Brockville Catholics, Anglicans unite in aid of refugees

With growing concern about the plight of refugees, a Catholic parish in the City of Brockville, Ont., is coming together with two Anglican parishes to make a difference in the lives of three refugee families.

Agape Brockville is a joint sponsorship effort between St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, St. Paul’s Anglican Church and St. Lawrence Anglican Church. Together, the three parishes are joining forces to prepare new homes for two families from Eritrea and one family from Syria.

“The plight of refugees has just been in the news for a long time,” said Michelle Bushnell, a parishioner at St. Francis Xavier and one of the founding members of Agape Brockville. “So we’ve been (increasingly) concerned about what we can do as Christians. Like in World War II, we go back and we admire so much that generation that sacrificed so much for each other and even in World War I… yet today, we have so many more people suffering.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: October 23, 2015 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=10365
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, refugees Transmis : 23 octobre 2015 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=10365
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, refugees

Vatican cricketers beat Archbishop’s XI in Rome

Anglican and Vatican cricketers met for the second time in Rome today in a match that saw the Vatican team win.

This morning’s match was played at the Capanelle Ground in Rome, coinciding with the conclusion of the Roman Catholic Church’s Synod on the Family.

St Peter’s XI reached 147 for 6, the Archbishop’s XI were all out for 105 runs.

Last autumn, in a historic first match between Vatican and Anglican sides, the Archbishop’s XI narrowly triumphed with five balls to spare in a memorable showdown at Kent County Cricket Club ground in Canterbury.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: October 24, 2015 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=10363
Categories: News • In this article: Anglican, Catholic Transmis : 24 octobre 2015 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=10363
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic

Lutheran-Catholic ‘Declaration on the Way: Church, Ministry and Eucharist’

Drawing on 50 years of national and international dialogue, Lutherans and Catholics together have issued the “Declaration on the Way: Church, Ministry and Eucharist,” a unique ecumenical document that marks a pathway toward greater visible unity between Catholics and Lutherans. The October 30 release of the document comes on the eve of the anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting the 95 Theses, which sparked the Protestant Reformation.

“Pope Francis in his recent visit to the United States emphasized again and again the need for and importance of dialogue. This Declaration on the Way represents in concrete form an opportunity for Lutherans and Catholics to join together now in a unifying manner on a way finally to full communion,” said Bishop Denis J. Madden, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Catholic co-chair of the task force creating the declaration.

“Five hundred years ago wars were fought over the very issues about which Lutherans and Roman Catholics have now achieved consensus,” said ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton. “Church, ministry and Eucharist have been areas of disagreement and even separation between our two churches, and we still have work to do both theologically and pastorally as we examine the questions. The declaration is so exciting because it shows us 32 important points where already we can say there are not church-dividing issues between us, and it gives us both hope and direction for the future,” she said.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: October 30, 2015 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=8839
Categories: Documents, News • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, statements, US Conference of Catholic Bishops Transmis : 30 octobre 2015 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=8839
Catégorie : Documents, News • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, statements, US Conference of Catholic Bishops

Francis visits the Lutheran community of Rome: it is time for reconciled diversity

Yesterday afternoon the Holy Father met with the evangelical Lutheran community of Rome in the Christuskirche, where he was warmly welcomed by Pastor Jeans-Martin Kruse, who in his welcome discourse also recalled the visits to the same [church] by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

Francis then answered questions from three members of the community, a child and two women, and after the vespers prayer, with the reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew (25, 31, 46), he pronounced an off-the-cuff homily in which he emphasised that Lutherans and Catholics must ask mutual forgiveness for persecutions against each other and for the scandal of divisions.

The first question to which the Pope responded was from a child who wanted to know what he liked the most about being the Pope. “The thing I like best, sincerely, is being a pastor”, Francis replied. “I like being the Pope in the style of a parish priest. Service: I like it, in the sense that I feel good, when I visit the sick, when I speak with people who are desperate or sad. I like going to prisons … to speak with detainees… Every time I enter a prison I ask myself, ‘Why them and not me?’. And I am aware of the salvation of Jesus Christ, His love for me. Because He saved me. I am no less a sinner than they are, but the Lord took me by the hand. And when I go into a prison I am happy. Being a Pope is being a bishop, being a pastor. If a Pope is not also a bishop, if a Pope is not also a pastor, he may be a very intelligent person, very important and hold great influence in society, but I think that inside he will not be happy”.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: November 16, 2015 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=8862
Categories: Vatican News • In this article: Catholic, ecumenism, Lutheran, Pope Francis, sacramental sharing Transmis : 16 novembre 2015 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=8862
Catégorie : Vatican News • Dans cet article : Catholic, ecumenism, Lutheran, Pope Francis, sacramental sharing

Rebuild my house: Sermon to the General Synod of the Church of England by Father Raniero Cantalamessa

Few prophetic oracles in the Old Testament can be dated so precisely as that of Haggai, which we have just heard in the first reading. We can place it between August and December in the year 520 BC. The exiles, after the deportation to Babylon, have come back to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. They set to work, but soon grow discouraged, each preferring to work on his own house instead. Into this situation comes the prophet Haggai, sent by God with the message we have heard.

The Word of God, once it is proclaimed, remains forever alive; it transcends situations and centuries, each time casting new light. The situation deplored by the prophet is renewed in history each time we are so absorbed in the problems and interests of our own parish, diocese, community – and even of our particular Christian denomination – that we lose sight of the one house of God, which is the Church.

The prophecy of Haggai begins with a reproof, but ends, as we heard, with an exhortation and a grandiose promise: “Go up into the hills, fetch timber and rebuild the House, and I shall take pleasure in it and manifest my glory there” – says the Lord”.

One circumstance makes this point particularly relevant. The Christian world is preparing to celebrate the fifth centenary of the Protestant Reformation. It is vital for the whole Church that this opportunity is not wasted by people remaining prisoners of the past, trying to establish each other’s rights and wrongs. Rather, let us take a qualitative leap forward, like what happens when the sluice gates of a river or a canal enable ships to continue to navigate at a higher water level.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: November 25, 2015 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9185
Categories: News, Resources • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, Church of England, Raniero Cantalamessa, Sermon Transmis : 25 novembre 2015 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9185
Catégorie : News, Resources • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, Church of England, Raniero Cantalamessa, Sermon

First national bilateral Catholic-Jewish Dialogue launched

Today, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus (CRC) convened the first national, bilateral dialogue between Catholics and Jews in Canada.

The organizations launched this initiative as part of a joint celebration of the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Declaration issued by the Second Vatican Council which rejected antisemitism and underscored the importance of the Jewish roots of Christianity. The first dialogue session involved a combination of clergy and scholars, with six-person delegations from each faith community. Themes addressed included the substantial role of Nostra Aetate in transforming Catholic perceptions of the Jewish community, the deep significance of the State of Israel to the Jewish people, and the importance of acknowledging painful history while embracing mutual respect and working together to build a common future.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: November 25, 2015 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=8908
Categories: News • In this article: Canada, Canadian Rabbinic Caucus, Catholic, CCCB, Jewish-Christian relations, Judaism Transmis : 25 novembre 2015 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=8908
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Canada, Canadian Rabbinic Caucus, Catholic, CCCB, Jewish-Christian relations, Judaism

Recollections of the first Anglican-Catholic encounter in the Vatican

On December 2nd, 55 years ago, Pope John XXIII had a private audience with the Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher, the first time that Anglican and Catholic leaders had met together since the Reformation.

Following their historic encounter, the archbishop met with Cardinal Augustin Bea, head of the newly established Secretariat for Christian Unity, leading to the invitation of Anglican observers to the Second Vatican Council. The meeting also paved the way for the first official encounter between their successors, Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey in March 1966 and the establishment of an Anglican Centre here in Rome.

The current director of that Centre and representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Vatican is New Zealand Archbishop David Moxon. He talked to Philippa Hitchen about the upcoming 50th anniversary and about the significance of Archbishop Fisher’s visit to the Vatican in December 1960 ….
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: December 2, 2015 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9188
Categories: Vatican News • In this article: Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Catholic, pope Transmis : 2 décembre 2015 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9188
Catégorie : Vatican News • Dans cet article : Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Catholic, pope

Vatican loans ancient crozier for Anglican Primates’ Meeting

When the leaders of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion gather in Canterbury next week, they will have among them a visible sign of the long history of the English church.

The ivory head of a crozier associated with St. Gregory the Great, the pope who sent the first missionaries to England in the sixth century, has been loaned to Canterbury Cathedral by the Roman Catholic Church to coincide with the Primates’ Meeting, according to a report from the Primates’ Meeting website.

Canterbury Cathedral’s Dean, Robert Willis, said the cathedral was “very pleased to receive the crozier as a symbol of ecumenical encouragement at this time of the meeting of Anglican Primates.” He noted that it was “a link with St. Gregory, whose vision of the conversion of England caused Augustine to found the community at Canterbury.”

While the roots of Christianity in Britain go back to the time of the Roman Empire, subsequent invasions by Germanic tribes in the fifth century all but destroyed the church. In 597, Gregory sent Augustine, a Benedictine monk, to the court of the Anglo-Saxon King Æthelberht. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Church of England dates its formal foundation from the date of his arrival.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: January 7, 2016 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=8937
Categories: Anglican Journal • In this article: Anglican Communion, Catholic, Vatican Transmis : 7 janvier 2016 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=8937
Catégorie : Anglican Journal • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Catholic, Vatican

Robert Stackpole: What Can Catholics Learn from Evangelicals?

A public lecture with Dr Robert Stackpole, director of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. This lecture is presented by the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue of Saskatoon, and complements the April 2015 lecture “What can Evangelicals Learn from Catholics?” by Dr Gordon Smith (Ambrose University, Calgary). For further information, contact Nick Jesson (306-659-5814) or Pastor Harry Strauss (306-933-2266).

Robert has a special academic interest in ecumenical dialogue with Evangelical Christians, an interest that grew during his 10-years of teaching theology to undergraduates at Redeemer Pacific College at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. Robert also enjoys reading and writing about the works of C.S. Lewis, and describes himself as an incurable “Narniac.” From 2012 to 2015, Robert taught at St. Therese Institute in Bruno, SK where he was the Assistant Director of Formation. During this period, he also served on the Evangelical-Roman Catholic dialogue in Saskatoon.

Since 1997, Robert has been the Research Director, and later Director, of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy based in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In that capacity, he has been a speaker at many conferences, and the author and editor of numerous journal articles and books, including Divine Mercy: A Guide From Genesis To Benedict XVI (Marian Press, 2009).
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: February 4, 2016 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9153
Categories: Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue, Resources • In this article: Catholic, Evangelicals Transmis : 4 février 2016 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9153
Catégorie : Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue, Resources • Dans cet article : Catholic, Evangelicals

Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor 13:13).

1. By God the Father’s will, from which all gifts come, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit Consolator, we, Pope Francis and Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, have met today in Havana. We give thanks to God, glorified in the Trinity, for this meeting, the first in history.

It is with joy that we have met like brothers in the Christian faith who encounter one another “to speak face to face” (2 Jn 12), from heart to heart, to discuss the mutual relations between the Churches, the crucial problems of our faithful, and the outlook for the progress of human civilization.

2. Our fraternal meeting has taken place in Cuba, at the crossroads of North and South, East and West. It is from this island, the symbol of the hopes of the “New World” and the dramatic events of the history of the twentieth century, that we address our words to all the peoples of Latin America and of the other continents.

It is a source of joy that the Christian faith is growing here in a dynamic way. The powerful religious potential of Latin America, its centuries–old Christian tradition, grounded in the personal experience of millions of people, are the pledge of a great future for this region.

3. By meeting far from the longstanding disputes of the “Old World”, we experience with a particular sense of urgency the need for the shared labour of Catholics and Orthodox, who are called, with gentleness and respect, to give an explanation to the world of the hope in us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: February 12, 2016 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=8982
Categories: Vatican News • In this article: Catholic, Christian unity, ecumenism, Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox, patriarch, pope, Pope Francis Transmis : 12 février 2016 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=8982
Catégorie : Vatican News • Dans cet article : Catholic, Christian unity, ecumenism, Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox, patriarch, pope, Pope Francis