Catholic Church represented at the Faith and Order virtual plenary meeting

Five Catholic theologians attended the plenary of the Faith and Order Commission designed as a series of six online sessions held in January and February 2021. Approaching the end of its current mandate, the Commission evaluated the results of its projects including studies on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, Ecclesiology, and Moral Discernment in the Churches. All three study groups have completed their research and have published or are in the process of publishing their results. Catholic scholars actively participated in each of these studies and their contribution has been acknowledged positively for the achievement of the final results. Time was dedicated during the meeting to discussing the planning for the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order scheduled for 2025 to mark the 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council of Nicea 325. The Commission agreed that the general theme should oscillate around the question of visible unity and recommended further development of the project to an ad hoc committee. The Commission also discussed its activities during the coming years, including its contribution to the next WCC Assembly scheduled to take place in Karlsruhe, Germany, in September 2022, on the theme “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity”.

Created in 1948, at the foundation of the WCC and continuing the tradition of the movement of the same name, Faith and Order Commission is a think-tank of experts from very different cultures and church traditions who work together on theological themes that help churches to move from separation to communion. Since 1968 it includes Catholic theologians who, according to an agreement between WCC and PCPCU, constitute ten percent of the membership. At present the Commission includes four full voting Catholic members (Professor Father William Henn, OFM Cap, Professor Dr Myriam Wijlens, Professor Dr Krzysztof Mielcarek, and Professor Dr David G. Kirchhoffer) as well as one consultant (Father Andrzej Choromanski, PCPCU).

^{(Photo: Faith and Order Commission, China, 2019)}