World Council of Churches – Update
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release – 22/11/2005
A TRIED AND TRUE EXPRESSION OF PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION, THE JOINT WORKING GROUP BETWEEN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE WCC SET TO TACKLE NEW CHALLENGES
Becoming a “trusted partner” for one another “has been perhaps the most enduring achievement of the past four decades” of collaboration between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (WCC), and this continued cooperation “must be considered one of the significant achievements of the modern ecumenical movement”.
This assessment was offered in a communiqué issued at the end of a two-day consultation on the mandate and role of the Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC. The 17-19 November 2005 consultation was held on the occasion of its 40th anniversary.
Stating that the Group “may not be the only possible alternative to membership of the Roman Catholic Church in the World Council of Churches,” the communiqué affirms that “it has proved to be an effective expression of the desire of both parties for an ongoing collaboration and partnership”.
Founded in 1965 following the Second Vatican Council, the JWG is a consultative body entrusted with initiating, evaluating and sustaining the many forms of collaboration between its two parent bodies.
Among the areas of concern noted at the consultation, the communiqué highlights “the communication of the results of its studies, deliberations, and declarations to the parent bodies, the reception of its reports, and the implementation of its recommendations”.
“More attention must be given to exploring effective ways of fostering reception of ecumenical agreements within the Roman Catholic Church and among the member churches of the WCC,” the communiqué affirms.
Spiritual ecumenism, ecumenical formation, moral issues and new challenges
The consultation, which took place at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland, the site of the first JWG meeting in 1965, affirmed the JWG’s Eighth Report, covering the period 1999-2005, and its recommendations.
First place among the recommendations is given to “the need to promote a return to the spiritual roots of ecumenism”. What is needed, the report says, is “a renewed ecumenical spirituality based on the riches of our respective traditions,” which should allow “enriching one another spiritually, through common prayer and other forms of spiritual sharing”.
The second recommendation stresses that “greater effort is needed in the field of ecumenical formation”. The report emphasizes the “importance of offering young people opportunities to be exposed to traditions other than their own, especially in shared programmes of formation, mission and service”.
In the third place, and as an area of concern, the report stressed the need to follow closely the topic of “possibly church-dividing difficulties encountered in giving common witness in the field of personal and social moral issues”. A list of those issues includes “bio-ethics, human, civil and religious rights, issues of peace, social justice, healing of memories, human sexuality and reproduction”.
Finally, the report lists a number of “new challenges” that are demanding a response from Christians and “can be fruitfully examined by the next JWG”. These are “inter-religious dialogue,” “religious pluralism and, in some places, the increasing absence of God in cultural life,” “the spread of modern technology and the power of the media,” “the prevalence of injustice, different forms of violence and the fear induced by international terrorism”.
The co-moderators of the Joint Working Group are Bishop Dr Jonas Jonson (Lutheran), and Archbishop Mario Conti (Roman Catholic). JWG members serve for seven years, between WCC assemblies; new members will be appointed after the 9th Assembly scheduled to take place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in February 2006.
The full text of the communiqué is available at
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/ecumenical/jwg40th-communique.html
Free high-resolution photos of the consultation are available at
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/photo-galleries/meetings/jwg40th/40thanniversary.html
Additional information on the work of the JWG between 1999-2005, as well as collaborative efforts between the offices and programmes of the WCC and the PCPCU over the same period are available in the
Eighth Report of the JWG: [English] – [Français] – [Deutsch] – [Español]
This material may be reprinted freely.
Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.