At the root of Christian agreements and disagreements about Mary are matters that are at the same time biblical, doctrinal, historical, liturgical, theological, sociological, soteriological, ecclesiological, and so on. What does the Bible say or not say about Mary, and how is this to be interpreted? How much of what is professed about Mary belongs to the Tradition of the Church rather than directly found in Scripture? How much is from historical, cultural, or sentimental expressions developed within specific churches? Does Marian doctrine or devotion enhance or take away anything from the central focus on Christ? What is the relationship between God’s grace present and active in Mary’s life, and her own (and our own) human actions or belief? What is meant by the veneration of Mary (or of the saints) as distinct from worshipping God? When and by whose authority did Marian titles, feasts, and dogmas come to be assigned within the Christian Church? Are all such titles, feasts, and dogmas essential, obligatory, and/or intended to be marked with equal solemnity? How is Mary’s life and faith presented as a model for female Christian discipleship, or as exemplary for Christian life in general?
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The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr. Jerry Pillay, has led a delegation to Moscow to meet with leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, including Patriarch Kirill. The 24-hour visit, which was taking place on Wednesday and Thursday, followed a similar WCC trip from May 10-13 to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

“Consolidation and unity in Ukrainian society, including especially among the majority Christian Orthodox believers, is an obvious necessity in the current circumstances faced by the nation and people of Ukraine” observed Rev. Pillay. “We visited Moscow to discuss engagement also by the Russian Orthodox Church in dialogue on the war and its consequences, including with regard to the deep divisions in the Orthodox family in this context,” Pillay reported, “and I am grateful for HH Patriarch Kirill’s commitment to exploring this possibility.”
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Have you ever greeted a neighbour with a “Happy Easter,” only to learn that they are still in the season of Lent and won’t be celebrating the Feast for another couple of weeks? In areas where Christians of different denominations live closely together, especially Eastern and Western churches, the search for a common date to celebrate Christ’s resurrection has become an urgent concern. As St. Paul makes clear (1 Corinthians 15:12-14), belief in the resurrection is a fundamental aspect of the apostolic faith. By celebrating this event on different days, Christians compromise their credibility and effectiveness in bringing the Gospel to an increasingly secular world.
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I was recently asked how we know if a dialogue is successful. Even in the church, there is a temptation to assess projects and ministries by worldly standards. How much did it cost? How many people attended? How many people watched the video? These practical concerns should be considered, but other questions might be more critical. Did the experience transform people? Did this deepen or strengthen relationships between people or between the churches? What were the fruits of this project? What is the Spirit saying to the churches?
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Our Lord Jesus prays in His High Priestly prayer in John 17: “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one” (v. 17). Our Lord Jesus is praying for His disciples. He is praying for His Church. He is praying for you and me today.

Our Lord’s prayer can be understood in this way: that His Church would remain one—not that we would somehow achieve this oneness by our actions. Our Lord is praying that the oneness that we already have in Him would be preserved. That we would remain one. The Lutheran Reformers expressed this in the Augsburg Confession in saying that after coming to agreement on what we teach and confess we would live “in unity and concord in the one Christian Church” (AC Preface 4).
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One day after his election to the papacy on April 19, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the College of Cardinals. He affirmed his commitment to the ecumenical agenda of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and identified his primary task as the impelling duty “to work tirelessly to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ’s followers.” He stated his readiness “to do everything in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism,” as well as his determination “to encourage every initiative that seems appropriate for promoting contacts and understanding with the representatives of the different Churches and Ecclesial Communities.” At the time of his death on December 31, 2022, tributes from ecumenical partners around the world testified to his fidelity to these commitments made at beginning of his papacy.
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The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches has published a new document entitled “The Sacraments in the Life of the Church”.
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The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East agreed on a new document entitled The Images of the Church in the Syriac and Latin Patristic Traditions.

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In October 2022, members, consultants, and staff of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs met with members of the Anglican Church in North America’s (ACNA) Committee on Ecumenical Affairs in Chicago. The meeting marked the second theological exchange between the committees, and mutual affirmation by both organizations was expressed towards future meetings to explore ways to draw closer together and expand the Kingdom of God.

Following a time of fellowship and prayer, papers were presented for discussion on the Roman Catholic and Anglican understanding of the Episcopacy.
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The fifth meeting of Phase III of the international dialogue between the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) and the Catholic Church took place 12-16 December 2022 in Rome, hosted by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU).
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From 25 to 28 November 2022 representatives of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and of the Office for International Ecumenical Relations of the Salvation Army met in London at the William Booth Training College, in the first of a new series of Conversations, on the theme: “Discipleship for Mission”.
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World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca delivered a lecture during the first edition of the “Bahrain Dialogue Forum: East and West for Human Coexistence” held 3-4 November.
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Mercredi 5 octobre, le Pape François a reçu en audience privée les membres de la Commission mixte internationale méthodiste-catholique (MERCIC). La Commission, inaugurée en 1967 et dont les rencontres se sont succédées depuis sans interruption, se trouve actuellement à Rome à la Casa Maria Immacolata pour la première réunion plénière de son douzième cycle de dialogue. À l’audience avec le Saint-Père, les participants étaient accompagnés du Cardinal Kurt Koch, Préfet du Dicastère pour la promotion de l’unité des chrétiens.
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Pope Francis received members of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission (MERCIC) in a private audience on Wednesday 5 October. The Commission, which began work in 1967 and has met since without interruption, is currently meeting in Rome at the Casa Maria Immacolata for the first plenary meeting of its twelfth round of dialogue. The Commission was accompanied to the audience by Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.
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On September 16, 2022 the International Lutheran Council’s (ILC) 2022 World Conference adopted a resolution calling for continued ecumenical conversations with the Roman Catholic Church, and approving the Final Report of the conversations of the ILC and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) which was published in 2021.
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The first session of the sixth phase of the International Commission for Dialogue between the Disciples of Christ and the Catholic Church took place in Melbourne, Kentucky, USA, from the 24th to 29th June 2022. The Commission consists of fourteen Catholic and Disciples members appointed by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Vatican, and the Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council, Indianapolis, USA. The goal of the dialogue, which started in 1977, has been understood to be full visible unity between Catholics and Disciples of Christ.

For the sixth phase, “The Ministry of the Holy Spirit” based on 2 Corinthians 3 has been chosen as the overall topic to explore the work of the Holy Spirit, especially in the life and ministry of the Church.

Prior to this session in person, the Commission held three online meetings to get to know one another, to discuss the Basic Outline of the Sixth Phase, and to help the Catholic members understand the history and polity of the Disciples of Christ.

On the first day, the Catholic co-chair, the Most Reverend David L. Ricken, Bishop of Green Bay, WI, USA, and the Disciples co-chair, Rev. Dr. Robert Welsh, Indianapolis, IN, USA, opened this session with a prayer service. On the following day, Bishop Ricken led a lectio divina on Acts 2 to deepen our spiritual understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit, and Dr. Welsh reviewed the previous five phases of the dialogue.
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Archdeacon of Canterbury Dr Will Adam shares ecumenical insights and hopes ahead of the 15th Lambeth Conference.

Anglican bishops from around the globe are gearing up for a major event in the life of their communion which will shape the ministry and mission of its members over the next decade. The fifteenth Lambeth Conference takes place in Canterbury from 26 July to 8 August, bringing together over 600 bishops, alongside spouses, ecumenical observers and other invited guests.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Anne Burghardt will be taking part in that meeting, together with Prof. Dirk Lange, LWF’s Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations. Among those on hand to welcome them to the ancient city on the south-eastern tip of England will be a friend and ecumenical expert, Rev. Dr Will Adam, who was recently appointed Archdeacon of Canterbury.

Originally held at Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury on the banks of the river Thames in London, the Lambeth Conference has been meeting more or less once a decade since 1867 for prayer, reflection, fellowship and discussions on the challenges facing the 80-million-member global communion. It is one of the four, so-called Instruments of Unity of the Anglican Communion.
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The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Methodist Council have announced in a communiqué their intention to begin a new round of dialogue in October of this year. The dialogue will focus on the inter-related themes of mission and unity. As the Church fulfils the Lord’s commission to take the good news of the Gospel “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1: 8) it moves into new contexts and cultures and encounters new questions. As demonstrated by the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) and the Council of Nicea, whose 1700th anniversary will be marked in 2025, synodal processes are therefore necessary in order for the church to come to a common mind in responding to these questions.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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In more than one of our One Body articles, my fellow bloggers and I have emphasized the importance of deep, prayerful, heartfelt listening as essential to ecumenical ministry and engagement.

Such listening orients us to the voices of sisters and brothers from other churches and ecclesial communities; it invites us to consider the real (not our perceived or imagined) situation of their lives and calls us to be attentive to the ways in which the Lord may be speaking and working through them, for our sake (and theirs), and for the sake of the world.
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A recent blog by Nick Jesson identifies “six signs of an ecumenical springtime” as a cause for renewed hope in the search for Christian unity. Not mentioned by Nick but perhaps a seventh sign of an ecumenical springtime is a growing appreciation for Saint John Paul II’s reference to dialogue as an ecumenical gift exchange. Pope Francis offers clear encouragement: “If we really believe in the abundantly free working of Holy Spirit, we can learn so much from one another!” (Evangelii Gaudium 246). With this in mind, the Catholic Ecumenical Officers of Western Canada saw Pope Francis’ invitation to the whole church, Catholic and ecumenical, to reflect together on synodality as an invitation to host an ecumenical panel on the topic.
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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.
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In a joint letter of 28 October 2021, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal Mario Grech, General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, addressed the Bishops responsible for ecumenism in their Episcopal Conferences and Synods of the Oriental Catholic Churches.

In the letter, the two Cardinals offer practical suggestions aimed at implementing the ecumenical dimension of the synodal process in Dioceses, Episcopal Conferences, and Synods.
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Dans une lettre conjointe datée du 28 octobre 2021, le Cardinal Kurt Koch, Président du Conseil pontifical pour la promotion de l’unité des chrétiens, et le Cardinal Mario Grech, Secrétaire général du Synode des évêques, se sont adressés aux évêques responsables de l’œcuménisme des Conférences épiscopales et des Synodes des Églises orientales catholiques.

Par cette lettre, les deux cardinaux entendent offrir quelques suggestions pratiques pour assurer la dimension œcuménique du processus synodal dans les diocèses et les Conférences épiscopales et les Synodes des Églises orientales catholiques.
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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.
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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.
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The Anglican-Roman Catholic Bishops’ Dialogue of Canada (ARC-B) held its most recent meeting in the Toronto area from November 27-29, 2019. The annual meeting facilitates opportunities for the Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishops to share, learn, and discuss about their respective pastoral activities, update one another on the news from our churches, and further the aims of Christian unity in Canada. The Bishops specifically discussed issues relating to ecumenism, freedom of religion and conscience in Canadian society, interfaith partnerships, and various challenges and opportunities in chaplaincy ministry in military, corrections, and medical contexts. The ARC-B members were also joined for part of the meeting by the Roman Catholic and Anglican co-chairs of the Anglican-Roman Catholic theological dialogue of Canada (ARC) to discuss ARC’s current focus on the operations of synodical consultation and decision making in the two traditions. For several years now, both ARC-B and ARC have worked closely with one another, mutually enriching one another’s work and reflections.
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Le Dialogue des évêques anglicans et catholiques romains du Canada (ARC-E) a tenu sa dernière rencontre dans la région de Toronto du 27 au 29 novembre 2019. Cette réunion annuelle est l’occasion pour les évêques de s’informer, de partager et de discuter sur leurs activités pastorales respectives, de faire le point sur l’actualité dans les deux Églises, et de promouvoir les objectifs de l’unité chrétienne au Canada. Les évêques ont notamment abordé des questions relatives à l’œcuménisme, à la liberté de religion et de conscience dans la société canadienne, aux partenariats interreligieux, ainsi que les défis et possibilités concernant l’aumônerie dans les forces armées, les services correctionnels et les milieux hospitaliers. Pendant une partie de leur réunion, les membres de l’ARC-E ont reçu les coprésidents anglican et catholique romain du Dialogue théologique anglican-catholique romain au Canada (ARC) pour discuter de la priorité actuelle de l’ARC sur le fonctionnement des consultations synodales et de la prise de décision dans les deux confessions. Il y a maintenant plusieurs années que l’ARC-E et l’ARC collaborent étroitement à enrichir mutuellement leurs travaux et leurs réflexions.
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Christianity and Islam are two world religions that share a common theological root to Abrahamic tradition. The two religions also share complex histories of conflict and coexistence that span from the Middle Ages until the present day. While the groundwork to build understandings between Christians and Muslims has been laid down by Christian and Muslim leaders, the idea is still not fully articulated in a local context.

Wishing to pursue such an initiative among ordinary Christians and Muslims in Saskatoon, Fr. Bernard de Margerie, a Roman Catholic priest, and Fachrizal Halim, a Sunni Muslim professor of Islamic Studies at St. Thomas More College, Saskatoon, met in December, 2018 to discuss the possibility of having a Christian-Muslim conversation group. Both saw an urgent need to know more about each other’s faith and the importance of developing respect and friendships between the two faith communities.
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Catholics and Anglicans in Canada have been working on their relationship ever since Gen. James Wolfe surprised Gen. Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham in the fall of 1759.

By 1763 King Louis XV had no choice but to cede France’s North American possessions entirely to England’s King George III. The practicalities of a Protestant king and his Protestant army trying to impose their religion on a majority Catholic population were such that the English made allowances for the Catholic Church while they granted land and paid clergy salaries for the Anglicans.

More than 250 years later, the dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans in Canada carries on, unhindered by royalty and without much reference to the Seven Years’ War. The latest round ended Nov. 18 in Toronto after three days with a presentation to theology students at Trinity College of the Toronto School of Theology at the University of Toronto.
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After five years of meetings by an international commission of Mennonites, Lutherans and Roman Catholics on the topic of baptism, John Rempel, the commission’s Mennonite representative, presented a trilateral report from that dialogue at an event called “One Baptism? A Symposium on Baptism and the Christian Life,” at Waterloo North Mennonite Church on Nov. 8.

Pastors, denominational leaders, professors and some students from Conrad Grebel University College attended the Anabaptist Learning Workshop event, sponsored by Grebel and Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.

Framed around scriptures emphasizing the image of the church as one body with one baptism, the symposium began and ended with times of worship. In between, Rempel summarized the report and then invited three people, one from each tradition, to respond. They formed a panel that fielded further comments and questions.

Mennonite World Conference (MWC) engaged in the trilateral dialogue because “Jesus Christ calls us to be one.” Participation was seen as a way to build on previous reconciliation efforts between the denominations, nurturing mutual understanding and cooperation.
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The sixth session of the Reformed-Pentecostal Dialogue, which has revolved around the understanding of “mission,” focused on bringing together the fruits of their five years of work: mission and salvation; the Holy Spirit and mission; mission and the unity of the church; mission and eschatology.

The work will be presented in a single document to be published next year. Dialogue participants hope that this publication will be useful for Reformed and Pentecostal churches to better understand each other and encourage common witness in word and action.
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The working group established in 2014 to conduct an informal dialogue between the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the International Lutheran Council (ILC) completed its task during a final session held September 23-26. 2019 on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Taking part from the Roman Catholic Church were Dr. Josef Freitag (Lantershofen, Germany), Dr. Wolfgang Thönissen (Paderborn, Germany), Dr. Burkhard Neumann (Paderborn), and Fr. Augustinus Sander O.S.B. (who has recently moved from Germany to Rome). Taking part on behalf of the churches of the ILC were Dr. Werner Klän (Lübeck, Germany), Dr. Gerson Linden (São Leopoldo, Brazil), Dr. John Stephenson (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada), and Dr. Roland Ziegler (Fort Wayne, Indiana). In addition, the chairman of the ILC, Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt (Hanover, Germany) of Germany’s Independent Evangelical Lutheran, attended the sessions in a guest capacity.
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The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation has released a new agreed statement entitled, The Vocation and Mission of the People of God: “A Chosen Race, a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation”. The document was finalized at the most recent meeting of the Consultation which took place in late May of this year at the Saint Methodios Faith and Heritage Center in Contoocook, New Hampshire. The Consultation is co-chaired by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, the Catholic Archbishop of Newark, and by Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Methodios of Boston.
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There are hundreds of denominations within Christianity, and it can be easy to focus on the differences between them all. But a group of Mennonites and Anglicans is breaking through those walls. A group of 12 people from both denominations gathered from May 24 to 26 at the University of Manitoba’s St. John’s College in Winnipeg. They spent the weekend sharing the struggles each church experiences and the resources they offer, a practice they have labelled the “exchanging of gifts.”

“It seems that denominational affiliation is becoming less important, and Christianity is shrinking in many sectors in Canada,” says Melissa Miller, interim pastor at Home Street Mennonite Church in Winnipeg. “So it seems more important that Christians from different denominations engage with each other and learn from each other and lay down some of those divisions.” Miller is the Mennonite co-chair of the dialogue, and Christopher Trott, warden of St. John’s College, is the Anglican co-chair.
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At a conference with the theme “Promoting Peace Together” held in Geneva on 21 May, religious leaders focused on two historic documents related to peace-making. The first, “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” was jointly signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi in February. The second, “Education for Peace in a Multi-Religious World: A Christian Perspective,” jointly prepared by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the World Council of Churches (WCC), was officially launched at the conference.

Anne Glynn-Mackoul, moderator of the opening session and a WCC Executive Committee member who represents the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (USA), expressed her appreciation for those gathered who are inspired by a common vision to promote peace together. “Today we will explore together two documents which affirm, each with compelling fervor, the possibility of peace,” she said.

The two documents, Glynn-Mackoul added, “help us, each in its own way, to think of religions not as fortresses to be defended but as wellsprings for the flourishing of all life.”
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The power of interfaith leadership in bringing about positive change in global challenges was the focus of the panel Sister Lucy Thorson from Canada took part in at the international Education for Action conference in Rome. The event, attended by over 150 people, marked the 10th anniversary of the Interreligious Program at the John Paul II Center of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. It involved leaders on interreligious dialogue from the USA, Canada, Palestine, Holland, and Rome, whose interfaith experience spans Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism, among others.

Sister Lucy was on an interactive panel that debated how interfaith leaders can move from study to practice, activate networks, and instigate impactful actions that address current global challenges. Alongside Lucy were: Huda Abuarquob, Regional Director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace; Aart Bos, CEO of MasterPeace; and Joyce Dubensky, CEO of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, who also acted as moderator.
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The seventh international meeting of the Malines Conversations Group took place in York, UK, between Sunday 24th March and Thursday 28th March 2019. Under the patronage of The Right Reverend and Right Honourable The Lord Williams of Oystermouth (former Archbishop of Canterbury), this informal group comprises Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians from seven different countries and meets with the blessing and support of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and Lambeth Palace. It includes members of both ARCIC and IARCCUM.
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The Anglican-Old Catholic International Coordinating Council has recently concluded its meetings, which were held at the Břevnov Monastery in Prague. This was the final meeting of the Council’s present mandate and much of the work was focussed on preparing the final report to the Anglican Consultative Council and the (Old Catholic) International Bishops’ Conference. The AOCICC is the official instrument serving the communion between Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Churches of the Anglican Communion which was brought about in 1931 through the Bonn Agreement.
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The second meeting of the third phase of international ecumenical conversations between the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity took place Dec. 10-14 in Rome at the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI. The Baptist delegation was led by co-chair Frank Rees, associate professor and chair of the academic board at the University of Divinity in Australia; the Catholic delegation was led by co-chair Bishop Arthur Serratelli, bishop of Paterson, New Jersey. The meeting took up the theme of the “Context of Common Witness.” This discussion reflected on the global cultural context in which common Christian witness is being conducted today in six continents of the world.
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In 2016, The United Church of Canada and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) began conversations about how to deepen the partnership between the two communions in North America and beyond. The United Church of Canada and the United Church of Christ in the USA had reached a “full communion” agreement the year before that included Global Ministries, and the leaders of the Disciples and The United Church of Canada thought the time was right to “close the triangle” by entering into full communion relationship between the two churches.
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The fifth session of the current Reformed-Pentecostal Dialogue took place in Legon, Accra, Ghana, under the theme “Ministering to the Needs of the World: Mission and Eschatology.”

At the beginning and end of each day, participants, representing the WCRC and various classical Pentecostal churches, gathered to pray, sing, read and reflect upon the Bible together. This time of sharing in spirituality and worship helped contextualize the discussions that took place and built greater community between participants.

This year the dialogue focused on the significance of eschatology—the theology of the end of time and return of Jesus Christ—to mission. To open the discussion, Karla Ann Koll (Reformed) and Van Johnson (Pentecostal) presented papers reflective of the teachings of their faith communities. Participants then raised questions and responded in a free-ranging discussion intended to tease out common interests and concerns, while noting differences in understanding.
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The fourth (and fifth) meeting of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) – Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) dialogue group took place September 17-21, 2018 at the facilities of Lutherische Kirchenmission in Bleckmar, Germany. The goal of this “informal dialogue is to find out whether an official dialogue between ILC and PCPCU on the world level is possible and might be fruitful.”

Four working groups submitted papers for plenary discussion; they were are established as follows: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Thönissen (Paderborn, Germany) and Prof. Dr. John Stephenson (St. Catharines, Canada) worked on the topic of Justification; PD Dr. Burkhard Neumann (Paderborn) and Prof. Dr. Roland Ziegler (Fort Wayne, USA) on Synérgeia and Sacrifice; Prof. Dr. Josef Freitag (Lantershofen, Germany) and Prof. Dr. Gerson Linden (São Leopoldo, Brazil) on Ministry and Ordination; Father Augustinus Sander (Erfurt, Germany) and Prof. Dr. Werner Klän (Lübeck, Germany) on Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass (ApolCA XXIV).
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Le Dialogue de l’Église catholique romaine et de l’Église Unie a publié un rapport sur le changement climatique intitulé l’Espérance en nous. Depuis octobre 2012, le Dialogue de l’Église catholique romaine et de l’Église Unie du Canada s’est réuni huit fois pour examiner les réponses de nos Églises à la crise écologique, en portant une attention particulière au changement climatique. Le rapport explore les ressources spirituelles de notre tradition commune pour faire face au changement climatique et travailler pour la justice écologique. Sans fermer les yeux sur les dangers réels des crises écologiques, le dialogue offre une vision d’ espérance fondée sur notre foi chrétienne commune, voulant qu’une nouvelle relation entre l’humanité et la création soit possible.
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The Third Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) has issued its first agreed statement with the title Walking Together on the Way: Learning to be the Church – Local, Regional, Universal. Since its first meeting in 1970, ARCIC has published thirteen agreed statements. The third phase of the dialogue began in 2011 with the dual mandate to explore “the Church as Communion, local and universal, and how in communion the local and universal Church come to discern right ethical teaching.” The current document completes the first part of this mandate.

Walking Together on the Way employs the method of Receptive Ecumenism to examine the structures by which Catholics and Anglicans order and maintain communion at the local, regional and universal level. It examines common theological principles that Anglicans and Catholics share, and the differentiated structures, based on these principles, by which they make decisions. This method invites both traditions to repentance and conversion, by looking at what is underdeveloped or wounded in themselves. It is also predicated on the belief that in our dialogue partner we meet a community in which the Holy Spirit is alive and active. We can therefore ask firstly, where our communities are in need of reform, and, secondly, what we can learn from the our dialogue partner to help us in this growth. The Commission described this process as “receptive learning.”
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An informal but officially-sanctioned ecumenical dialogue between Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians has met to consider “the difficult question of Anglican Orders.” The Malines Conversation Group was originally established in the early 1920s by Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malines-Brussels; some 24 years after Pope Leo XIII declared that Anglican Orders were “absolutely null and utterly void”. The 1920s Malines Conversations Group envisioned the restoration of communion between Anglicans and Roman Catholics in the phrase l’Église Anglicane unie non absorbée – united, but not absorbed.

Since then, a number of formal dialogues and relational groups between the two churches have been established, including the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), which undertakes theological dialogue; and the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM), an episcopal commission which seeks ways to put joint agreements into practice.
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A dialogue document on Church, Eucharist and Ministry published by Lutherans and Roman Catholics in Finland in 2017 could pave the way for an international declaration between the two Christian churches, church leaders in the Nordic nation say.

Communion in Growth, a report from the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Commission of Finland, found that despite differences of emphasis between the Roman Catholic Church in Finland and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Eucharist and (ordained) Ministry, they don’t need to be church dividing issues in the light of the achieved consensus on the basic truths of faith regarding these themes.
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New and returning members of the Anglican Church of Canada-United Church of Canada Dialogue came together last month for the first meeting since the renewal of their mandate at General Synod 2016.

Gathering from Nov. 27-30 at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre in Mississauga, representatives from the two churches reviewed the achievements of past iterations of the dialogue—as documented in The St. Brigid Report and Called to Unity in Mission—and explored ways to move forward in the mutual recognition of ministers and ministry.

The Rev. Dr. Scott Sharman, animator for ecumenical and interfaith relations and Anglican staff support to the dialogue, said that much of the dialogue focused on how mutual recognition currently manifests itself at the grassroots level.

“Oftentimes, the way that question was being considered was as though that mutual recognition would have to happen at the level of the national churches at the same time,” Sharman said.
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