Ecumenical Patriarch conveys a message to COP22

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The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in from 7-18 November 2016 in Marrakech (Morocco). The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are held yearly. The previous one took place last year in Paris. On this occasion, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew conveyed a message to the participants, in which he refers to 22 years of UN conventions as “an unacceptably long period to respond to the environmental crisis” as he states that “in some ways we have come a long way. Yet, in many ways, we have made little progress”.

The Ecumenical Patriarch calls mankind “to discern the human faces impacted by our ecological sins” and prays that “that all parties at the COP22 will recognize and respond to the high stakes involved in climate change”. According to him, “one way would be to implement the COP21 agreement of Paris without further delay”. Continue reading

Saint Irenaeus Group met in Taizé

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The Saint Irenaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group gathered for its thirteenth annual meeting from 2 to 6 November 2016 at Taizé (France), at the invitation of the Taizé Community. The 2016 meeting was chaired by the Orthodox Co-President of the Working Group, Archbishop Job (Getcha) of Telmessos.

At the opening session on Wednesday evening, November 2, the group met with the Prior of Taizé, Frère Alois. In the course of the week, members of the Working Group shared a meal with the monastic community. Throughout the meeting, the members of the group attended the daily prayers of the Community. On Sunday, the participants attended the Divine Liturgy in the old chapel of Taizé, and the Catholic Eucharist in the Church of Reconciliation. Continue reading

A new book on the dialogue with the Oriental Orthodox Churches

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A new book by Volos Academy Publications on the dialogue between the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches edited by Christine Chaillot just came out in November. The main purpose of this book is to serve as a basis for reflection on this very important bilateral dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the so called “Oriental Orthodox” (Pre-chalcedonian) Churches (Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian and Syriac), which goes back to 1964 but officially started in 1985. Continue reading

Roman Catholics and Lutherans commemorate together 500 years of the Reformation

Kurt Cardinal Koch, President Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation; Pope Francis; Reverend Martin Junge, General Secretary of the Lutheral World Federation

Kurt Cardinal Koch, President Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation; Pope Francis; Reverend Martin Junge, General Secretary of the Lutheral World Federation

In 1517, in Wittenberg (Germany), Martin Luther manifested his opposition to the prevailing practice of selling indulgences in the Western Church. On 31 October 2016, Lutheran and Catholics co-hosted for the first time in history a joint commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in the Cathedral of Lund (Sweden).

This became possible after the important decisions taken at the Second Vatican Council in its decree “Unitatis redintegratio” on ecumenism, which inaugurated a bilateral theological between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation, which has been conducted over the last 50 years. Continue reading