There has been a change of guard in the Catholic co-chairmanship of the Dombes Group, the group founded in 1937 that brings together some forty French-speaking Catholic and Protestant theologians to discuss the most controversial issues of ecumenical dialogue. Jean-François Chiron, priest of the diocese of Chambéry and professor at the Faculty of Theology and at the Saint-Irénée seminary in Lyon, has been elected in place of the Jesuit Father Bernard Sesboué to head the group alongside Protestant pastor Jean Tartier. The meeting held in the abbey of Pradines was an occasion “to conduct a preliminary review” of the last publication presented by the Dombes group on “One sole Master. Doctrinal authority in the Church”. The text result of a six-year programme of work was published by Editions Bayards in January. “The warm welcome that this book has enjoyed in spite of the fact that it tackles a technical subject says a Dombes communiqué is a measure of the actuality of the questions posed and the pastoral interest it arouses in ecumenical groups and in the Churches”. The Group is therefore evaluating the possibility of translating it into other languages. In any case the “encouraging” reception of the book “has helped the Group to continue its work”.
