Executive Meeting of the Joint Working Group

14 Oct 2021


The Executive Committee of the Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (WCC) held an online meeting on 12 October 2021. After an opening prayer led by Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Dublin, Ireland, the first part of the meeting was dedicated to sharing on the current life of the parent institutions. While the WCC is involved in preparations for the next Assembly in September 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany, on the theme “Christ's love moves the world to reconciliation and unity”, the Catholic Church is focusing on the Synodal path, a two-year process just inaugurated by the Holy Father with a view to invigorating the Church’s life under the three key-words of communion, participation and mission.

The second part of the meeting was dedicated to discussing concluding steps regarding the three documents in preparation, namely the final Report from the current mandate, and two studies with recommendations to the churches on “Peacebuilding in Situations of Conflict” and “Migrants and Refugees – Ecumenical Challenges and Opportunities”. All three texts are in the final phase and were approved by the JWG Plenary in April. After editorial revision, they will be soon presented to the parent institutions for action. The meeting ended with a prayer led by His Eminence Metropolitan Nifon of Târgoviște, Romanian Orthodox Church. A communiqué was issued at the conclusion of the meeting.