Madrid: Inaugural lecture at Julián García Hernando Ecumenical Centre

On 18 October, Monsignor Juan Usma Gómez, Section Head of the DPUC, gave the inaugural lecture of the “Una caravana de hermanos” course organized by the Julián García Hernando Ecumenical Centre of the Archdiocese of Madrid. Entitled “Ecos de Karlsruhe”, Monsignor Usma’s presentation focused on the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, and was also transmitted in streaming.

The event, which was coordinated by Professor Jaime López Peñalba, academic director of the Centre, was attended by a large number of participants, including Metropolitan Besarion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; Father Cipriano Vacas of the Romanian Orthodox Church; Pastor Ramiro Arroyo of the Lutheran Church of Madrid; Pastor Ricardo Moraleda of the Iglesia Evangélica Española, and Pastor Emmanuel Busch of the Evangelical Church “Cristo Vive”.

Father Julián García Hernando, founder in 1972 of the Ecumenical Centre which has taken his name since 2019, was director of the Commission for Interconfessional Relations of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference for 33 years until 1999. The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity had maintained fruitful collaborative relations with him over time.