JOINT WORKING GROUP BETWEEN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

PLENARY MEETING

Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (Rome), 1 – 3 September 2025

Communiqué

The Joint Working Group (JWG) between the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Catholic Church held its second plenary meeting of the current mandate (2023-2030), in Rome from 1 to 3 September 2025 at the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU), Rome. The meeting gathered 22 members of the Group – 11 from each parent body – representing diverse regions and church traditions. The Co-Moderators — Archbishop Vicken Aykazian (Armenian Apostolic Church) and Bishop Thomas Dowd (Catholic Church) — guided the work of the plenary. Established in 1965, the JWG this year celebrates its 60th anniversary, continuing its mission of fostering trust, dialogue, and cooperation between the Catholic Church and the member churches of the WCC.

The opening sessions offered participants an opportunity to share the challenges faced by their local churches, to reflect together on the situation of Christianity in today’s world and to provide an update on the life of each partner.

On behalf of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the DPCU, underlined four main points. First, he highlighted the ecumenical engagement of Pope Leo XIV, who since the beginning of his pontificate has placed Christian unity at the heart of his ministry. Second, he reflected on the significance of the Jubilee Year 2025, celebrated under the theme Pilgrims of Hope and coinciding with the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Third, he noted several current challenges facing the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the wider ecumenical movement, including ecclesiological differences, the fragmentation of Christian witness in an increasingly secular world, and the emergence of new independent communities. Finally, he shared his wishes for the JWG, encouraging it to remain an outward-looking think-tank, to nurture theological clarity, and to embody a vision of reconciled diversity in its study groups and common work.

From the WCC, Rev. Prof. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba (WCC Programme Director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation) emphasized the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation and Unity expressed in recent fellowship-wide engagements. The June 2025 Central Committee meeting was a pilgrimage encounter with the Southern African churches’ legacy in overcoming apartheid. It included the celebration of 1700 years since the Council of Nicaea as a sign of visible unity in Christ, welcoming four new member churches, and the declaration of a decade for climate justice. The General Secretary’s visit in August 2025 to South Korea recalled past ecumenical initiatives for reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula, while the Stockholm commemoration of 100 years of the 1925 Life and Work conference recalled the ecumenical movement’s common witness through ethical commitment.

Prof. Dr Andrej Jeftić updated the group on the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order, themed Where Now for Christian Unity?, which is to be held in October 2025 in Wadi El-Natrun, Egypt. The conference’s broader backdrop is the commemoration of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Part of its preparation has been a series of webinars, such as The Bishop of Rome and Christian Unity, jointly organized with the DPCU. Dr Jeftić underlined the substantial participation of the Catholic Church via a broad delegation led by HE Cardinal Koch, who is expected to offer one of the keynote presentations.

Special sessions were dedicated to presenting the mission and work of several Dicasteries of the Roman Curia in the service of the Church’s mission, and to dialogue with leaders of Catholic ecumenical centres in Rome (Centro Pro Unione, Centro Uno, Sant’Egidio, and Oecumenicum).

The plenary devoted substantial time to reviewing the progress of its three study groups:

1. Working Group One is focused on exploring diverse understandings of salvation in the context of growing religious indifference. Guided by its mandate to observe the phenomenon, engage in theological reflection, and offer pastoral orientation, the group is developing a resource for the ecumenical fellowship to support pastoral engagement. Its work builds on documents from both the World Council of Churches and the Catholic Church, while also integrating relevant sociological data.
2. Working Group Two is examining processes that have been put in place in different contexts worldwide to promote collective reconciliation, in order to offer tools that Christians might use to be agents of such reconciliation. Steps to this end include: (1) the development of a theological statement that roots “the ministry of reconciliation” entrusted to all disciples of Christ in the work of God  (cf. 2 Corinthians 5); (2) the study of peace and reconciliation processes that have been attempted or carried out in a variety of global contexts, to discern what these processes helped to achieve as well as how they might have fallen short in their aims to bring about genuine peace or reconciliation; and (3) offering Christian reflection on the challenges that remain in each of the contexts studied.
3. Working Group Three is focused on challenges caused by intolerance and religious fanaticism which endanger millions. Christians face abduction, forced conversion, harassment, restrictions on religious expression, and unjust laws, while believers of other traditions also endure violence, showing that the denial of religious freedom harms all of humanity. The group will look deeper into understandings of persecution and martyrdom, engaging with experiences of churches in various parts of the world and developing ecumenical tools for local churches to respond together in solidarity.

A highlight of the meeting was the gathering with Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday, September 3. His Holiness Pope Leo XIV emphasized that the joint work between the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches must continue, especially in light of the call to unity in a time when the world is so divided and wounded.

The plenary concluded with the adoption of plans for the next phase of the JWG’s work, including the continuation of the study groups and preparation of future meetings. The Group reaffirmed its commitment to accompany the churches in their common pilgrimage of unity, peace, and justice.

The next plenary meeting of the JWG will be held in September 2026 at a venue to be determined.