Visit by American Methodist Bishop Delegation

On 5 March 2024, a delegation of ten bishops from American Methodist churches visited the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. The bishops come from three different predominately USA-based churches – the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and the United Methodist Church. The bishops are members of the Pan-Methodist Commission, a special commission for dialogue and mission and unity between churches who separated in the nineteenth century as a consequence of the effect of racism in their country. Their visit to Rome took place after nearly thirty years of the churches working together towards reconciliation.

The group was received by the Prefect of the Dicastery, H.E. Cardinal Kurt Koch; the official responsible for relations with Methodists, Revd Fr Martin Browne OSB; and several other officials. After a period of prayer together, a wide-ranging discussion took place, encompassing the American Methodist context as well as wider ecumenical relationships and dialogues.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and the United Methodist Church are all members of the World Methodist Council, with which the Catholic Church has had a formal dialogue, the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission (MERCIC), since 1967. The most recent report of the commission, God in Christ Reconciling was published in 2022.