Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity represented at WCC Assembly Planning Committee meeting

10 Dec 2019

Father Andrzej Choromanski represented the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) at the meeting of the Assembly Planning Committee (APC) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 2–9 December 2019. The 11th Assembly will be held in the same location from 8–16 September 2021 on the theme “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity”.

The meeting focused on the aims and programme of the Assembly, addressing also issues relating to participation of youth, disabled people, and members of other religions. Substantial attention was given to the spiritual life of the Assembly including daily worship, Bible studies, spaces for silence and contemplation, pastoral care and spiritual guidance.

Meeting approximately every eight years, the Assembly aspires to express and promote the grow of communion among churches on their way towards full visible unity. Its central aspect is worship life, drawing on the diverse spiritual experience of the churches around the world.

Following the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church has participated in all the Assemblies and in recent decades has been actively involved in the preparation process despite not being formally a member church of the WCC. The last Assembly was held in 2013 in Busan, South Korea, with the participation of a large Catholic delegation led Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the PCPCU. The evolving partnership of the Catholic Church and WCC was strengthened by the visit of the Holy Father to the WCC in Geneva in June 2018 on the occasion of its 70th anniversary.