reference to himself as the ‘Bishop of Rome’ was music to the ears of Orthodox leaders for whom the question of papal primacy has long been a problem for reunion. Their attendance at the new Pope’s inaugural Mass was a sign of their hopes for closer communion. A statement from the patriarchate explained Bartholomew’s decision to attend Pope Francis’ inauguration personally: the need for “a profoundly bold step … that could have lasting significance”. It is the first time the Bishop of Constantinople has attended the inauguration of the Bishop of Rome ever, let alone since the great schism of 1054. According to the patriarchate ­website: “after such a long division … authentic reunion will require courage, leadership and humility. Given Pope Francis’ well-­documented work for social justice and his insistence that globalisation is detrimental to the poor … the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic traditions have a renewed opportunity to work collectively on issues of mutual concern … But such work requires a first step and it would appear as though Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is willing to take such a step.” In one of those seemingly informal but resonant gestures that we are beginning to expect from Francis, the response was immediate and commensurate. The successor of Peter greeted the successor of the other Galilean fisherman as “my brother Andrew”.
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The archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, on Saturday read from a document given him by Pope Francis, outlining the speech he gave during the pre-conclave General Congregation meetings of the Cardinals. Cardinal Ortega had been so impressed with the speech he asked the then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio for a copy of the intervention. Following the conclave, Cardinal Ortega received permission from Pope Francis to share the information.
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In a World Council of Churches (WCC) governance meeting, The Church: Towards a Common Vision, a convergence text of the Commission on Faith and Order, was officially presented by the WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. Tveit launched The Church at the WCC Executive Committee meeting on 6 March, which took place at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in Switzerland. “The Commission on Faith and Order presents to us a gift, a statement about the Church,” stated Tveit in his foreword to The Church. “Work on ecclesiology relates to everything the Church is and what its mission implies in and for the world. It reflects the constitutional aims and self-identity of the WCC as a fellowship of churches who call each other to the goal of visible unity,” he added. The Church identifies what Christians can say together about the Church in order to grow in communion, to struggle together for justice and peace, and to overcome together their past and present divisions. After twenty years in the making, The Church was approved by the Standing Commission on Faith and Order at its 2012 meeting in Penang, Malaysia. It was later received by the WCC Central Committee and commended to the churches for study and formal response. It is the second convergence text to be approved in the long life of the commission, the first being the Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry which was celebrated at the WCC 6th Assembly in Vancouver (1982).
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Theologians will meet in Switzerland this week to discuss a possible model for bilateral dialogues between Reformed church theologians and Lutherans, Catholics and Pentecostals. The model involves emerging young ecumenists, according to the Geneva-based World Communion of Reformed Churches. The discussion is part of the agenda for a March 3-8 meeting in Rüdlingen, in the northeastern part of the country. Organizers expect 22 participants from 15 countries, with about 20 percent of them under the age of 35. The WCRC‘s Theologians’ Network meeting aims to reflect on the priority issues for theological study in the coming year.
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The final meeting of the Anglican-Methodist International Commission for Unity in Mission (AMICUM) took place Feb. 22 to March 1, in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, hosted by the Anglican Communion. Members of the Commission worshiped together morning and evening, and the Eucharist was celebrated according to both traditions.
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Clarity and charity, the Gospel proclaimed and Jesus at the heart of the Church will always be the legacy of the great teaching Pope who led off the 21st century.

Pope Benedict XVI may have surprised the world by announcing his withdrawal from the See of Peter, but his courageous decision to put the Church and the office of the Pope before any other consideration was absolutely consistent with his character.

“As a Pope he was humble, conscientious, diligent,” wrote theologian Gregory Baum in an e-mail to The Catholic Register. “(He) derived no pleasure from being seen and celebrated.”
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The future of Anglican-Roman Catholic relations is, in part, down to who will succeed Pope Benedict, according to the archbishop of Canterbury’s representative to the Holy See.

Responding to today’s surprise resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the Very Rev. David Richardson said the implications for Anglican-Roman Catholic relations in the long term “will depend on who is elected to succeed him.”

However, Richardson, who is also director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said that other relationships continue despite the change in leadership.
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In a surprise announcement, this morning Pope Benedict XVI informed the cardinals gathered in Consistory that he has decided to resign effective February 28 for health reasons. The resignation apparently surprised even his closest of aides. The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415 during the Council of Constance as a means of resolving the Western Schism. The Vatican expects a conclave will elect the next pope before the end of March. According to the BBC, Benedict XVI is not expected to take part in the conclave to elect his successor. The Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, announced that Benedict would retire to Castel Gandolfo after his resignation. More details are expected in the coming weeks.
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Ministry leaders, priests and pastors from different Christian denominations in Saskatoon gathered Jan. 23 for a workshop held at the Cathedral of the Holy Family as part of the new De Margerie Series on Christian Unity and Reconciliation.

Bishop Gregory Cameron of the Anglican Diocese of St. Asaph in Wales led the morning workshop held in the middle of the 2013 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, offering leaders “pointers for the ecumenical quest” and encouraging discussion and practical goal-setting for the year ahead.

Looking for Christ in the other is vital, said Cameron. “There is a danger, I think, in the ecumenical context, that we start using our head quite a lot, and begin our critique of other traditions, without remembering to look for the Christ who is at work in one another.”
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Representatives of Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) met together February 1 in an attempt to chart a course for formal talks between LCC and the CCCB. Participants of the Working Group have suggested “Christian marriage” in general and “pastoral preparation and support for Christian marriage” in particular as possible topics to guide ongoing discussions.

First steps toward conversation began through informal connections in the St. Catharines area, and were followed by a brief meeting between representatives of both sides in May 2012 to discuss the possibility of formal discussion. After conferring with its Permanent Council and Commission for Christian Unity, the CCCB has approved a three-year dialogue with LCC. LCC entered into the discussions at the recommendation of its President, Rev. Dr. Robert Bugbee, and the Commission for Theology and Church Relations.
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Understanding the church as communion changes ecumenism, said the inaugural speaker of the new De Margerie Series on Christian Unity and Reconciliation. A paradigm of church as a communion or “Koinonia” shifts the understanding of church from a focus on our adherence to particular doctrines, to God’s action at work in us, said Bishop Gregory Cameron. “Communion clearly implies that the church is not merely an institution or organization, it is a fellowship of those who are called together by the Holy Spirit and who in baptism, confess Christ as Lord and Saviour. They are thus fully committed to him and to one another,” asserted Cameron. The understanding of church as communion — which is clearly expressed in the New Testament — has been rediscovered and deepened in recent decades, he described. “The shift has come about via a new emphasis of understanding the church less as a body of confessing believers, and more as a supernatural reality brought into being by God’s grace,” he said, after emphasizing the influence of paradigms in determining our ongoing understanding of any theological concept.
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Leaders of U.S. Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches will sign a historic agreement Tuesday in Austin [Texas] by which the two traditions will formally recognize each other’s liturgical rites of baptism.

The product of seven years of talks among five denominations, the agreement will be signed at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at a prayer service and celebration at St. Mary Cathedral. The service will be open to the public and will be part of the opening day activities of the national meeting of Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A., which will continue through Friday in Austin.

Representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Christian Reformed Church in North America, Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ will sign the document.
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This afternoon at 5:30pm, for the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Benedict XVI presided over second Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls. The celebration marked the closure of the 46th Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which this year had the theme: “What does God require of us?” Many representatives from other Churches and ecclesial communities participated in the celebrations, including Metropolitan-Archbishop Gennadios (Limouris), representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Rev. Richardson, representing the Archbishop of Canterbury. Communion in the same faith is the basis for ecumenism,” the Holy Father said, emphasizing that “God gives us unity as something inseparable from the faith” and that “the profession of baptismal faith in God, the Father and Creator, who has revealed Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ, pouring out the Spirit who gives life and holiness already unites Christians. Without faith―which is first a gift from God, but also the response of human persons―the entire ecumenical movement would be reduced to a type of ‘contract’, to adhere to out of common interest. … The doctrinal questions that still divide us should not be overlooked or minimized. Rather, they should be faced with courage, in a spirit of fraternity and mutual respect. Dialogue, when it reflects the priority of faith, can be open to God’s action with the firm confidence that alone we cannot build unity, but that the Holy Spirit is the one who guides us toward full communion and who allows us to see the spiritual wealth present in the different Churches and ecclesial communities.”
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The Ecumenism in Canada website is changing, moving, and growing. In its various forms since 1995, this site has continued to serve the global ecumenical community with a mission to “call the churches to visible unity in one faith, one baptism, and one eucharistic fellowship.” This mission is, of course, not ours alone. We find these words in the mission and vision of the World Council of Churches and they are echoed in the agreed statements of numerous dialogues.

The website has had a close relationship with the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism since the beginning. When I was executive director of the PCE, I began to play around with a website in my spare time sometime in the fall of 1995. Over the past 17 years, the site has grown into one of the most significant ecumenical websites, with over 10,000 visitors per month. The site has always given priority to collecting documents and other resources as a partial archive of the ecumenical movement in our time, and as a way of assisting the formation of an informed ecumenical leadership.
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While the Catholic Church and the United Church aren’t about to agree about same-sex marriage (Catholic against, United in favour), the official Roman Catholic-United Church of Canada Dialogue has found significant common ground in their theologies, liturgies and pastoral approaches. “In the end it is good news that we were able to say something together on marriage,” said Michael Attridge, a University of St. Michael’s College theology professor who was one of the Catholic representatives on the dialogue. “A very important topic — something that’s very important to both our Churches.” The 23-page final report on marriage makes no change in either Church’s teaching on marriage and does not try to paper over significant differences on same-sex marriage, divorce and marriage as a sacrament. However, by analysing the Catholic and United Church marriage ceremonies and official Church documents, the dialogue found common ground. Both believe marriage must be the free choice of the spouses, is intended to be a lifelong commitment, is “a commitment to self-transcendence” which serves not just the couple but children and the whole community, is a vocation to holiness, and pastorally marriage preparation is important. The Churches decided to tackle marriage in their official dialogue after the United Church and Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops found themselves submitting opposing factums to the Supreme Court in 2004, before the court ruled on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage.
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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon and St. Thomas More College are pleased to inaugurate a new series of lectures and workshops that will bring to Saskatoon distinguished ecumenists from around the world. Our hope is that this will be an annual event, sometimes in conjunction with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The series is named in honour of Fr. Bernard de Margerie. Those who know him, know that his greatest complement is to remind you to “stay humble.” His own humility is one of the many virtues he has brought to ecumenical ministry for over fifty years. Bernard is best known for his work in founding the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism in 1984, and serving as its first director for the next decade, but his ecumenical interest was sparked long before by Pope John XXIII who opened the Catholic Church to the ecumenical movement. Bernard’s vision for the ecumenical movement has always placed prayer at the centre. Spiritual ecumenism, which is fostered in prayer together and for each other, promotes humility about the distinctive aspects of our own faith and life. Through the early years of Catholic ecumenism, in the euphoria of new relationships between our churches, Bernard patiently and prayerfully built firm relationships that have seen us through the so-called “ecumenical winter.”
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The first event of a new ecumenical speaker series was held in Saskatoon Jan. 19, on the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, as Anglican Bishop Gregory Cameron of Wales presented a morning ecumenical workshop about “Lessons learned in ecumenism.” Cameron spoke in a joyful “affective” way about the work for Christian unity – telling stories of lessons he has learned through his ecumenical experiences – rather than addressing doctrine, shared mission or spiritual ecumenism. Through discussion questions, he also encouraged participants to share their experiences of ecumenism. “I think it is very important to list and to explore the benefits of ecumenism, to celebrate the riches of ecumenical experience,” Cameron said, stressing that such personal experience can be an important answer to those who question the need to work for Christian unity. “Unless we can recognize what gifts the Lord gives us through the ecumenical journey, we are never going to be able to talk with passion and commitment about why the Church needs to be One.” Cameron therefore explored seven blessings that he has experience on his own ecumenical journey – life lessons from numerous encounters – listing them in seven key words: faith, challenge, joy, nurture, friendship, Christ, and vision.
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Following remarks by Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at an 11 January 2013 book launch in Rome that the Vatican might consider an ordinariate for Lutherans within the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran World Information asked LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge to reflect on the implications
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À la suite des remarques formulées par l’archevêque Gerhard Ludwig Müller, préfet de la Congrégation pour la doctrine de la foi, à l’occasion du lancement d’un livre le 11 janvier 2013 à Rome, indiquant que le Vatican pourrait envisager de créer un ordinariat pour les luthériens au sein de l’Église catholique romaine, Lutheran World Information
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Un dialogue international trilatéral entre mennonites, catholiques et luthériens a eu lieu pour la première fois à Rome, du 9 au 13 décembre 2012.

Un communiqué commun publié après la réunion de Rome annonce le thème général de ce processus de cinq ans : ‘Baptême et intégration dans le Corps du Christ, l’Église’. Le communiqué précise : « Ce forum trilatéral innovant permettra d’aborder des questions concernant la théologie et la pratique du baptême dans chaque communion ».

Les trois communions internationales ont déjà eut des dialogues bilatéraux les unes avec l’autre. Elles ont décidé ensemble d’avoir des conversations à trois sur le baptême, un sujet qui avait fait surface lors des échanges précédents.
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An international trilateral dialogue between Mennonites, Catholics and Lutherans began in Rome, 9-13 December 2012.

According to a joint release issued after the Rome meeting, the overall theme of the five-year process is “Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church.” The release further stated: “This innovative trilateral forum will allow the dialogue to take up questions surrounding the theology and practice of baptism in the respective communions.”

The three international communions came to the inaugural meeting with a history of bilateral dialogues with each other. They mutually agreed to hold three-way talks on baptism, a topic that had surfaced in earlier exchanges.
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The head of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X said he has been receiving mixed messages from the Vatican for years over if and how the group might be brought back into full communion with the church. Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the society, claimed that top Vatican officials told him not to be discouraged by official statements from the Vatican, because they did not reflect Pope Benedict XVI’s true feelings. The Vatican press office declined to comment Jan. 4 on the claims.
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In his final Thought for the Day this morning on BBC Radio 4, the Archbishop of Canterbury talks about the recent killings in Connecticut and discounts the argument often put forward that “it’s not guns that kill, it’s people” saying: “People use guns. But in a sense guns use people, too. When we have the technology for violence easily to hand, our choices are skewed and we are more vulnerable to being manipulated into violent action.”
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On Friday, December 21, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the members of the Roman curia, the staff of the numerous Vatican offices, in what has become an annual tradition. The speech is sometimes described as a “State of the Church” address. Regarding dialogue with other religions, Pope Benedict spoke of two fundamental rules: Firstly that dialogue does not aim at conversion, but at understanding. In this respect it differs from evangelization, from mission; Secondly, that accordingly, both parties to the dialogue remain consciously within their identity, which the dialogue does not place in question either for themselves or for the other.”
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“Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God,” was the response of Jesus when asked about paying taxes. His questioners, of course, were laying a trap for him. They wanted to force him to take sides in the highly-charged political debate about Roman rule in the land of Israel. Yet there was more at stake here: if Jesus really was the long-awaited Messiah, then surely he would oppose the Roman overlords. So the question was calculated to expose him either as a threat to the regime, or a fraud.
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New guidelines for the increasing number of interreligious marriages in the UK have been launched by the Christian-Muslim forum. Bishop Paul Hendricks, Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Southwark, and Co-Chair of the Christian-Muslim Forum, welcomed the new guidelines, saying that “they offer valuable guidance for both priests and imams. With an increasing number of Christian-Muslim couples entering into marriage, we also need an increased awareness of the particular pastoral support that is owed to them, which can help them and their loved ones discover their marriage as a place of dialogue, and a beneficial link between two religions”.
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The Ven. Robert Hardwick is the new bishop of the Anglican diocese of Qu’Appelle, in Regina, Sask.

Currently serving as the diocese’s assistant to the bishop and executive archdeacon, Hardwick was elected on the first ballot of the electoral synod, held Dec. 8. He succeeds Bishop Greg Kerr-Wilson, who is now the bishop of the diocese of Calgary.
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The Holy See has approved a new deanery in Canada that will minister to Anglican Use Catholics and their clergy.

Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson and Cardinal Thomas Collins announced Dec. 7 that the new deanery will minister to Anglicans in Canada who have come into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

Steenson is the head of the Ordinariate based in Houston, Texas, and Collins, archbishop of Toronto, is ecclesiastical delegate for the Ordinariate in Canada. Collins and Steenson petitioned the Holy See to create the deanery. They received the full support of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops at the bishops plenary assembly in September.
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he following is the communiqué from the recent meeting of the Anglican Communion-Al Azhar Al Sherif Interfaith Dialogue. A PDF of the communiqué in English and Arabic is available here

The dialogue committee composed of a delegation from the Anglican Communion and from Al Azhar Al Sherif held its 10th Annual meeting in Cairo on 20 November 2012 corresponding to 6 Moharram 1434. This meeting was held under the auspices of the agreement signed between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar on 30 January 2002 at Lambeth Palace, London, UK. These annual meetings aimed to promote cooperation and understanding between Christianity and Islam.
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