WCC news: WCC team received by Coptic Orthodox Church to discuss World Conference on Faith and Order in Egypt

A team from the World Council of Churches (WCC) visited Egypt at the invitation of the Coptic Orthodox Church to plan for the 2025 World Conference on Faith and Order to take place at the Logos Papal Center at Wadi El Natrun, near Alexandria.  Papal Logos Center. Photo: Stephen Brown/WCC 18 July 2024 Organized by the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, the conference will mark the 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which gathered the whole of Christendom to seek consensus on the central meaning of Christian faith. The WCC accepted in November 2023 an invitation from the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, H.H. Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, to hold the world conference at the Logos Papal Centre, about 100 kilometres from Alexandria, and close to the 4th-century St Bishoy Monastery, one of the most important monastic centres in Egypt.  The World Conference on Faith and Order will meet from 24-28 October 2025 under the theme “Where Now for Visible Unity?” During their 13-17 July visit, members of a six-person WCC team visited the St Bishoy Monastery and the Logos Papal Center, where they discussed plans for the world conference with the Coptic Orthodox Church committee preparing for the conference, led by H.G. Bishop Abraham, Coptic auxiliary bishop in Los Angeles.  “We were so glad we that the World Council of Churches accepted the request and the wish of the Coptic Church to have this event here in Egypt,” said Bishop Abraham, who is also a member of the WCC central committee. Bishop Abraham underlined the important role played by the See of Alexandria at the Council of Nicaea, and especially the involvement of Patriarch St Alexander I of Alexandria and of St Athanasius, who attended the council as a deacon and who would become the 20th Patriarch of Alexandria.  Participants from the meeting of the WCC/Coptic Orthodox Church preparatory committee. Photo: Andrej Jeftić/WCC “We have not only been warmly welcomed, we have already begun to have a foretaste of the ancient Christian tradition that the Coptic church is the custodian of,” said Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, World Council of Churches programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation, leading the WCC team to Egypt. “The juxtaposition of the ancient St Bishoy and the ultramodern Logos centers in the ministry of your church is a gift to the Christian family,” said Nalwamba, in her opening words at the meeting.  Planning began in 2012 for the Logos Papal Centre after the enthronement of H.H. Pope Tawadros II,  and includes the Church of the Transfiguration, a conference hall and meeting room, and accommodation for visitors.  The meeting heralded a visit to Egypt in November by a WCC delegation that will be led by WCC general secretary Prof. Rev. Dr Jerry Pillay. Discussions covered issues such as practical arrangements, communication, and the spiritual life of the conference. The meeting also discussed arrangements for a Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI) being held in conjunction with the Sixth World Conference at the Logo Papal Center, which will offer space for a new generation of younger and emerging ecumenical theologians. Dr Andrej Jeftić, director of the Faith and Order commission, said, “We experienced the profound history, faith, and witness that the Coptic Orthodox Church has cherished for centuries, together with its gracious hospitality. The Logos Papal Center and the encounters we had are testaments to this heritage and the vision of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II for the Christian Church - a vision that seeks love, invites charity, and fosters unity among all Christians.” This resonates deeply, said Jeftić, with the mission of the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order, “which invites us to rethink how we live our apostolic faith together today and to seek ways for visible unity among the churches.” Other members of the WCC team included Prof. Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi, WCC programme executive for Ecumenical Theological Education and professor at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, responsible for the GETI programme; Rev. Dr Mikie Roberts, WCC programme executive for Spiritual Life and Faith and Order; Marc-Henri Heiniger, WCC event planning and production coordinator; and Dr Stephen Brown, communication officer for Faith and Order and editor of The Ecumenical Review. Further information about the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order and WCC plans to mark Nicaea 2025 Introductory booklet: Toward the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order: Commemorating the Council of Nicaea - Where Now for Visible Unity? More information about the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI) and application form to participate St Bishoy Monaster. Photo: Andrej Jeftić/WCC 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 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. 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