Joint letter of Cardinals Koch and Grech to Bishops responsible for ecumenism
In a joint letter of 28 October 2021, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal Mario Grech, General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, addressed the Bishops responsible for ecumenism in their Episcopal Conferences and Synods of the Oriental Catholic Churches.
In the letter, the two Cardinals offer practical suggestions aimed at implementing the ecumenical dimension of the synodal process in Dioceses, Episcopal Conferences, and Synods.
The Vademecum for the Synod affirms: “The dialogue between Christians of different confessions, united by one baptism, has a special place in the synodal journey” (5.3.7). In their letter, the Cardinals write: “Indeed, both synodality and ecumenism are processes of ‘walking together’ ”. In fact, “as ecumenism can be understood as an 'exchange of gifts', one of the gifts Catholics can receive from the other Christians is precisely their experience and understanding of synodality”.
In particular, the letter recommends that Bishops provide information about the synodal process to leaders of the main Christian communities in the region of their Dioceses, inviting them to nominate delegates to take part in pre‒Synodal diocesan meetings.
The two Cardinals trust that the “ecumenical dimension of the synodal process will promote both synodality and Christian unity so that ‘all may believe’ (John 17,21)”.