WCC NEWS: Joint working group between WCC, Roman Catholic Church shares reflections on current challenges, maps future publications 📚

The Executive Committee of the Joint Working Group between the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Roman Catholic Church met virtually on 12 October to exchange refections on addressing current challenges and to plan release of future publications.   Image: WCC 15 October 2021 Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, focused on the recent meeting in Rome,“Faith and Science: Towards COP26.” Many international scholars and Christian leaders, including WCC acting general secretary Rev. Dr Ioan Sauca and Pope Francis, as well as representatives of other religions, met to draw international attention to the climate crisis and the need to promote a sustainable culture of life. Farrell also spoke of the meeting held in the Vatican on “Religions and Education: Towards a Global Compact on Education.” Representatives of different churches and religions of the world dialogued together with Pope Francis about the main educational challenges and invited the institutions of the world to put education at the very centre of the international agenda. Rev. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus, WCC interim deputy general secretary, highlighted a recent WCC consultation on the teaching of ecumenism in the context of the global church today, marked by Pentecostal and evangelical movements, in particular in the southern hemisphere. Mateus also discussed preparations for the WCC 11th Assembly to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 2022, and he also updated participants on the work of the WCC Faith and Order Commission that has been harvesting the results of the work of the current mandate approaching its term by publishing studies on ecclesiology and moral discernment in the churches. In addition, he spoke about the series of WCC webinars dedicated to ecclesiology, ethics and bilateral dialogues. The Joint Working Group also discussed three documents in the final phase of preparation: the final report from the current mandate, and two studies with recommendations to the churches on “Peacebuilding in Situations of Conflict” and “Migrants and Refugees—Ecumenical Challenges and Opportunities.”   Read the communiqué of the meeting See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland