The joint publication, “Called to Transformation – Ecumenical Diakonia,” available online from now on, offers resources to strengthen the diaconal capacity of the churches and to advance the cooperation with specialized ministries.

“Writing of this document was a recommendation of the Malawi consultation in September 2014, when churches and specialized ministries’ representatives from all the continents gathered to reflect on the work they are supposed to do together,” said Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC deputy general secretary, presenting the publication.

Besides adding the geographic and confessional contexts of practicing diakonia, the study document also addresses the diaconal response to COVID-19 pandemic, including examples of diaconal ministry from every continent.

“With this publication, we now have a common understanding on diakonia – and that should take churches and their partners toward the next level of ecumenical cooperation in diakonia,” said Phiri, adding that after receiving the document in 2022, the WCC central committee has recommended that churches and specialized ministries all over the world use it.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Dani Dayan, head of the Holocaust center in Jerusalem, describes Pope Francis as a friend and an ally in the mission to defeat antisemitism. Pope Francis met with the chairman of the Yad Vashem (World Holocaust Remembrance Center) and the two discussed ways to prevent antisemitism and increase cooperation on Holocaust education. Dani Dayan, the head of the center in Jerusalem, described Pope Francis as a friend and an ally in the mission to defeat antisemitism. Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, is universally recognized as the ultimate source for Holocaust education, documentation and research.

The meeting that took place on June 9 was also attended by Rafi Schutz, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See. Pope Francis and Dayan both share Buenos Aires as their birthplace and were able to converse in their native Spanish. The discussion focused on ongoing collaborative efforts by Yad Vashem and the Catholic Church on “Holocaust remembrance, education and documentation, and to discuss efforts to fight antisemitism and racism worldwide,” Yad Vashem said in a statement.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

As the World Council of Churches’ first substantial digital publication and its largest free collection, the Faith and Order Papers open a new frontier for scholars, ecumenists, and anyone interested in traversing the twists and turns of the path towards Christian unity.

“This is a digital library of more than one century of ecumenical theology,” explained Rev. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus, WCC interim deputy general secretary and director of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order. “By ‘ecumenical theology,’ I mean theology focused on overcoming divisions among Christian churches.”

In fact, Pedroso Mateus added, it’s a library of ecumenical theology “in the making” because it documents not only the theological results of studies and conferences, but also the processes whereby studies of conferences were conceived, implemented and concluded.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Board of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism has named their new Executive Director. Mary Nordick, Board Chairperson writes:

“The Board of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism is pleased to announce Cathryn Wood’s promotion to Executive Director. Cathryn’s leadership skills have been demonstrated internally with her work with the Board on strategic planning and stabilizing the Centre financially. Her effective presence representing the PCE as an ecumenical community partner has helped to steer the Centre through the pandemic challenge. We look forward to her high-level development of approaches and partnerships as together we serve the prairie provinces in ecumenical leadership and support.

Cathryn Wood has been on staff at the Centre since 2015 as the Program Coordinator and is happy to be in this new role! She lives in Saskatoon with her husband, Chris and has four daughters Katie (Jarret), Emma, Laura, and Jessie. She is also the music director at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Saskatoon.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

I can still remember my shock and dismay upon hearing that Jean Vanier, someone whose talks and writings influenced my thinking on Christian community, had been sexuality inappropriate and L’Arche, the organization he founded in 1964 for people with intellectual disabilities, was being transparent in acknowledging the damage this had caused and would continue to cause.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The visit to Canada by the Archbishop of Canterbury and meetings with Indigenous groups in Saskatchewan (See “‘Apologies are cheap … unless accompanied by action’”) were significant and vital steps on our path to healing. We thank him for his apology and for accompanying us briefly on our journey. But we do hope that he also recognized that Indigenous Anglicans have embarked on our own journey of self-healing. We are exercising our right to self-determination within the Anglican Church of Canada through the building of the Indigenous Anglican church, Sacred Circle. Building a new church in our own image is fueled by the tragic mistakes of the past. This self-governing assembly of Indigenous Anglicans is focused on healing, reconciliation and spiritual and cultural recovery and practice.

Regretfully, Canadian media failed to report on this aspect of our story; it is not even mentioned, for example, in an April 22 Globe and Mail column by Tanya Talaga, a journalist who frequently covers Indigenous affairs.

… Read more » … lire la suite »

The [Anglican] Church in Wales has called on the World Council of Churches (WCC) to distance itself from any members which have shown support for Russia’s “unprovoked war of aggression” in Ukraine, namely the Russian Orthodox Church.

An emergency motion passed unanimously last month at the Church in Wales’ Governing Body in Newport last week urged the WCC to stand with the oppressed and work for peace, and to take “clear and appropriate action” against any member which supported the war.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Evidence is mounting that assisted suicide’s introduction into the Canadian medical system is not only undermining governments’ oft-stated plans to improve palliative care but is actively damaging the country’s already inadequate palliative care system. Some patients are choosing to die rather than to continue to live without adequate palliative care.

Dr. Neil Hilliard, a palliative care expert from Abbotsford, British Columbia, said health facilities’ introduction of assisted suicide into palliative care wards and hospices, following legalization of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in June 2016, has led to a reduction in true palliative cares services.

“It’s like a cancer growing within the palliative care programs,” said Hilliard who, in 2017, resigned as medical director of the Fraser Health Authority’s palliative care program because of his opposition to the authority’s insistence that he support the performing of assisted suicide in hospices.

“(MAiD) is starting to take over to a certain degree. But still only 5% of people are choosing MAiD; 95% would prefer to live well until they die naturally.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

With the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly less than four months away, anticipation for the historic gathering of faith and fellowship is growing. The foundation for the assembly—including the business aspects, spiritual life, or open dialogue—is the theme “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.” The assembly is also rooted in common faith as a gathering of the fellowship of churches that confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour. All of this will occur amid today’s stark global realities: wars and conflicts, COVID-19, the climate emergency, racism, authoritarian politics, digitization, militarization. As the world cries for hope, the WCC 11th Assembly promises to bring a multi-faith approach.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Pope Francis said on Friday that members of the Anglican Communion are “valued travelling companions” as Catholics take part in a worldwide synodal process.

Speaking to the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Dialogue Commission (ARCIC) on May 13, the pope said he hoped that Anglicans would contribute to the two-year initiative leading to the Synod on Synodality in Rome in 2023.

He said: “As you know, the Catholic Church has inaugurated a synodal process: for this common journey to be truly such, the contribution of the Anglican Communion cannot be lacking. We look upon you as valued travelling companions.”

The 85-year-old pope noted that in July he is due to travel to South Sudan with Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican Communion.

The pope, who has been making his public appearances in a wheelchair since May 5 due to a torn ligament in his right knee, said: “As part of this concrete journey, I wish to recommend to your prayers an important step. Archbishop Justin Welby and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, two dear brothers, will be my travelling companions when, in a few weeks’ time, we will at last be able to travel to South Sudan.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue of Canada (ARC Canada) has been meeting regularly for 50 years, with a mandate to serve the cause of visible Christianity unity and common witness between the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the Roman Catholic Church in Canada. Having continued the Dialogue online from 2020-2021, members rejoiced to be able to convene in person on May 2-5 at the Manoir D’Youville in Châteauguay, QC.

These days were the source of a renewed beginning in several ways: ARC Canada welcomed a few new members into its ranks, continuing a long tradition of gifted and dedicated ecumenical leaders who have contributed to its work over the decades. A new proposed terms of reference was reviewed that would, among other things, expand the participation of representatives from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) from a role as observers to full membership, as full communion partners within the ACC delegation. There was also a chance to engage with recent discussions of synodality in the Roman Catholic Church, and to review aspects of some of the latest ecumenical study on the subject of Anglican ordinations.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The governing body of Mennonite Church Canada has decided to end the full-time Indigenous-Settler Relations (ISR) position held by Steve Heinrichs and replace it with a new half-time position.

Heinrichs’s 10-plus notable years with MC Canada are over.

At the same time, MC Canada will add a half-time climate action position and a half-time associate executive minister position. The decisions were made at the April 9 to 10 meeting of the Joint Council.

The MC Canada release states that Heinrichs will not be filling the new half-time ISR position. MC Canada executive minister Doug Klassen says policies prevent him for disclosing whether Heinrichs was offered the half-time position. Heinrichs is similarly limited in what he can say.

That said, his preference would have been to continue in the role he had. Heinrichs was not involved in the April 9-10 decision. The cutback was effective immediately, although Heinrichs has offered to remain for a short time, to assist with transition and to wrap up projects. Klassen hopes to have the half-time position filled in the fall.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A special service to mark the eighth centenary anniversary of the Synod of Oxford aims to encourage Christians to reject contemporary forms of anti-Judaism and antisemitism. The Church of England has issued an apology to the Jewish community over laws that were passed 800 years ago which paved the way for the expulsion of Jews from England for hundreds of years. A special service held on Sunday at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford for the eighth centenary anniversary of the Synod of Oxford saw the presence of civic dignitaries and religious leaders, including Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis and representatives of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The 1222 Synod of Oxford passed laws that forbade social interactions between Jews and Christians, placed a specific tithe on Jews and required them to wear an identifying badge. The Jews were also banned from some professions and from building new synagogues. Other harsher restrictions against the Jews followed over the years that eventually led to the mass expulsion of approximately 3,000 Jews at the time, by an edict in 1290 by King Edward I. More than 360 years passed before Jews were readmitted to England by Oliver Cromwell in 1656.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

During the month of Ramadan, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) sent an open letter to the Muslim community in the United States. Acknowledging the conjunction of Christian and Muslim holy days in April, the ELCA Church Council unanimously adopted “A Declaration of the ELCA to the Muslim Community” (2022). The Declaration affirms the ELCA’s “friendship and solidarity with Muslims, nurtured over time through meaningful cooperation, dialogue, and common action.”

Kathryn M. Lohre, ELCA Executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations & Theological Discernment, explained that “This latest declaration stands alongside ‘A Declaration of the ELCA to the Jewish Community‘ and as a concrete expression of ‘A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment.’ More than a corpus of statements, these declarations remind us of who we are in relationship to our neighbours, and who we strive to be. Grounded in real relationships, they are more than aspirational; grounded in reality, they reflect commitments not yet fully realized.”

The ELCA also plans to publish new resources to support these inter-religious efforts, including a preaching guide that affirms the ELCA’s commitments to Jewish relations and a set of pastoral guidelines for ministry in a multi-religious world.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

When Geronimo Henry stood up to speak at a May 3 meeting between Indigenous community leaders, residential school survivors and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in Toronto, he told the story of his 11 years in the Mohawk Institute residential school near Brantford, Ont.

He told those gathered how he and other children had been locked in an empty “playroom” for hours at a time, gazing out the single window and wishing to see his mother drive up the laneway to bring him home.

He told them about when the city of Brantford built a dump out behind the school and he and the other boys would sneak out to rifle through it for food to supplement the school’s paltry fare.

And he told them that when Stephen Harper’s government issued an official apology for the residential school system in 2008, he used to take a printed copy with him to speaking engagements at universities so that when someone asked what he thought of the apology, he could take it out and rip it up.

“Why did it take the churches and the government so long to bring out this apology? Don’t they know the schools closed in 1970?” asked Henry. “That’s when they should have come and gathered us all up and said they were sorry. But they never.”

Canada’s Indian residential schools began to close in earnest after 1969 when the partnership between the federal government and the churches that had run them dissolved. The Mohawk Institute closed in 1970.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

News of former National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop Mark MacDonald’s resignation due to sexual misconduct allegations has shocked many in the church, with Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders describing both emotional and practical challenges in coming to terms with it.

MacDonald resigned as national Indigenous archbishop and formally relinquished his exercise of ordained ministry April 20 following allegations of sexual misconduct.

In a pastoral letter to the church, Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said MacDonald had acknowledged the sexual misconduct. His resignation took effect in accordance with Canon XIX on Relinquishment or Abandonment of the Ministry. The primate confirmed to the Anglican Journal that there are no allegations of criminal offences.

“This is devastating news,” Nicholls said in her pastoral letter. “The sense of betrayal is deep and profound when leaders fail to live up to the standards we expect and the boundaries we set. Our hearts hold compassion for human frailty and space for repentance while we also ache with the pain that such betrayal causes first to the complainant; then to so many others and to the life of our Church.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) have issued a joint press release announcing the online publication of the report of the Fifth Phase of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity. The report is entitled Baptism and Growth in Communion. The new document, which has been in preparation for the past seven years, includes important impulses for ongoing theological and ecclesiological discussion and makes “a significant step in proposing a differentiating consensus on baptism.”

The report seeks to find a language for the ecclesial dimensions of growth in communion. It concludes with six commitments setting out a road map for the ongoing dialogue and for the growing cooperation at all levels between Lutherans and Catholics. It highlights particular events over recent years that have contributed to the journey ‘from conflict to communion’, notably the joint commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Lund, Sweden, the Declaration of Intent endorsing fuller collaboration between the LWF’s World Service arm and the Caritas Internationalis network, as well as local initiatives such as the visit of Pope Francis to the Lutheran parish in Rome in 2015.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Council of General Synod (CoGS) has committed itself to improving the church’s practices in a range of areas including sexual abuse and journalistic governance in the wake of public allegations that senior church management failed to protect the identities of victims of alleged sexual assault by sharing last year an early draft of an article for an Anglican Journal sister publication.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The founding documents for Sacred Circle, the self-determining Indigenous church within the Anglican Church of Canada, have been revealed to the world.

On Feb. 27, Transfiguration Sunday, The Covenant and Our Way of Life were publicly released. Both documents had been distributed earlier to participants of the last two Sacred Circle gatherings, as well as to Anglican Indigenous networks and the Anglican Church of Canada’s House of Bishops.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The timeline for a full communion partnership between The Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church remains on hold as the latter has postponed its quadrennial General Conference until 2024, when it will consider a vote to split the 12.9 million-member denomination over disagreements on the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ members.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

For the first time in almost 500 years, a Roman Catholic Mass was celebrated in Geneva’s Protestant St. Pierre Cathedral, with people praying in packed pews.

It was a celebration of Christian unity in a world reeling at the war and the growing humanitarian needs in Ukraine.

Some 1,500 people attended the Mass on March 5 at the imposing cathedral in the heart of Geneva’s old town that had been a Catholic church before the 1536 Reformation.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

As in previous years, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity L’Osservatore Romano published a series of articles prepared by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on the ecumenical relations of the Holy See. The texts, which are published in Italian, offer an update on the ecumenical situation and on initiatives undertaken in 2021.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

As Christians come together to mark the annual ecumenical Week of Prayer, the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), Bishop Brian Farrell, says Pope Francis’ synodal process could make a “hugely important” contribution to improving relationships between the different churches.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Canadian Council of Churches, Amnesty International and the Canadian Council for Refugees are headed to the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of refugee families who want a legal way to apply for asylum at Canada’s land borders. After twice winning in Federal Court only to see those decisions reversed in the Federal Court of Appeal, this is the first time the Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments about the constitutional validity of Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) with the United States. Under the agreement, persons seeking refugee status must make their claim in the first country in which they arrive. It has been in place since 2004. A definitive ruling is necessary to clarify a system that forces would-be refugees to cross into Canada illegally at unofficial border crossings like Roxham Road south of Montreal at the Quebec-New York border, said Detroit Mercy University law professor Alex Vernon.

“Most refugees’ first experience of Canada is either to be summarily denied protection and excluded if they go to a (legal) port of entry without an exception to the STCA or to be forced to be ‘law breakers’ and arrested and processed upon entry at Roxham Road,” said Vernon, who runs Detroit Mercy’s immigration law clinic and regularly takes students to Roxham Road for real life experience of practising law on the border. “This is not in keeping with Canada’s international obligations, with constitutional rights of people on Canadian soil, nor with the dignity due to human beings — particularly human beings in distress.” The latest court loss for the refugee advocates at the CCC, AI and CCR came in April. The appeal court’s decision was based “not on substantive grounds, but on the basis of how the arguments were framed,” said a press release from the Canadian Council for Refugees.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A group of Catholic and Anglican theologians has publicly called on the Vatican to review and overturn a papal document from 1896 that declared Anglican ordinations “absolutely null and utterly void.” “Where we once walked apart, we now walk together in friendship and love,” wrote members of the Malines Conversations Group after tracing the history of ecumenical agreements between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion and, especially, reviewing examples of collaboration and gestures of recognition.

The judgment made by Pope Leo XIII in his apostolic letter “Apostolicae Curae” in 1896 “does not accord with the reality into which the Spirit has led us now,” said members of the group, which is an informal Catholic-Anglican dialogue that began in 2013. Members of the group, who are not appointed to represent their churches but keep their respective ecumenical offices informed of their studies and discussions, presented their document Dec. 15 at Rome’s Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. The 27-page document is titled, “Sorores in Spe — Sisters in Hope of the Resurrection: A Fresh Response to the Condemnation of Anglican Orders.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The final report on conversations between the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the International Lutheran Council (ILC) has now been released.

The five-year informal dialogue began in 2014 when a working group was organized by the PCPCU and the ILC. In this final report, the results of the dialogue are presented to Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the PCPCU and Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt, Chairman of the ILC.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A church wants to receive a Christian who was baptised in a different church. A woman wants to marry someone from another faith tradition. A child is growing up in an inter-church family.

These real-life situations are evidence that thinking about mutual recognition of baptism shouldn’t be relegated solely to lecture halls in theological institutions. Recognising that mutual recognition of baptism — and the obstacles toward it — is an issue that affects the daily lives of countless Christians across Europe and beyond. The Conference of European Churches (CEC), through its Thematic Group on Ecclesiology and Mission, has initiated a study process to explore this topic.

The study seeks to identify agreements concerning baptism within CEC Member Churches, and explore official guidelines with regard to the reception of Christians moving from one church to another, recognition of and pastoral care for inter-church families, and Christian initiation, religious education, and pastoral care of children raised in inter-church families.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Global religious leaders and leading scientists issued a joint statement on 4 October calling on the international community to raise their ambition and step up their climate action ahead of COP26.

Almost 40 faith leaders signed the joint appeal, which was presented by Pope Francis.

Signatories included World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, along with representatives from across the Christian denominations, Sunni and Shi’a Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and Jainism.

The appeal calls for the world to achieve net-zero carbon emissions as soon as possible, and to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) met on 25 August in Geneva to explore and discuss possible areas of future cooperation.

The two organizations shared current plans and discussed possibilities for closer collaboration on thematic areas such as advocacy and peace building, the climate emergency, and membership matters.

The WEA is a network of churches in 143 nations that have joined to give a worldwide identity, voice and platform to more than 600 million evangelical Christians.

The WEA has six programmatic departments: Global Advocacy, Global Theology, Global Witness, Alliance Engagement, Church Engagement, and Public Engagement.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A collection of documents and publications from the World Council of Churches (WCC) is now available through its longstanding partner organization Globethics.net. The WCC collection, updated weekly, reflects a growing and longstanding electronic bridge between the organizations’ websites.

For many years, the Globethics.net Library has hosted a variety of collections on behalf of the WCC, an active member of the Globethics.net Consortium on Ethics in Higher Education, as well as co-founder of the former Global Digital Library on Theology and Ecumenism (GlobeTheoLib).

The institutional “World Council of Churches collection” has recently been updated with new content collected from its website, including documents and publications published at www.oikoumene.org/resources. Thanks to an electronic bridge between the two sites, new resources are automatically added to the collection on a weekly basis.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

ACSC will “resource the whole Anglican Communion for courageous and confident spiritual leadership in issues involving science.” A new Anglican Communion Science Commission (ACSC) is being formed to “resource the whole Anglican Communion for courageous and confident spiritual leadership in issues involving science.” The ACSC will be co-chaired by the Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba; and the Bishop of Oxford, Stephen Croft. The ACSC will formally launch at the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England, in July and August next year; and will hold its first conference shortly afterwards.

Scientists, theologians, and bishops from around the globe are being invited by the Anglican Communion’s Secretary General, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, to serve as Commissioners. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has asked Anglican Communion Primates to nominate a Bishop from their Church to serve as provincial representatives at conferences of the Commission. Science will be a significant feature at the 2022 Lambeth Conference. Today, organisers have posted a series of videos, exploring the relationship between science and faith, on the Lambeth Conference website.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A webinar on how churches make moral decisions—and what causes divisions—brought a lively discussion attended online by more than 100 people on 29 April.

Basing their remarks on a World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission publication, “Churches and Moral Discernment. Volume 1: Learning from Traditions,” the speakers shared insights from very different church perspectives.

As the foreword of the publication says, “The hope is that necessary prerequisites are fulfilled, allowing for constructive conversations within traditions. This will prevent divisions over moral issues and provide solid ground to engage in fruitful ecumenical dialogues that appreciate and attribute appropriate relevance to moral issues.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

At the end of its biannual meeting, the World Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order, in February, reported from its three study groups, which continue to look to future activities and dialogue with a sense of hope.

The first study group is working on a plan for a World Conference on Faith and Order in 2025. The last such conference organized by Faith and Order was in Compostela, Spain in 1993. In the proposal, the study group reflected on purpose, theme, format, partners, promotion and finances of a conference.

The study group on ecclesiology announced the publication of 78 responses to The Church: Towards a Common Vision. To address the divisive topics coming from the responses, a volume of 16 key theme papers written by the commissioners will be published ahead of the WCC 11th Assembly in 2022.

The Faith and Order Commission also mapped a path toward enlarging its work in order to better reflect the challenges raised by independent, evangelical and pentecostal traditions to the search for visible unity.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A 9 March webinar – the third in a series of seven on bilateral dialogues – will focus on “Anglican-Orthodox Dialogue: History, Results, Reception” as well as the Canterbury Statement “Stewards of Creation: A Hope-Filled Ecology,” a statement on ecology jointly published by the Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Churches in October 2020.

Presentations will be offered by the two co-chairman of the International Commission for Anglican–Orthodox Theological Dialogue.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order published two new volumes that collect responses received to The Church: Towards a Common Vision between 2013 and 2020.

The responses address the church’s mission, unity, and its being in the trinitarian life of God in order to encourage and advance the churches’ growth in communion with each other in apostolic faith, sacramental life, mission, and ministry for the sake of God’s world.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will host a webinar on 18 February from 14:00-15:30 (GMT+1) entitled “Common witness on environmental justice and religious pluralism” that will explore two recent papers released by the WCC Commission on Faith and Order.

The two publications are “Cultivate and Care: An Ecumenical Theology of Justice for and within Creation” and “Love and Witness: Proclaiming the Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ in a Religiously Plural World.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

In a world crying out for justice and peace, the theme of the 2022 assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,” speaks of hope for a future in which resources are shared, inequalities are addressed and all can enjoy dignity, according to a new publication reflecting on the assembly theme.

The result of the work of an international group drawn from different regions and confessional traditions, the text is intended as a resource for churches and Christians worldwide in advance of the WCC’s 11th Assembly, to take place in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 31 August to 8 September 2022.

The assembly, according to the text, is an opportunity to find inspiration in the love of God, the Holy Trinity; a love that has been revealed in Christ; and that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is moving in and through all humankind and all creation.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

After decades of nipping around the edges of the issues of systemic racism, the Commissioners of the 43rd General Council voted to declare the denomination to become an anti-racist church on Saturday, October 24, 2020. “This doesn’t mean we have achieved this goal,” explains the Moderator, the Right Rev. Richard Bott, “but we are taking a stand and saying we are publicly committed to eliminating systemic racism from our practices and policies.”

One of the last actions of outgoing General Secretary Nora Sanders was to create a new Anti-Racism and Equity Officer position in the General Council Office. After an extensive search process, we are pleased to announce that the successful candidate is Adele Halliday, who has already been deeply engaged in related work within the Church in Mission Unit and has worked with the United Church since 2004.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

During their meeting on July 30, 2020 via video conference, the members of The Episcopal Church-United Methodist Dialogue Committee agreed that the churches postpone taking action on the full communion proposal until their next General Convention/General Conference after 2021:

“Our churches and people are responding to unprecedented challenges in their local communities, conferences/dioceses, and at the denominational level. The United Methodist General Conference scheduled for May of 2020 has been postponed until Aug. 29-Sept. 7, of 2021. The Episcopal Church as well, is rethinking the format, timing, and range of issues that might be taken up by the next General Convention.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) have released a joint document, “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19 and Beyond.” Its purpose is to encourage churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The document offers a Christian basis for interreligious solidarity that can inspire and confirm the impulse to serve a world wounded not only by COVID-19 but also by many other wounds.

The publication is also designed to be useful to practitioners of other religions, who have already responded to COVID-19 with similar thoughts based on their own traditions.

The document recognizes the current context of the pandemic as a time for discovering new forms of solidarity for rethinking the post-COVID-19 world. Comprised of five sections, the document reflects on the nature of a solidarity sustained by hope and offers a Christian basis for interreligious solidarity, a few key principles and a set of recommendations on how reflection on solidarity can be translated into concrete and credible action.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The final report on the Lutheran-Mennonite-Roman Catholic Trilateral Conversation has been published. The report summarizes five years of theological consultations between the three communions on the understanding and practice of baptism in light of contemporary pastoral and missional challenges facing all three Christian communities.

“The report shows that today these three churches agree that baptism is for discipleship,” says Mennonite delegation member Larry Miller. “It raises the question for each of these churches: are there ways of acknowledging our different practices of baptism that grow the unity for which Jesus prayed?”

Representatives of the Catholic Church (Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and Mennonite World Conference (MWC) met from 2012–2017 to discuss understanding and practice of baptism.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Changing the words of the formula for baptism render the sacrament invalid, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Specifically, a baptism administered with the formula “We baptize you …” instead of “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” is not valid because it is the person of Christ through the minister who is acting, not the assembly, the congregation said.

The doctrinal congregation’s ruling was published Aug. 6 as a brief response to questions regarding the validity of baptisms using that modified formula. The congregation was asked whether a baptism was valid if it had been performed with a formula that seeks to express the “communitarian significance” and participation of the family and those present during the celebration. For example, it said there have been celebrations administered with the words, “In the name of the father and of the mother, of the godfather and of the godmother, of the grandparents, of the family members, of the friends, in the name of the community we baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Black Anglicans of Canada deplores the brutal murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police.

For me, as an African American, the brutal murder of George Floyd is the last straw. People of African descent, for our entire 400-year history in America, have been put in the position of constantly having to defend our humanity, forced into a subculture of “over-achievement” so that we can be acknowledged as human beings and entitled to be equal citizens in our own country that we have helped build, died for and continue to defend. We are tired. We are angry. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Pope Francis has decided the next world Synod of Bishops at the Vatican, which will take place in October 2022, will have the theme: “For a synodal church: Communion, participation and mission.”

The Vatican announced the choice of “synodality” as the theme in a brief communique March 7.

“Synodality,” which literally means “walking together,” has become a key topic of Pope Francis’ pontificate, but one which has raised questions and even confusion.

The basic idea in the pope’s teaching is that the grace of baptism makes one part of the body of the church and, therefore, responsible for its life and mission. In a hierarchical church, that shared responsibility calls for regular, serious and structural forums for listening to all members of the church. At the same time, as the pope has said, it does not mean putting decisions to a vote as if a synod were a parliament.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Meeting at First Presbyterian Church in San Diego Feb. 17-19, representatives of the Episcopal-Presbyterian Bilateral Dialogue met and considered how the two ecclesial traditions could partner with each other considering the context of the 21st-century church.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A statement calling on the government of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to “immediately cease their occupation, arrests, and trespassing on Wet’suwet’en sovereign territory” has drawn signatures from 71 church leaders in in the Anglican Church of Canada and beyond.

The statement of solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Nation pipeline opposition was released by Toronto Urban Native Ministry in the diocese of Toronto. Posted Feb. 6, it was signed by several Anglican bishops, including National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop Mark MacDonald and National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada Susan Johnson. Many more signatures have since been added via the web.

The statement notes the unanimous opposition of the Wet’suwet’en Clan Chiefs to the construction of the pipeline. It says that the “militarized forced removal of the Wet’suwet’an from their own territory” is in violation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and is “consistent with the colonial practices of genocide,” and that the RCMP “does not hold the jurisdiction or right to arrest sovereign Wet’suwet’en peoples on their own unceded Nation and territory.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Department for Unity, Faith and Order in the Anglican Communion has at its core the search for deeper unity between Christians, be that within and between the churches of the Anglican Communion or between the Anglican Communion and other Christian churches and bodies.

Much of the work of Unity, Faith and Order (which goes by the extra-terrestrial acronym UFO) is taken up with encouraging Christians to talk together. Over the course of the last century much work has been done to break down mutual suspicion and division between churches by patient dialogue and the building up of relationships. This happens at the local level, where Christians find that when they come together to pray or get involved with mission and ministry that they have more in common than they first thought. It also happens at national and international level, when theologians from different churches and traditions talk together to come to agreement on issues that have previously divided them.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Diocese of Southern Virginia announced Jan. 17 that it would change the location of its Feb. 1 consecration of Bishop-elect Susan Haynes from a Roman Catholic church in Williamsburg in response to backlash from some Roman Catholics who said they were disturbed by the ordination of a woman bishop.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The work of the Task Group which was established by the Archbishop of Canterbury after the January 2016 Primates’ Meeting has been commended by the Primates. The Task Group has called for a Season of Repentance, focused around the fifth Sunday in Lent this year (29 March), and has prepared a common Anglican Communion eucharistic liturgy and papers on Anglican identity.

In their communiqué, released at the end of last week’s Primates’ Meeting, the Primates explained that the Task Group was established “to look at how we might walk together despite the complexities we face.”

They added: “at this meeting we affirmed our continued commitment to walk together; we received the work of the Task Group and commended it to the other Instruments of Communion – the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council.”

They also recommended that a new group be established “to continue the work of the Task Group to explore how we live and work together in the light of the Lambeth Conference.
… Read more » … lire la suite »