St Chad ‘returns’ to Lichfield Cathedral

A relic of St Chad is due to transferred from Birmingham to Lichfield cathedral tomorrow as a shrine of St Chad is reinstated in the location of the original medieval shrine.

St Chad, a monk and abbot, moved his see from Repton to Lichfield when he was made Bishop of Mercia in 669. He died just three years later in a plague. He became associated with healing, until his relics had to be moved during the Dissolution. They were eventually enshrined at St Chad’s new Catholic cathedral in Birmingham when it opened in 1841, in a new ark designed by Pugin.
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Posted: Nov. 7, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12725
Categories: News • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, Church of England, spiritual ecumenism Transmis : 7 nov. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12725
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, Church of England, spiritual ecumenism

Archbishop of Canterbury calls on Christians to join global wave of prayer

The Archbishop of Canterbury is encouraging Christians of all denominations to join in with a ten day global prayer initiative “Thy Kingdom Come” from Ascension Day to Pentecost. What began last year as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer. Last year more than 100,000 people joined in and in 2017 it’s expected to be on a bigger scale. Launching the initiative, which runs from 25 May to 4 June, Archbishop Justin said: “When the wind of the spirit is blowing, hoist the sails and go with the wind. It’s not a Church of England thing, it’s not an Anglican thing, it’s a Christian thing.”
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Posted: Feb. 9, 2017 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10397
Categories: ACNS • In this article: Justin Welby, prayer, spiritual ecumenism Transmis : 9 févr. 2017 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10397
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : Justin Welby, prayer, spiritual ecumenism

Norwegian Christians begin pilgrimage from Oslo to Trondheim

From 24 May to 21 June, the Christian Council of Norway (CCN) is promoting a pilgrimage from the Norwegian capital Oslo to Trondheim, an important Christian pilgrimage site and the location of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee meeting from 22-28 June.

CCN’s general secretary Rev. Knut Refsdal will walk the entire 29-day, 638.6-kilometer route, and is inviting local church leaders and congregations to join part or all of the pilgrimage. Several meetings and dialogue spaces are being organized at stops along the way.

“The main message we want to share along the way is that religious and philosophical leaders of each community can help promote mutual understanding and respect for shared values and therefore deplore violent extremism and hate speech,” said Refsdal.
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Posted: May 24, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9109
Categories: WCC News • In this article: pilgrimage, spiritual ecumenism, WCC Transmis : 24 mai 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9109
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : pilgrimage, spiritual ecumenism, WCC

Pope Francis apologises for treatment of non-Catholic Christians

Pope Francis has apologised for behaviour towards Christians from non-Roman Catholic churches that “has not reflected Gospel values.” The Pope made his comments during a Vespers service in the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome last night attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See, Archbishop Sir David Moxon.

The service was held to mark the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and was also attended by Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. At the end of the service the Pope invited Metropolitan Gennadios and Archbishop David to join him in blessing the congregation.
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Posted: Jan. 26, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9251
Categories: ACNS • In this article: Pope Francis, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 26 janv. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9251
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : Pope Francis, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

Pope Francis sends greetings to Pentecostal pastors in Phoenix

The diocese of Phoenix, U.S.A., has organised a day of dialogue and prayer, on the eve of Pentecost, with a group of evangelical pastors of Pentecostal orientation, including the Italian Giovanni Traettino, whom Pope Francis visited during his trip to Caserta. The Holy Father participated with a video message, screened yesterday afternoon at the opening of the meeting (during the night in Europe).

Brothers and sisters, may the peace of Christ be with you. Forgive me if I speak in Spanish, but my English isn’t good enough for me to express myself properly. I speak in Spanish but, above all, I speak in the language of the heart. I have the invitation you sent me for this celebration of Christian Unity, this day of reconciliation. And I wish to join you from here. “Father, may we be one so that the world may believe you sent me”. This is the slogan, the theme of the meeting: Christ’s prayer to the Father for the grace of unity. Today, Saturday May 23rd, from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, I will be with you spiritually and with all my heart. We will search together, we will pray together, for the grace of unity. The unity that is budding among us is that unity which begins under the seal of the one Baptism we have all received. It is the unity we are seeking along a common path. It is the spiritual unity of prayer for one another. It is the unity of our common labour on behalf of our brothers and sisters, and all those who believe in the sovereignty of Christ.
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Posted: May 24, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8490
Categories: Vatican News • In this article: Pentecostal, Pope Francis, spiritual ecumenism Transmis : 24 mai 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8490
Catégorie : Vatican News • Dans cet article : Pentecostal, Pope Francis, spiritual ecumenism

Young Christians invited to spend a year at Lambeth Palace

A new community will be taking root at Lambeth Palace in September, and it has just started accepting applications.

The Community of St. Anselm, named for the medieval intellectual and former Archbishop of Canterbury, is accepting applications from across the Communion from young people who want to spend “a year in God’s time” living at Lambeth Palace in prayer, study and spiritual discovery.

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, says that he expects the community “to have radical impact” on both the individuals involved and the worldwide Communion. “I urge young people to step up: here is an open invitation to be transformed and to transform,” he said in a blog posting on the community’s website.
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Posted: Mar. 2, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8116
Categories: Anglican Journal • In this article: Anglican Communion, Justin Welby, religious life, spiritual ecumenism Transmis : 2 mars 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8116
Catégorie : Anglican Journal • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Justin Welby, religious life, spiritual ecumenism

Pope Francis: Religious who pray for Christian unity an “invisible monastery”

The vital role that men and women religious of different Christian Churches play in the ecumenical journey was at the heart of Pope Francis’s meeting on Saturday with participants in a conference on consecrated life and the search for Christian Unity. The three day meeting, which concludes on Sunday, comes in the context of both this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the Year of Consecrated Life. Participants are concluding each day with Vespers in the Orthodox, Anglican and Catholic traditions, including the liturgy presided over by Pope Francis in the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls on Sunday.
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Posted: Jan. 24, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8001
Categories: Vatican News • In this article: Bose, Christian unity, Pope Francis, religious life, spiritual ecumenism, Taizé Transmis : 24 janv. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8001
Catégorie : Vatican News • Dans cet article : Bose, Christian unity, Pope Francis, religious life, spiritual ecumenism, Taizé

A recipe for Christian unity: flesh, blood, tea and whisky

My grandmother and my great-grandmother, both Quebecers, both died on Good Friday. They were Protestant anglophones in a majority Catholic francophone world. In my grandmother’s day, Catholics would cross the street to avoid passing in front of a Protestant church for fear of damnation. As for my great-grandmother, who lived in La Baie on the Saguenay, her Catholic maid was famously heard to say what a kind person my great-grandmother was, and what a pity she was going to hell.

I hope all of them, including the maid, can see what their descendants were doing this Good Friday in Quebec. Four different Christian denominations in Quebec City got together to walk with a huge cross through the streets. In total silence we walked from church to church, United Church, Anglican, Presbyterian, and Catholic, stopping in each one to pray and sing and read some more of the Passion story.

It was a warm evening, and people stopped on the street to stare. Teenagers giggled together with embarrassment, militant atheists muttered with contempt, old women smiled happily. Some quietly joined us, mostly immigrants from countries where people still go to church. Would-be anthropologists took pictures of us, with our Catholic cardinal in red and our white-robed Anglican bishop, to put on their Facebook pages, the way they might post pictures of Amazonian tribes: “Didn’t know there were any left! Didn’t even have to take malaria pills to see this!”
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Posted: May 8, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7549
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, Québec, spiritual ecumenism Transmis : 8 mai 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7549
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, Québec, spiritual ecumenism

Pope Francis concludes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

On Saturday, Pope Francis presided over evening Vespers at Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls Basilica where he was joined by members of the many different Christian Churches present here in Rome.

The celebration, which lands on the Feast of Saint Paul, marks the closing of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which has been exploring the theme, taken from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, “Has Christ been divided?”

Saturday’s celebrations coincide with the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.
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Posted: Jan. 25, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7227
Categories: News • In this article: Christian unity, ecumenism, Pope Francis, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 25 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7227
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Christian unity, ecumenism, Pope Francis, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

WPCU day 8: Together… we proclaim the gospel

Together we proclaim anew the good news prophesied in Isaiah, fulfilled in our Lord Jesus, preached by the Apostle Paul, and received by the Church. Facing honestly the differences we have and the labels of denomination we embrace, we must never lose sight of the common mandate we have in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul is sent “to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power” (1 Cor 1:17). The path to unity is to be found in the power of the cross.

The Gospel we proclaim is made tangible and relevant to us as we bear witness to the work of Jesus Christ in our own lives and the life of the Christian community.
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Posted: Jan. 25, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7095
Categories: Resources • In this article: spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 25 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7095
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

WPCU day 7: Together… we belong to Christ

Isaiah envisioned a day when Egyptians and Assyrians would worship together with Israel as God’s people. Christian unity belongs to the design of God for the unity of all humanity, and indeed of the cosmos itself. We pray for the day when we will worship together in one faith and one Eucharistic fellowship.

We are blessed by the gifts of various church traditions. Recognising those gifts in each other impels us towards visible unity.

Our baptism unites us as one body in Christ. While we value our particular churches, Paul reminds us that all who call on the name of the Lord are with us in Christ for we all belong to the one body. There is no other to whom we can say, “I have no need of you” (1 Cor 12:21).
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Posted: Jan. 24, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7093
Categories: Resources • In this article: spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 24 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7093
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

WPCU day 6: Together… we seek to be in agreement

The disunity described in 1 Corinthians 1:12-13 reflects a distortion of the gospel, undermining the integrity of the message of Christ. To acknowledge conflict and division, as Chloe’s people did, is the first step to establishing unity.

Women like Deborah and Chloe raise a prophetic voice among God’s people in times of conflict and division, confronting us with the need to be reconciled. Such prophetic voices may enable people to gather in renewed unity for action.

As we strive to be united in the same mind and the same purpose, we are called to seek the Lord and his peace as the psalmist wrote.
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Posted: Jan. 23, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7091
Categories: Resources • In this article: spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 23 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7091
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

WPCU day 5: Together… we are called into fellowship

We are called into fellowship with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. As we draw closer to the Triune God, we are drawn closer to one another in Christian unity.

Christ has initiated a change in our relationship, calling us friends instead of servants. In response to this relationship of love, we are called out of relationships of power and domination into friendship and love of one another.

Called by Jesus, we witness to the gospel both to those who have not yet heard it and to those who have. This proclamation contains a call into fellowship with God, and establishes fellowship among those who respond.
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Posted: Jan. 22, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7089
Categories: Resources • In this article: spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 22 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7089
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

WPCU day 4: Together… we affirm that God is faithful

The eternal unity of Father, Son and Spirit draws us closer into the love of God, and calls us to participate in God’s work in the world which is love, mercy and justice. Mercy and justice are not divided in God, but rather are joined together in the steadfast love manifested in God’s covenant with us and with all of creation.

The new father Zechariah testifies to God’s manifestation of mercy in keeping his promises to Abraham and his descendents. God is faithful to his holy covenant.

As we continue to pray for the unity of the church, we must not neglect to meet together and encourage one another, spurring each other on towards love and good deeds, saying: “God is faithful.”
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Posted: Jan. 21, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7087
Categories: Resources • In this article: spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 21 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7087
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

WPCU day 3: Together… we are not lacking in any spiritual gifts

Job realizes that even though all has been taken away from him, the fear of the Lord remains – that is wisdom. As brothers and sisters in Christ, even though we are impoverished by our divisions, we have all been graced with an abundance of diverse gifts, both spiritual and material to build up his body.

Yet, despite God’s promises and Jesus’ generous life and love, we, like the disciples in Mark, sometimes forget our true wealth: we divide, we hoard; we speak and act as if we have “no bread”.

Christ has not been divided: together we have gifts enough to share with one another and “with every living thing”.
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Posted: Jan. 20, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7084
Categories: Resources • In this article: spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 20 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7084
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

WPCU day 2: Together… we give thanks for God’s grace in one another

Gratitude, in Deuteronomy, is a way of living life with a deep awareness of God’s presence within us and around us. It is the ability to recognize God’s grace active and alive in one another and in all people everywhere and to give God thanks. The joy that flows from this grace is so great that it embraces even “the aliens who reside among you”.

Gratitude, in the ecumenical context, means being able to rejoice in the gifts of God’s grace present in other Christian communities, an attitude that opens the door to ecumenical sharing of gifts and to learning from one another.

All of life is a gift from God: from the moment of creation to the moment God became flesh in the life and work of Jesus, to this moment in which we are living. Let us thank God for the gifts of grace and truth given in Jesus Christ, and manifest in one another and our churches.
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Posted: Jan. 19, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7080
Categories: Resources • In this article: spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 19 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7080
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

WPCU day 1: Together… we are called to be saints

Together, we who call upon the name of the Lord are called to be saints “sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 1:2). In Exodus, this gathering together of God’s people is described as a treasured possession, a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.

In 1 Peter, our membership in this communion of saints is understood to come as a result of God calling us together as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, God’s own people. With this calling comes a shared mandate to proclaim the mighty acts of God that drew us out of darkness and into God’s light.

Furthermore, we discover in Matthew that as a communion of saints, our oneness in Jesus is to extend beyond our family, clan, or class as together we pray for unity and seek to do the will of God.
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Posted: Jan. 18, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7075
Categories: Resources • In this article: spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 18 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7075
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

Has Christ Been Divided? The Ecumenical Context in Canada

Among the many factors that influence Canadian religious experience is the sheer size of our country. Canada is the second largest country in the world, 40% of which is in the Arctic, north of 60o latitude. Stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the United States to the North Pole, Canada has ten provinces and three territories. We are surrounded by three oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic. Our only land border is with the United States and it has experienced almost 200 years of peace. Canada is a confederation of former British colonies, with a parliamentary form of government in a federal system of ten provinces and three territories. The union of the former colonial territories and independence from Britain occurred peacefully, and Canada remains a strong proponent of international engagement and cooperation. The vast distances between our cities have promoted both self-reliance and formation of distinct identities in the regions, but can also engender feelings of alienation or resentment.

Canada is known for its natural splendour: its mountains, forests, lakes and rivers, seas of wheat and three ocean shorelines. This is a land rich in agriculture and natural resources. Canada is also a land of diverse peoples: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis,2 and many people who came to settle here from around the world. We have two official languages, French and English, yet many Canadians also celebrate the cultural and linguistic heritages of their ancestral homelands.
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Posted: Jan. 13, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7065
Categories: Resources • In this article: Canada, Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 13 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7065
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : Canada, Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

Has Christ Been Divided? Introduction to the WPCU 2014 theme

Canadians live in a country that is marked by diversity in language, culture, and even climate, and we also embody diversity in our expressions of Christian faith. Living with this diversity, but being faithful to Christ’s desire for the unity of his disciples, has led us to a reflection on Paul’s provocative question in 1 Corinthians: “Has Christ been Divided?” In faith we respond, “No!” yet our church communities continue to embody scandalous divisions. 1 Corinthians also points us to a way in which we can value and receive the gifts of others even now in the midst of our divisions, and that is an encouragement to us in our work for unity.

2. Canada is known for its natural splendour: its mountains, forests, lakes and rivers, seas of wheat and three ocean shorelines. Our land stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the U.S. border to the north pole. This is a land rich in agriculture and natural resources. Canada is also a land of diverse peoples: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis,¹ and many people who came to settle here from around the world. We have two official languages, French and English, yet many Canadians celebrate the cultural and linguistic heritage from their ancestral homelands. Our social and political divisions frequently hinge upon linguistic, cultural, and regional distinctions, yet we are learning to understand how these national identities contribute to a healthy Canadian diversity. Within this multicultural milieu, many Christians have brought their particular ways of worship and ministry. Paul’s letter addresses us within our diversity and invites us to recognize that as church in our particular places we are not to be isolated or to act over against each other, but rather to recognize our interconnectedness with all who call on the name of the Lord.
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Posted: Jan. 8, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7051
Categories: Resources • In this article: Canada, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 8 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7051
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : Canada, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

WPCU 2014 resources dedicated to the memory of two great ecumenists

In Memoriam

Professor Ralph Del Colle (1954 – 2012), a Roman Catholic systematic theologian, Associate Professor of Theology at Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA), died on 29 July 2012. From 1998, he was a member of the Pentecostal/Catholic International Dialogue, and took part in the Informal Conversations with the Seventh-Day Adventists (2001-2002) as well as in the official delegation attending the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Harare in 1998. A dedicated spirit and a joyful approach always marked his contribution to the meetings of the dialogue. Professor Del Colle never turned away from any issue, and he combined a lively and perceptive sensitivity with a dedication to the service of the truth. Throughout his career, he generously offered his expertise in the firm conviction that unity is God’s will and the irrevocable path for all Christians.

Dr Margaret O’Gara (1947 – 2012), Professor of Theology at the University of St Michael’s College, Toronto, died on 16 August 2012 after two years of illness. A Roman Catholic who specialized in Church teaching authority and ecumenical dialogue, she was active in ecumenical work for over 35 years, and was appointed to numerous ecumenical dialogue commissions. Dr O’Gara served on the Disciples of Christ/Roman Catholic International Commission for Dialogue (1983), the US Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue (1994), and the Evangelical/Roman Catholic Dialogue of Canada (2008). In addition, she also served for 18 years on the Anglican/Roman Catholic Dialogue of Canada (1976-1993) and for 12 years on the Lutheran/Roman Catholic International Commission for Unity (1995-2006). She also served as President of the Catholic Theological Society of America and of the North American Academy of Ecumenists.
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Posted: Jan. 3, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7097
Categories: Resources • In this article: spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 3 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7097
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : spiritual ecumenism, WPCU