Bernard Daly was a Canadian journalist standing probably 15 feet in front of Pope John XXIII when the pontiff announced on Oct. 13, 1962, that the Second Vatican Council was about to change the modern world for Catholics.

“I had been a journalist for 14 years, writing about public events and commenting on them,” says Daly, “but the assignment to cover Vatican II as the only English-speaking Canadian journalist was a complete surprise and, in reality, such an honour.

“There he was, on a raised platform in the Sistine Chapel, in front of 1,000 journalists, with that beautiful face and jovial attitude, and none of us knew really what to expect. He spoke in French, I could follow well enough, and the texts were supplied in English later. And what he was telling us was that we should tell the truth, the whole truth, about what was going to happen during the council.”
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The visit to Ridley Hall Theological College, Cambridge, England by Shaykh Fawzy El-Zafzaf, President of the Committee for Dialogue with the Monotheistic Faiths of Al Azhar, the renowned Islamic university and Centre in Cairo, Egypt, marks a significant new development in the building of relations between the Anglican Communion and Al Azhar.

As part of the agreement signed by Archbishop Carey, then Archbishop of Canterbury, and Shaykh Tantawy, the Grand Shaykh of Al Azhar in January 2002, the two parties committed themselves not only to regular ‘dialogue’ meetings, but also to find other ways in which they might learn more about the faith of each other. It was agreed to seek to establish reciprocal study visits in which staff and students of Al Azhar would spend time at Anglican theological institutions, and Anglican theologians and theological students would similarly visit Al Azhar. Shaykh Fawzy’s visit to Ridley Hall, 5-11 October 2003, during which he was accompanied by Bishop Mouneer Anis, the Anglican Bishop of Egypt and North Africa will, it is hoped, prove to be the first of a number of such exchanges.
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“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose” (I Cor 1:10)

To the Christians and churches of Eastern Europe,

We, the 25 participants of the Ancient Oriental, Anglican, Baptist, Evangelical, Lutheran, Orthodox, Reformed and Roman Catholic traditions of Eastern Europe have just completed an eight-day “School for Mission: Preaching the Gospel in Eastern Europe” organized by the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches. It was an encouraging time of Christian fellowship and learning, during which we struggled to understand better how to express the missionary nature of the Church by bearing common witness in our home countries.
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A covenant between the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain was signed on November 1, 2003 at the Methodist Central Hall followed by a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey. Dr Williams gave the following address at the signing ceremony.

At his first meeting with leaders of the Jewish community in Rome, Pope John XXIII, it’s said, greeted them with the words, “I am Joseph, your brother”. He was evoking one of the most poignant moments in the Old Testament: Joseph, whose arrogance had provoked the resentment and rejection of his brothers, is carried off into exile and slavery, then rises to great power. He finds that this power is given to him so that he can save the lives of his brothers when they come to him, not knowing him, begging him for help; and at last he reveals who he is: “I am Joseph, your brother”.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has announced the makeup and the terms of reference for a Commission to look at life in the Anglican Communion in the light of recent events. It is to be made up of members appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and will be chaired by the Most Revd Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh.

The Commission, which is expected to begin its work early in the New Year, was formed as a result of a request from the recent Primates meeting at Lambeth Palace to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It will take particular account of the decision to authorise a service for use in connection with same sex unions in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada, and the expected Consecration of the Revd Canon V Gene Robinson as Bishop Co-adjutor of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church (USA) on Sunday, November 2nd.
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The Anglican-Methodist Covenant in England will be signed at a national celebration on Saturday 1 November 2003, at 11:00am, in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. Earlier this year the Covenant was strongly endorsed by the Methodist Conference of Great Britain and the General Synod of the Church of England. The service of celebration will begin at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, at 11.00am, in front of an invited assembly from both Churches as well as ecumenical and civic guests. After the historic Covenant is signed at Methodist Central Hall, the ceremony will continue at Westminster Abbey at 11:45am with a short service of thanksgiving and dedication. The Covenant will be signed on behalf of the Church of England by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend Dr David Hope, and the Secretary General of the Archbishops’ Council, Mr William Fittall.
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I returned home from our meeting at Lambeth grateful for the spirit of candor in which we shared our thoughts and feelings. I thank God for the opportunity to come together in Christ’s name and for the strong bonds and mutual affection that exist between us. I pray that our common commitment to mission and God’s ongoing work of reconciliation will continue to bind us together in Christ in the days and years ahead. I remind myself that the church is not our possession but the risen body of Christ of which each one of us is a limb and member in virtue of our baptism.

As I tried to make plain in the course of our meeting, we in the Episcopal Church have been dealing openly with the place of homosexual persons in the life of our church for at least thirty years. Though the question still remains unresolved, the presence among us of deeply faithful men and women whose lives reveal the fruit of the Spirit, and whose primary affections are ordered to persons of the same sex, has brought us to this difficult, and very public, moment. I recognize that while many in our church give thanks for where we have come, many others are deeply pained and distressed. I further recognize how our decisions have also affected you and I hope you know how profoundly I regret the pain our Province’s action has caused many of you.
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he Bishop and Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire met today in response to the London meeting of the Primates from the 38 autonomous Provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion for prayer, bible study and discussion. We acknowledge and affirm the wisdom of the Primates of the Anglican Communion in their statement. We echo their affirmation that “what we hold in common is much greater than that which divides us in proclaiming Good News to the world.”

We commend their resolve to follow the 1998 Lambeth resolution calling for the Church to “listen to the experience of homosexual persons, and … to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ.”
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At the final press conference at the end of the Primates’ Meeting yesterday, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA, gave the following statement:

“I’d certainly like to underscore the Archbishop’s point about it being a difficult but truthful meeting. I think one thing that became very clear early on is that we seek to embody and proclaim the Gospel in very different contexts and what may, in fact, be good news to a majority in one province may, in fact, be bad news somewhere else in the world. And here I think particularly of my own province, the United States in which a majority, though not the whole province, has wrestled with the whole question of homosexuality for at least the last 30 years and come to a sense that men and women whose affections are ordered to members of the same sex are faithful members of the church; are people with whom we share ministry; are people we in many instances ordain, which of course has led to the confirmation of the election of the Bishop Elect of New Hampshire, which has caused such a division and certainly been one of the major focuses of our meeting here. But I do think what binds us together is deeper than some of the things that divide us and certainly the whole question of human sexuality; more particularly homosexuality; is far from settled and as we continue to struggle together I think it’s also important, as the Archbishop said, that we keep our focus on the mission we share because there is so much in the world that cries out for our attention beyond issues of human sexuality.
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It is with great gratitude to God and appreciation to the people of the Anglican Communion and other churches that we greet you in the name of Jesus Christ.

As we met this week at Lambeth we experienced the power of the Holy Spirit moving among us. We are so grateful to God for hearing the prayers and cries of his praying people to preserve both the truth and the unity of the Anglican Communion. We urge continued prayer that the whole Anglican Communion may continue by God’s power to witness to the transforming love of Jesus for all people.
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Good evening everyone. Thank you very much for joining us. I hope you’ve had a chance, at least, to glance at the statement which has been produced by our meeting which has, in fact, been unanimously agreed by the meeting of the primates. And I’d like to offer a few words of introduction to this before we turn to questions.

It has been a very remarkable couple of days in the life of the Anglican Communion and it has certainly been anything but easy. It has not been without pain. But it has been honest and open and I hope that we have grown in some real shared understanding as a result. And I do want to take this opportunity of paying tribute to my colleagues in the Communion for all the dedication and the energy and steadfastness in Christian service that they show generally and that they have shown in these two demanding days.
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The Primates of the Anglican Communion and the Moderators of the United Churches, meeting together at Lambeth Palace on the 15th and 16th October, 2003, wish to express our gratitude to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, for calling us together in response to recent events in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada, and the Episcopal Church (USA), and welcoming us into his home so that we might take counsel together, and to seek to discern, in an atmosphere of common prayer and worship, the will and guidance of the Holy Spirit for the common life of the thirty-eight provinces which constitute our Communion.

At a time of tension, we have struggled at great cost with the issues before us, but have also been renewed and strengthened in our Communion with one another through our worship and study of the Bible. This has led us into a deeper commitment to work together, and we affirm our pride in the Anglican inheritance of faith and order and our firm desire to remain part of a Communion, where what we hold in common is much greater than that which divides us in proclaiming Good News to the world.
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The broad smiles and warm handshakes told it all. Christians and Muslims are back on track discussing the “heavenly religions,” as the Sunni Muslim leader put it.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, played a key role in re-establishing the dialogue that was disrupted in the wake of the election of Canon Gene Robinson – an openly gay man living in a committed relationship – as bishop of New Hampshire. A letter from him to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawy, delivered October 4, reassured the Sunni leader that Anglicans were not about to change their theology.

The letter which was delivered by the Episcopal Bishop in Egypt, the Rt Revd Dr Mouneer H Anis, said that the official position of the Anglican Communion over human sexuality remains unchanged.
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Semaine de la justice réparatrice, novembre 16 à 23, 2003, Sentiers vers une Communauté renouvelée

Lorsque nous vaquons à nos activités quotidiennes, nous cherchons à emprunter des sentiers qui nous aideront à vivre en harmonie, parce que nous sommes convaincus que cela améliorera nos collectivités. Les relations sont au coeur de la justice réparatrice, et lorsque nous appliquons activement une approche réparatrice où les personnes en font partie et sont écoutées, nous permettons la compréhension, la guérison, la responsabilisation ainsi que le renouvellement de la communauté.
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Restorative Justice Week, November 16-23, 2003, Pathways to a Strengthened Community

As we go about our daily lives, looking for the pathways that will help us live in harmony, we do so with the belief that our communities will be better places because of it. Relationships are at the heart of restorative justice, and when we actively use a restorative approach in which people are included and heard, there can be understanding, healing, accountability and a strengthened community.
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Des chrétiens de diverses dénominations travaillent ensemble à la construction d’un monastère de bénédictins olivétains en Irlande du Nord. Cet effort commun est un hommage aux moines qui se sont donné comme mission la réconciliation entre les communautés protestante et catholique. Ils ont commencé de façon modeste à leur arrivée au village de Rostrevor, il
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Christians of various denominations are helping to build a monastery for the Catholic Olivetan Benedictines in Northern Ireland. The joint effort is a tribute to the monks who have made it their mission to work for reconciliation between the Protestant and Catholic communities. They started in a modest way when they first arrived in the
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La Consultation canadienne entre juifs et chrétiens a repris ses conversations après plusieurs mois d’interruption. En avril 2002, Le Congrès juif canadien (CJC) s’était retiré du dialogue, qui se réunissait trois ou quatre fois par année depuis 1977, à cause de déclarations des Églises unie et anglicane au sujet de la violence au Moyen Orient.
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The Canadian Christian-Jewish consultation has re-opened talks after a 14-month hiatus. The Canadians Jewish Congress withdrew from the 25 year-old national dialogue with Canada’s largest Christian churches April 10 last year over United Church and Anglican statements about violence in the Middle East. The consultation which has met three or four times a year since
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Provinces de l’Ouest Des croyants se sont réunis à l’église unie St. Stephen à Qualicum Beach, Vancouver, du 9 au 11 mai, pour une troisième rencontre annuelle sur le thème de la compréhension et de l’espoir. Ils ont prié, étudié, partagé, mangé et joué ensemble, afin de croître dans leur « pèlerinage œcuménique vers des
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West People of Faith gathered at St. Stephen’s United Church in Qualicum Beach, Vancouver, May 9-11, for the third annual weekend gathering, Nurturing Deep Under- standing and Hope, to pray, learn, share eat and play so that they might be nurtured on their ecumenical Pilgrimage Towards Right Relationships. The four behaviours identified by the Royal
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In August 1974, the General Council of the United Church of Canada passed a resolution which invited the Roman Catholic Church in Canada to enter into conversations concerning Christian unity. The following month, the Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Catholic Conference responded to the invitation in a positive manner. In November 1975 the first dialogue meeting took place, which means that the dialogue has now been meeting for twenty-eight years!
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By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register Canada has gained a new ecumenical web site, and the start of a centralized, on-line archive of Canadian and international ecumenical dialogue. Want to know what Catholics and Lutherans have really said about their shared understanding of justification, or what the Catholic bishops of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland
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“I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit… I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” (John 15:5 and 17)

Welcome to our new website entitled “Ecumenism in Canada.”

This site was developed jointly by the only two Canadian centres working in the area of interchurch and interfaith relations: the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, Saskatoon, and the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, Montreal. It aims to show the many fruits produced by the Christian Church in Canada.
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Raiser outlines need for new configuration of ecumenical movement Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser re-affirmed the need for a new configuration of the ecumenical movement in his last report to the Central Committee as World Council of Churches‘ (WCC) general secretary. Emphasizing the need to move the whole Christian community to a renewed common witness in
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En 1990 l’organisme Aide à l’Église en détresse fournit l’argent nécessaire aux premiers pas d’une radio à vocation œcuménique en Russie. « Dès le départ, il y a eu cette volonté d’œcuménisme », se souvient Piotr Sakharov, responsable de l’émission catholique « Dar » (Le Don), qui dispose d’une heure quotidienne. Aujourd’hui, Radio Sophia émet
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Pour la première fois depuis la fin des discussions sur un plan d’union, dans les années 1970, les Églises anglicane et unie au Canada ont entrepris un dialogue sur leur relation. La tâche principale de la première rencontre, en février 2003, a été d’identifier les secteurs d’intérêt commun : les affirmations théologiques de base, la
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Ouest Le « Bridging Group », créé en décembre 2002, réunit des gens de diverses religions et cultures qui travaillent à combattre le racisme à Saskatoon. La déclaration de mission du Groupe, émis le 20 mars 2003, en cri, en hébreu, en anglais et en français, invite à aller « au-delà de la tolérance passive
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A July 2003 meeting on Christian martyrs during the Inquisition will mark the first time Catholic and Mennonite scholars have worked together on a defining event in the history of the Reformation. Mennonites trace their roots to the sixteenth-century Dutch Reformer Menno Simons, a former Roman Catholic priest who was part of a radical Protestant
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For the first time since the end of the plan of union talks in the 1970s, the Anglican and United Churches in Canada have begun a dialogue about their relationship. The major task at the first meeting in February 2003 was to identify areas of mutual interest and concern: core theological affirmations, sacramental theology, missiology
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West The Bridging Group created in December 2002, is composed of concerned people from a variety of faiths and cultures working to heal racism in Saskatoon. The Group’s mission statement, released on March 20 in Cree, Hebrew, English and French, calls for going “beyond passive tolerance.” Honest dialogue, genuine understanding and the development of caring
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[ENI] The biggest-ever official gathering in Germany uniting Protestants and Roman Catholics ended June 1, in Berlin, with an ecumenical service attended by tens of thousands of people. But the sharing of the Eucharist or Holy Communion did not carry the approval of Pope John Paul II. “The Ecumenical Kirchentag [church congress] was a great
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Rev. Seung Kim’s faith journey has been circuitous. It began in his homeland of Korea, and two years ago, brought him to Saskatoon, where he is pastor of Calvin-Goforth Presbyterian Church on Sommerfeld Avenue. Kim was brought up in the Presbyterian church in Korea. “My grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. He was the first Christian
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SAVANNAH, Ga. (ELCA) — Members of the Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives Network (LERN) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) held their annual meeting here May 12-15, during the National Workshop on Christian Unity. A leading topic of the meeting was how agreements the ELCA has reached with other church bodies can be “lived out”
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SAVANNAH, Ga. (ELCA) — The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), addressed the closing luncheon of the National Workshop on Christian Unity, which met here May 12-15. He expressed gratitude to those who work for Christian unity and named a series of “factors, forces and questions which
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I. When Jesus uttered the words ‘may they all be one’, they by no means represented a vision or a dream. Jesus said these words on the eve of his death. This was not the time for triumphal utopias. The Galilean spring, when the enthusiastic crowds overwhelmed him, was over. They no longer cried ‘Hosanna!’ but ‘Crucify him!’. Jesus was well aware of this, and predicted also that his disciples would not be one, and that they would be dispersed. What else could he do in this situation than to leave the future of his work in the hands of his Father? Thus, the words ‘may they all be one’ are a prayer, a prayer in a humanly perceived hopeless situation.
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VATICAN CITY, APR 2, 2003 (VIS) – Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, spoke yesterday at the 2003 Substantive Session of the Disarmament Commission. That speech in English was made public today. Archbishop Migliore noted that “months ago, the Holy See Delegation stated before the
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La Commission théologique internationale qui s’est réunie début octobre au Vatican a adopté presque unanimement une étude sur la nature du diaconat demandée par le cardinal Ratzinger il y a huit ans. Or cette étude ne ferme pas la porte au diaconat féminin. Dans les Églises orthodoxes aussi, des voix se font entendre depuis un
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Le 17 janvier 2003, son Excellence Madame Adrienne Clarkson, Gouverneure Générale du Canada, rendait publique la liste des nouveaux membres admis dans l’Ordre du Canada. À cette occasion, le Père Irénée Beaubien, s.j., fondateur du Centre canadien d’œcuménisme, recevait le titre d’Officier de l’Ordre en appréciation des services rendus dans le domaine des relations interconfessionnelles
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Ouest Un mouvement interreligieux pour détenus et ex-détenus, Bridging the Gap Ministry, a organisé un banquet à Winnipeg, le 15 novembre 2002, dans le cadre de la semaine de la Justice réparatrice. « Nous espérons apporter une présence et un soutien spirituels aux hommes et aux femmes présentement détenus, ou sur le point d’être libérés,
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LONDON, England (ELCA) — The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), expressed hope that the ELCA may one day enter into full communion with Anglican churches with whom other Lutheran churches are in full communion. Hanson made the comment to the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, archbishop of
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At a Vatican meeting at the end of October the International Theological Commission approved a 70-page document containing the results of its study of the nature of the diaconate, requested eight years ago by Cardinal Ratzinger. This study does not close the door on the accession of women to the diaconate. Voices within the Orthodox
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The list of new appointments to the Order of Canada was announced, January 17, by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. On this occasion, Fr. Irénée Beaubien S.J., founder of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his pioneering work in interdenominational and intercultural relations.

West Bridging the Gap Ministry, an interfaith program for prisoners and ex-offenders, held a banquet in Winnipeg, Nov. 15, 2002 as part of Restorative Justice week. “We hope to provide a spiritual presence and support to men and women who are incarcerated, about to be released, or presently reintegrating into society, as well as to
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VATICAN CITY (ELCA) — Lutheran and Roman Catholic congregations must engage in a “reception” process for the agreement reached in the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), and the document should be presented in terms that members can understand, said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian
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VATICAN CITY (ELCA) — The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), called for the possibility of “limited interim Eucharistic sharing” between Lutherans and Roman Catholics in a brief meeting here March 24 with Pope John Paul II. Currently, it is not possible for Lutherans to commune in
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A photo of Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, a devout Anglican, standing before a Roman Catholic archbishop to receive communion has prompted a renewed discussion in the two denominations over the issue of who may take communion in a Catholic church.

After the photo was published in January in the Ottawa Citizen, there was a flurry of letters to the newspaper over the issue. The story was widely covered across the country and the letters and coverage prompted a published response in the newspaper from Archbishop Marcel Gervais, Catholic archbishop of Ottawa.
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[Toronto – February 18, 2003] The Anglican Church of Canada and The United Church of Canada have begun an ongoing dialogue. These are the first formal conversations between the two denominations since the end of the Plan of Union talks in the 1970s. The meeting took place February 13-16, 2003 at the Vancouver School of
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DENVER, Colo. (ELCA) — The Department for Ecumenical Affairs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was advised to continue current bilateral church dialogues, build on positive signs from recent meetings with officials of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and maintain funding for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The department’s advisory committee discussed those
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Jesus Christ, Bearer of Living Water: A Christian Reflection on the ‘New Age’, prepared by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue VATICAN CITY, FEB 3, 2003 (VIS) – Today in the Holy See Press Office there was a conference to present the document “Jesus Christ, Bearer of Living Water.
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