First Plenary Session of the New Mandate of the Joint Working Group

6 Sep 2024

This first plenary of the 11th mandate (2023-2030) of the Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) convened at the Ecumenical Institute at the Château de Bossey, near Geneva, Switzerland, from 3–5 September 2024, hosted by the WCC. The three-day meeting aimed at deepening relationships among participants, sharing from the life of the two partners, understanding the historical role of the JWG, exploring new priorities and establishing the framework for the work of the JWG’s for the years to come. The sessions were grounded in common prayer, Bible study and spiritual reflection. Among the issues identified as relevant for the current mandate there are Christian persecution, religious indifference, and moral diversity. These will be addressed through the lens of salvation theology using the synodal method of listening in the Spirit, with the aim of proposing pathways toward collective reconciliation.

The group also visited key sites of Reformed Christian heritage in Geneva and met with the Faculty members of the Bossey Institute.

Co-moderated by Archbishop Dr Vicken Aykazian from the USA (Armenian Apostolic Church, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin) and the Most Reverend Thomas Dowd from Canada (Bishop of Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada) the meeting was attended on behalf of the RCC by Rev. Msgr. Andrzej Choromanski (Co-Secretary), Most Reverend Flavio Pace (Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, DPCU), Rev. Fr Paulin Batairwa Kubuya (Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue), Rev. Fr Russell K. McDougall (Executive Director of the Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the USCCB, USA), Prof. Dr Annemarie Mayer (Chair for Dogmatics and the History of Dogma, Theological Faculty Trier, Germany), Prof. Dr Teresa Francesca Rossi (Co-Director of Centro Pro Unione, Rome, Italy), Rev. Msgr. Juan Usma Gómez (Head of the Western Section, DPCU), Most Rev Rodolfo Valenzuela Núñez (Bishop of Vera Paz, Guatemala), Sr Gracy Joseph Peechanavelil (Provincial of the Daughters of the Church, Bangalore, India), and on behalf of the WCC by Rev. Prof. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba (WCC Programme Director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation), Prof. Dr Vasile-Octavian Mihoc (Co-Secretary of the JWG, Programme Executive for Ecumenical Relations and Faith and Order), Rev. Prof. Dr Bo Kristian Holm (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark), Prof. Dr Marina Kolovopoulou (Church of Greece), Rev. Mark Pettis (United Church of Christ, USA). Apologies were received from: Prof. Dr Andrej Jeftic (WCC Faith and Order Director), Rev. Dr Junghyung Kim (Presbyterian Church of Korea), Prof. Dr Rebekka Klein (Evangelical Church in Germany), Very Rev. Dr Yvette Maud Noble Bloomfield (United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands), Right Rev. Te Kitohi Pikaahu (Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia), Most Rev. Georges Titre Ande (Province de L’Eglise Anglicane du Congo), and Rev. Fr Igor Vyzhanov (Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate).

The Communiqué provides more details on the meeting.

One of the first fruits of the Vatican II, the JWG was set up in 1965 as an advisory body to foster better relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches.