ECUMENISM
England: marriage rite reform An “extra welcome” to the couples that decide to celebrate their marriage in church and to couples with children. This is the message that the Church of England conveyed on July 23 in a statement on the reform of marriage rite approved by the General Synod. The Church of England produced two new service guidelines, “Marriage and Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child” and Marriage and Holy Baptism, for couples who wish to have their child christened on their wedding day. In the statement, the Church of England acknowledges that one in five couples who come to church for a wedding already have children, together or from a previous relationship. “Statistics also show that an increasing number of couples now live together before their wedding day” and that the parents of 44% of the children born in Great Britain are not married. “The Church hopes these new ideas will help churches show their welcome for couples with children, and give the whole family a special occasion and a new beginning”, states the Note.Taizé: ecumenical award The Katholische Akademie, the Catholic Academy in Bavaria, which grants token of recognition to the outstanding commitment of individuals or institutions in the realm of ecumenism since 1995, presented the Taizé Community with the Ecumenical Award. The 10.000-Euro award will be conferred next October 22 in Munich by Florian Schuller, the dean of the Academy, to the prior of the Community Frère Alois. Catholic press agency KNA reported, “by doing so, the Academy pays homage to the international ecumenical community of Taizé that combines in an exemplary manner ecumenism and the acknowledgement of its own faith tradition, in view of the Second Ecumenical Church Day, due to be held in Munich in 2010”. Recognition is due to “the Community’s remarkable reception of the youth, in their quest for meaning, for religious experience and social commitment”. Among past recipients figure Cardinal Walter Kasper, theologians Franz Mußner, Ulrich Wilckens and Otto Hermann Pesch, along with the first ecumenical working community Una-Sancta-Kreis in Munich.WCC: “Faith and Constitution” meeting in CreteThe next meeting of the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Plenary Commission will take place at the Orthodox Academy of Crete Greece, 7-13 October 2009. The Plenary Commission, described by the WCC as “Christianity’s most expansive forum for theological dialogue”, will be attended by 120 representatives of the WCC member Churches – pastors, laypersons, academics, church leaders -. The Catholic Church – which is not a WCC member – will also be represented at the meeting in Crete. “What it means to be Churches”, the source of authority, and moral discernment are the items on the agenda. The first two themes are expected to “mark the evolution of the ecumenical movement”. A relates to the subject of ethics, the WCC explains that the Commission will examine “surveys on this subject, some of which convey differing stands on questions such as proselytism, homosexuality and stem cell research”. Russia: the “positive” meeting with Bartholomew The official visit paid by Moscow’s Patriarch Kyrill to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Fanar on July 4-6, was marked by a “very positive” atmosphere “that extends beyond the mere protocol”, declared archbishop Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations. “One of the meetings’ major targets”, the archbishop remarked, “was to turn a new page in the relations between Moscow’s Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Constantinople”. “We passed from confrontation to cooperation, founded on mutual respect. A number of differing stands do remain, but we agreed that these be addressed with open dialogue, taking into account our respective positions”, Hilarion told a Russian press agency upon his return from Istanbul. During the meeting the two Patriarchs discussed “a number of issues with Pan-Orthodox bearing, and addressed the problems related to bilateral relations”. The parties also discussed preparations for a Pan-Orthodox Council to be held in the future.
