Catholic Church Represented at the First In-Person Plenary Meeting of the new Faith and Order Commission

8 Feb 2024

The World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order (FO) convened its first in-person meeting of the new mandate (2023-2030) from 2-7 February 2024, in Tondano, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Indonesian Communion of Churches hosted the meeting, supported by the government of North Sulawesi. Five Catholic theologians participated, in adherence to the Commission’s bylaws allocating ten percent of membership to the Catholic Church. The initial phase of discussions focused on reviewing outcomes from previous study processes on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, Ecclesiology, and Moral Discernment in the Churches. Significant time was dedicated to discussing the Commission’s future work. Three research groups were established, building on past studies and addressing current concerns of Christian Churches globally:

1. "Being Church on the Way to Visible Unity," focusing on ecclesiology.

2. "Being Human: Discerning God’s Design for Humanity," focusing on anthropology and moral issues.

3. "Being Church in and for the World," focusing on mission, witness, and service.

Additionally, the meeting received report from the steering committee “Nicea 2025” and reviewed preparations for the sixth World Conference on Faith and Order, scheduled for October 2025 in Egypt. This conference, themed “Where Now for Visible Unity?”, will commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the first ecumenical council (Nicea 325).

Sunday was devoted to visits to local Christian communities, enabling the Catholic delegation to attend a Catholic Mass in a nearby parish dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua.

Catholic Representatives in the Faith and Order Commission

Professor Dr. Myriam Wijlens, University of Erfurt, Germany.
Professor Dr. Krzysztof Mielcarek, Catholic University of John Paul II, Lublin, Poland.
Professor Dr. David G. Kirchhoffer, Catholic University of Australia, Brisbane.
Professor Dr. Johannes Oeldemann, Johann-Adam-Möhler-Institut für Ökumenik, Paderborn, Germany.
Rev. Dr. Andrzej Choromanski, DPCU, Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Rome, Italy.

Professor Myriam Wijlens was elected as one of the five vice-moderators of the Commission, while Professor David G. Kirchhoffer was elected as the chair of the anthropology-moral discernment group.