Unity, Faith and Order

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.
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Posted: Feb. 7, 2020 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10720
Categories: ACNS • In this article: Anglican Communion, Christian unity, ecumenism Transmis : 7 févr. 2020 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10720
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Christian unity, ecumenism

Vatican notes growing ecumenical consensus on what ‘church’ means

Working for Christian unity and engaging in formal theological dialogues to promote it obviously raises questions about what the nature and mission of the church is. In a project that took two decades of work by Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant, Catholic and Pentecostal theologians, the World Council of Churches in 2013 published a document summarizing the points of greatest consensus. In late October, the Vatican gave the WCC its formal response to the document, which was called “The Church: Towards a Common Vision.”

The response, coordinated by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and posted on its website, included input from Catholic theologians from around the world, bishops’ conferences and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. What is meant by “church” is a key ecumenical question as Christians work and pray for the unity Jesus wanted his followers to have, the Catholic response said. Or, as the WCC document said, “agreement on ecclesiology has long been identified as the most elemental theological objective in the quest for Christian unity.”
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Posted: Oct. 25, 2019 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10737
Categories: CNS • In this article: ecclesiology, ecumenism, Pope Francis, WCC Transmis : 25 oct. 2019 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10737
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : ecclesiology, ecumenism, Pope Francis, WCC

World’s oldest ecumenical agency celebrates its 175th anniversary

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, joined in the celebrations with one of the oldest ecumenical global movements as it marks its 175th anniversary this year. The worldwide YMCA youth movement, which began as an evangelical young men’s Christian service organisation, celebrated its start this month with a thanksgiving service at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

The Archbishop, who is the President of the YMCA, said: “It has been a great pleasure to join in the celebrations of 175 years of the YMCA. The work they have done and continue to do today to help and support young people is truly fantastic! My prayer is that the work continues for the next century!”

Denise Hatton, the Chief Executive of YMCA England & Wales, said: “what started with a concern for the welfare of his fellow workers and the formation of a prayer and Bible study group, grew into the YMCA which now reaches 60 million people worldwide.”
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Posted: June 14, 2019 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10588
Categories: ACNS • In this article: ecumenism, YMCA Transmis : 14 juin 2019 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10588
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : ecumenism, YMCA

Deeply Committed to Christian unity

Ahead of the 20th anniversary celebrations of the JDDJ later this year, the LWF is launching a new publication, reaffirming its ecumenical commitments in light of these latest developments. These commitments were formally adopted by the LWF Council in 2018, putting into practice the Lutheran communion’s pledge to be more accountable to its ecumenical partners.

Entitled ‘The Lutheran World Federation’s Commitments on the Ecumenical Way to Ecclesial Communion’, the publication was launched at a prayer service in the Geneva Ecumenical Center Chapel on 16 January. The user-friendly booklet summarises recent progress and lists six ways in which Lutherans pledge their commitment to the search for full and visible unity of all Christians.
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Posted: Jan. 16, 2019 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10324
Categories: Documents, Lutheran World Information • In this article: ecumenism, Lutheran World Federation Transmis : 16 janv. 2019 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10324
Catégorie : Documents, Lutheran World Information • Dans cet article : ecumenism, Lutheran World Federation

The Canadian Council of Churches and the future of ecumenism

Much of the work of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) today is reflected in its two commissions: the Commission on Faith and Witness, and the Commission on Justice and Peace. Where the former promotes theological reflection to improve mutual understanding between denominations, the latter focuses on efforts to foster peace and social justice in Canada and around the world.

Certain issues, such as the ordination of women or same-sex marriage, may be of both theological and social importance, and can find very different views reflected within the council.

In such cases, CCC President Alyson Barnett-Cowan said, “We try two things. One is we will have exploratory sessions where we try to get the sense of where different people are coming on different issues, and that would be one of them … But then on other matters, where we think there might be a consensus, we work hard to articulate what that consensus might be. So for example, protection of refugees, that’s kind of a no-brainer for the members of the council.”
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Posted: Mar. 23, 2018 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10262
Categories: Anglican Journal • In this article: Anglican Church of Canada, Canadian Council of Churches, ecumenism Transmis : 23 mars 2018 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10262
Catégorie : Anglican Journal • Dans cet article : Anglican Church of Canada, Canadian Council of Churches, ecumenism

The Challenges of Ecumenism

When we think of Church teachings that are uncomfortable to discuss and difficult to live up to these days our minds tend to go to controversial issues like that of contraception, homosexuality, gender and so forth. Yet, in many ways, the Church’s views on ecumenism are for many even more uncomfortable. On this topic, however, it is all too easy to say yes, yes with one’s lips, while denying and undermining this teaching in practice.

Ecumenism is the attempt to strengthen unity between the diverse Christian Churches through dialogue about doctrine, prayer in common, cooperation in good works and other means that deepen mutual understanding and growth. In the case of the Catholic Church, these endeavours are also motivated by a desire that our Churches may unite in full communion, however remote that hope may seem to our eyes here and now.

A key to the possibility of any ecumenism lies in a few basic realizations. The first is that we are all genuinely Christians, baptized into the body of Christ. This entails that there is always more that unites us than what divides us. The important essentials of the faith: the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the role that baptism plays in drawing us into the participation of the divine life are all unifying features of Christian life. In this respect, we should be grateful for the profound unity that already does exist among the majority of Christian communities (Unitatis Redintegratio, no. 3).
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Posted: Aug. 29, 2017 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9742
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Catholic, ecumenism Transmis : 29 aoüt 2017 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9742
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Catholic, ecumenism

New Ecumenical Adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury announced

The appointment has been announced today of the Revd Dr Will Adam as the Archbishop’s Ecumenical Adviser. As well as these duties, the role includes being Ecumenical Officer at the Council of Christian Unity (CCU).

This post will build on the creative joint working that has been established between Lambeth Palace and CCU to further the ecumenical ministry of the Archbishop.

Archbishop Justin Welby said: “I am delighted that Will Adam will be bringing his considerable experience and expertise to this post. His understanding of both national and international ecumenism will be a real asset to the work at Lambeth and at CCU. There are wonderful opportunities in ecumenism in these times, and we must always strive to be obedient to Jesus’ desire that his Church ‘may be one’.”
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Posted: Nov. 21, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10392
Categories: News • In this article: Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, ecumenism Transmis : 21 nov. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10392
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, ecumenism

Reformation and unity in ACC’s ecumenical resolutions

A call for Anglicans to commemorate next year’s 500th anniversary of the Reformation and the commendation of a number of new inter-denominational agreements and reports were amongst a raft of ecumenical resolutions adopted by the Anglican Consultative Council when they met in Lusaka, Zambia, earlier this month.

In Resolution 16.16, the ACC spoke of the “significance” of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, and recommended that Anglicans should mark the anniversary by taking part in shared services, study, and mission activities with Lutherans and other ecumenical partners. The ACC also encouraged Anglicans to “engage with the Lutheran World Federation’s focus: Liberated by God’s Grace”.

In a separate resolution – 16.17 – the ACC said that it “welcomes and affirms the substance” of the joint Lutheran and Roman Catholic Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, which the two churches signed in 1999.
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Posted: Apr. 26, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9196
Categories: ACNS • In this article: Anglican Consultative Council, ecumenism Transmis : 26 avril 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9196
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : Anglican Consultative Council, ecumenism

Confessional Lutherans & Anglicans Draw Closer Together

Participants in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), and Lutheran Church-Canada’s (LCC) ongoing ecumenical dialogue have released an interim report on their work so far. Entitled “On Closer Acquaintance,” the document is the culmination of six years of regular discussions between the three church bodies, and highlights the discovery of significant doctrinal agreement between the Anglican and Lutheran participants.

The authors are clear that there is still much work to be done before altar and pulpit fellowship between the two sides would be possible. Nevertheless, they have found the discussions promising enough to publicly declare their prayer “that, in the time and manner of His choosing, our Lord would grant each side in our conversations to acknowledge our ‘first cousin’ to be in fact a true sister church, with the result that we would welcome each other wholeheartedly to our respective altars and enjoy the blessed situation in which our clergy and people would be interchangeable with each other as we stand under the grace of God and work for His kingdom.”

In the meantime, they encourage all three church bodies to “consider the ways in which we can cooperate and come together in ways that fall short of full communion but do allow the greatest measure of cooperation while maintaining full theological integrity.”
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Posted: Feb. 23, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8987
Categories: Communiqué, News • In this article: Anglican Church in North America, dialogue, ecumenism, Lutheran Church Canada, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Transmis : 23 févr. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8987
Catégorie : Communiqué, News • Dans cet article : Anglican Church in North America, dialogue, ecumenism, Lutheran Church Canada, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

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

Kenneth Kearon: On Building an Ecumenical Barn

Anglican Bishop Kenneth Kearon used the image of constructing a barn to reflect upon the ecumenical movement during this year’s De Margerie Series on Christian Reconciliation and Unity, held in conjunction with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Saskatoon.

In addition to a public lecture “On Building an Ecumenical Barn,” held at St. Thomas More College Jan. 21, the 2016 De Margerie series also included two workshops – one for clergy and ministry leaders Jan. 22, and another on Jan. 23 for the general public, entitled “Being Church in the World Today.”

Dr. Terry Downey, president of St. Thomas More College opened the public lecture at STM with words of welcome. Held in conjunction with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the De Margerie series is jointly sponsored by STM, the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. This year’s lecture was available for the first time on live-streamed video (and is now posted on the diocese’s YouTube channel).

Nicholas Jesson, ecumenical officer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, noted that the De Margerie series is named for local ecumenical pioneer, Rev. Bernard de Margerie, one of the founders of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism in Saskatoon and its first director. De Margerie is also the author of In God’s Reconciling Grace, a book of prayers about Christian unity, reflecting his conviction that prayer and conversion must be at the heart of the ecumenical movement.
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Posted: Jan. 21, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8948
Categories: News • In this article: Anglican Communion, De Margerie Series, ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 21 janv. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8948
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, De Margerie Series, ecumenism, WPCU

Canadian churches mark 40 years of recognizing one baptism

In 1975, five major Christian churches in Canada reached an agreement recognizing the validity of each other’s baptisms. Forty years later, the mutual recognition of baptism by the Presbyterian, Lutheran, United, Roman Catholic and Anglican (PLURA) churches stands as a historic milestone in the ongoing ecumenical movement.

A news release from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) on September 11, 1975 noted that the agreement followed an ecumenical study of baptism by the Joint Working Group of the Canadian Council of Churches and the CCCB. Responding to the report, each church agreed that “baptism would be recognized when conferred according to the norms of the churches, with flowing water, by pouring, sprinkling or immersion, accompanied by the Trinitarian formula [i.e. in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit].”

Archdeacon Bruce Myers, ecumenical and interfaith coordinator for the Anglican Church of Canada, underscored the role of mutual recognition of baptism in bringing members of different churches closer together.

“When each of us is baptized, it’s always into a particular church, a local community of faith that exists within a denomination,” Myers said. “But also you’re being baptized into the one holy catholic and apostolic church that is universal.”
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Posted: Nov. 19, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8854
Categories: News • In this article: baptism, Canada, Christian unity, ecumenism Transmis : 19 nov. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8854
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : baptism, Canada, Christian unity, ecumenism

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

Piazza Martin Lutero in Rome, a reminder to care for the poor

Rome’s new Piazza Martin Lutero is not only a sign that Lutherans are welcome in the cosmopolitan Italian city but a reminder of Luther’s call for Christians to proclaim the gospel together by serving the poor.

Rev. Jens-Martin Kruse, pastor of the German-speaking congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy (ELCI) made these remarks following the 16 September inauguration of a central square named after the Reformer Martin Luther. Civic and church dignitaries attended the ceremony to officially recognize the Piazza Martin Lutero, located near the historic Colosseum amphitheater.

“And at the same time this place is also a bit troubled. Here live many refugees, the homeless. For us, there is a reminder that we have an obligation to care for these people,” said Kruse, who serves about 500 Lutherans in Rome.

Piazza Martin Lutero is the result of five years of work by a group of Protestants, including Adventists, Baptists, Methodists, Waldensians and Lutherans, who collaborate in helping the city’s migrants, children and the unemployed.
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Posted: Sept. 24, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8760
Categories: Lutheran World Information • In this article: ecumenism, Martin Luther, Rome Transmis : 24 sept. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8760
Catégorie : Lutheran World Information • Dans cet article : ecumenism, Martin Luther, Rome

South African Council of Churches to continue working for Christian unity and social justice

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) is all set to continue working for the unity of Christian witness and supporting communities in the country affected by poverty, unemployment, inequity and corruption.

These aspirations of the SACC were shared in a recent meeting on 16 September in Geneva, Switzerland, where Rev. Dr Frank Chikane, SACC’s senior vice president and Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, SACC’s acting general secretary, met with Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, and Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, the WCC’s associate general secretary.

The SACC leadership shared that the strategic plan for the renewal of their organization is in place, continuing a revival after the council closed down in 2011 due to financial difficulties. Since 2014, the organization has been re-established, with the re-opening of Khotso House in Johannesburg where the SACC offices are based.

The WCC general secretary expressed his appreciation that the SACC is “back on its feet”. He said that it is only through “working together” that challenges can be overcome. “Many regional and national councils of churches have gone through problems, but we are working together to strengthen the fellowship. We need a strong SACC to grow in the ecumenical movement.”
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Posted: Sept. 22, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8663
Categories: WCC News • In this article: ecumenism, South African Council of Churches Transmis : 22 sept. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8663
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : ecumenism, South African Council of Churches

Joint Working Group: 50 years of mutual commitment

During the week of 22 June 2015, the 50th anniversary of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches will be celebrated by the church leaders. A public event to mark the anniversary will be held at the Centro Pro Unione in Rome, Italy on 23 June.

One of the ecumenical legacies of improved relations among churches growing from the Second Vatican Council, the JWG has been instrumental since 1965 in coordinating activities of the WCC, its member churches, related ecumenical bodies and the Catholic commissions and councils engaged in theological discourse and common action throughout the world.

The working group has met regularly over the past half-century and has published reports of its activities. The JWG is co-moderated by Metropolitan and Archbishop Nifon of Targoviste from the Romanian Orthodox Church, a member of the WCC central and executive committees, and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of the Catholic Church.

Over the past 50 years, Roman Catholics have become full members of the Faith and Order Commission coordinated by the WCC, provided staff in the WCC areas of evangelization and theological education and sent observer delegations to participate in WCC assemblies and other major conferences. Reciprocal arrangements have been implemented, with active Orthodox and Protestant participation in Catholic forums.

From 1968 through 1983, the WCC and Roman Catholic Church experimented with common social policies and service ministries within a commission on society, development and peace (SODEPAX). In 2011, the WCC, Roman Catholic Pontifical Council on Inter-religious Dialogue and the World Evangelical Alliance jointly published landmark recommendations on the writing of churches’ guidelines on mission and evangelization, Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World.
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Posted: June 22, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8592
Categories: WCC News • In this article: ecumenism, Paul VI, WCC Transmis : 22 juin 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8592
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : ecumenism, Paul VI, WCC

Pope Francis meets members of ARCIC III

Pope Francis met on Thursday with members of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, telling them that the cause of unity is not an optional undertaking. The 18 Anglican and Catholic members of the commission, known as ARCIC III, are holding their annual encounter this week at an ancient retreat house in the Alban hills, south of Rome.The original Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission was founded in the wake of a historic meeting in 1966 between a Pope and an Archbishop of Canterbury – the first since the Reformation and the Church of England’s breakaway from Rome. On that occasion, Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey inaugurated a dialogue “founded on the Gospels and on the ancient common traditions” which they hoped would lead to “unity in truth for which Christ prayed”. Meeting with the members of ARCIC III, Pope Francis noted the current session is studying the relationship between the universal Church and the local Church – a question central to his own reform programme – with particular reference to difficult decision making over moral and ethical questions. These discussions, the Pope said, and the forthcoming publication of five jointly agreed statements from the previous phase of the dialogue, remind us that ecumenism is not a secondary element in the life of the Church and that the differences which divide us must not be seen as inevitable. Despite the seriousness of the challenges, he said we must trust even more in the power of the Spirit to heal and reconcile what may not seem possible to our human understanding. Finally Pope Francis highlighted the powerful testimony of Christians from different Churches and traditions who have been victims of violence and persecution. The blood of these martyrs, he said, will nourish a new era of ecumenical commitment to fulfill the last will and testament of the Lord: that all may be one.
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Posted: Apr. 30, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8184
Categories: Vatican News • In this article: ARCIC, dialogue, ecumenism, Pope Francis Transmis : 30 avril 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8184
Catégorie : Vatican News • Dans cet article : ARCIC, dialogue, ecumenism, Pope Francis

Kathryn Johnson named director for ELCA Ecumenical & Inter-Religious Relations

Kathryn L. Johnson has been named director of Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) effective September 2015.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton made the announcement during the ELCA Conference of Bishops meeting here March 5-10. The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of this church that includes 65 synod bishops, the presiding bishop and secretary.

“Kathryn Johnson brings that rare and wonderful combination of keen intellect, academic excellence, international ecumenical experience, deep faith and a graceful and engaging presence. We are very excited to welcome her to our staff,” said Eaton.

Johnson is a professor of historical theology and is the Paul Tudor Jones Professor of Church History at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Johnson joins Kathryn M. Lohre, assistant to the presiding bishop and executive of ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations. The Rev. Donald J. McCoid will retire at the end of August after serving in the ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations office since 2007. Prior to that, McCoid served as bishop of the ELCA Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod since 1988.

“Working for Christian unity has been one of the deepest joys of my vocational life. This aspect of the church’s calling is inextricable from the other tasks of Christian discipleship; it strengthens their witness and is undergirded in turn by common work for justice, search for interfaith understanding, (and more),” said Johnson.
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Posted: Mar. 7, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8583
Categories: ELCA News • In this article: ecumenism, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Transmis : 7 mars 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8583
Catégorie : ELCA News • Dans cet article : ecumenism, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Ecumenism according to Ratzinger: Pluriform unity

The “ultimate aim” of the ecumenical journey, “is obviously the unity of the churches in the one Church”. “This does not mean uniformity” but “unity in pluriformity”. The “Orthodox Churches should not change much in their internal structure, almost nothing in fact, if they unite themselves with Rome”. The then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger pronounced these words on 29 January 1993 during a public conversation with Waldesian professor Paolo Ricca held at the evangelical cultural centre.

Pope Francis took these considerations further during his visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople last November, when he said that in its efforts to achieve full unity with Orthodox Christians, the Catholic Church “does not intend to impose any conditions except that of the shared profession of faith”.

Speaking about ecumenism during his meeting with the Waldesian community, Ratzinger wished to distinguish between “two phases”: the final aim and the “models” for the in-between waiting period before unity is achieved. The future Pope saw the former as “the real force and the main motivating factor behind our ecumenism”. He explained that “the unity of churches within the Church” does not imply “uniformity”, but “unity in pluriformity”. “It seems to me,” the then cardinal added, “that the ancient Church can be taken as something of a model. The ancient Church was united on three fundamental elements: Holy Scripture, regula fidei, the sacramental structure of the Church. But, for the rest, it was a Church of very many forms, as we all know. There were the churches of Semitic regions or language, the Egyptian Coptic Church, and here were the Greek Churches of the Byzantine empire, the other Greek Churches, the Latin Churches featuring great diversities between the Church in Ireland, for example, and the Church of Rome.”
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Posted: Feb. 23, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8503
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Christian unity, ecumenism, John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger Transmis : 23 févr. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8503
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Christian unity, ecumenism, John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger

De Margerie lecture connects liturgy with ecumenism

Connections between liturgical renewal and the ecumenical movement were explored in a public lecture Jan. 20 at St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon.

The evening presentation during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was part of the third annual De Margerie Series on Christian Reconciliation and Unity, sponsored by STM, the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, and named in honour of local ecumenical pioneer Rev. Bernard de Margerie. The 2014 series also included a public workshop about music and prayer (see related article) and a workshop for clergy and lay ministry leaders about baptism.

In the public lecture, speaker Dr. Karen Westerfield Tucker described connections between liturgy and dialogue as an “ecumenism of life.”

A presbyter in the United Methodist Church and professor of worship at Boston University who serves on the international Methodist-Roman Catholic dialogue, Westerfield Tucker began with a look at the impact of the Second Vatican Council on ecumenism and liturgy, for both Catholics and non-Catholics.

“Many non-Catholic communities engaged in their own bold ventures of liturgical reform in the years following the council,” said Westerfield Tucker.
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Posted: Jan. 28, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7974
Categories: News • In this article: De Margerie Series, ecumenism, liturgy, Saskatoon, Second Vatican Council Transmis : 28 janv. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7974
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : De Margerie Series, ecumenism, liturgy, Saskatoon, Second Vatican Council