Texts for 2024 WPCU / Textes pour la SPUC 2024

 — June 5, 20235 juin 2023
Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity

The texts for the Week of Prayer of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024 have been published. The theme of the 2024 Week of Prayer is based on a text from the Gospel of St Luke: “You shall love the Lord your God … and your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27). The preparation of the materials was entrusted to an ecumenical team from Burkina Faso facilitated by the local Chemin Neuf Community.

Representatives from the Catholic Archdiocese of Ouagadougou, Protestant Churches and local ecumenical bodies collaborated generously in drafting the prayers and reflections. The political and social situation in Burkina Faso is unstable and there are many threats to peace and social cohesion. Preparation of the texts for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity during such a precarious period in their country’s history helped the ecumenical drafting group to recognise that the love of Christ unites all Christians and is stronger than their divisions.

After the initial drafting process, an international team appointed jointly by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches met in Rome, at Casa San Giuseppe di Cluny, which, since 2016, has been administered by the Chemin Neuf Community, the members of which make a special commitment to Christian unity. This international team worked with the local drafting group to review and finalise the materials. Unfortunately, the four members of the local group who were expected to take part in the meeting in Rome were unable to attend in person, but participated via video link.

The texts are published jointly by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. They are offered to Christians throughout the world on the understanding that, whenever possible, they will be adapted for use in local situations, taking account of local social and cultural contexts and liturgical and devotional practices. Such adaptation should ideally take place ecumenically. In places where ecumenical structures are not already in place for this work of adaptation, it is hoped that the need to adapt the texts will be a stimulus to creating such structures. The traditional period in the northern hemisphere for the Week of Prayer is 18-25 January, whereas in the southern hemisphere, where January is frequently a vacation time, churches often celebrate the Week of Prayer around Pentecost.

Les textes de la Semaine de prière pour l’unité des chrétiens 2024 ont été publiés. Le thème de la Semaine de prière 2024 est basé sur un texte de l’Évangile de saint Luc : « Tu aimeras le Seigneur ton Dieu… et ton prochain comme toi-même” (Luc 10,27). La préparation du matériel a été confiée à une équipe œcuménique du Burkina Faso, coordonnée par la Communauté locale du Chemin Neuf.

Des représentants du diocèse catholique de Ouagadougou, des Églises protestantes et des organismes œcuméniques locaux ont généreusement collaboré à la rédaction des prières et des réflexions. La situation politique et sociale du Burkina Faso est instable et de nombreuses menaces pèsent sur la paix et la cohésion sociale. La préparation des textes de la Semaine de prière pour l’unité des chrétiens pendant une période aussi précaire de l’histoire de leur pays a aidé le groupe œcuménique de rédaction à reconnaître que l’amour du Christ unit tous les chrétiens et qu’il est plus fort que leurs divisions.

Après le processus initial de rédaction, une équipe internationale désignée conjointement par le Dicastère pour la promotion de l’unité des chrétiens et la Commission Foi et Constitution du Conseil œcuménique des Églises s’est réunie à Rome, à la Casa SaConseil œcuménique des Églisess 2016 par la Communauté du Chemin Neuf, dont les membres s’engagent tout particulièrement en faveur de l’unité des chrétiens. Cette équipe internationale a travaillé avec le groupe de rédaction local pour réviser et finaliser les documents. Malheureusement, les quatre membres du groupe local qui devaient participer à la réunion de Rome n’ont pas pu s’y rendre en personne mais ils ont pris part à la rencontre par liaison vidéo.

Les textes sont publiés conjointement par le Dicastère pour la promotion de l’unité des chrétiens et la Commission Foi et Constitution du Conseil œcuménique des Églises. Ils sont proposés aux chrétiens du monde entier, étant entendu que, dans la mesure du possible, ils seront adaptés aux situations locales, en tenant compte des contextes sociaux et culturels locaux et des pratiques liturgiques et dévotionnelles. Il serait souhaitable que cette adaptation soit effectuée de manière œcuménique. Là où il n’existe pas encore de structures œcuméniques aptes à permettre ce travail d’adaptation, la nécessité d’adapter les textes pourra inciter à en créer. Dans l’hémisphère nord, la Semaine de prière se déroule traditionnellement du 18 au 25 janvier, alors que dans l’hémisphère sud, où le mois de janvier est souvent une période de vacances, les Églises célèbrent souvent la Semaine de prière autour de la Pentecôte.

Posted: June 5, 2023 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=13715
Categories: Calendar, Events, ResourcesIn this article: prayer, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU
Transmis : 5 juin 2023 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=13715
Catégorie : Calendar, Events, ResourcesDans cet article : prayer, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU


María Auxiliadora, wood carving at the Villa Don Bosco, Cordoba, Argentina

Mary, Help of Christian Unity?

 — May 30, 202330 mai 2023

At the root of Christian agreements and disagreements about Mary are matters that are at the same time biblical, doctrinal, historical, liturgical, theological, sociological, soteriological, ecclesiological, and so on. What does the Bible say or not say about Mary, and how is this to be interpreted? How much of what is professed about Mary belongs to the Tradition of the Church rather than directly found in Scripture? How much is from historical, cultural, or sentimental expressions developed within specific churches? Does Marian doctrine or devotion enhance or take away anything from the central focus on Christ? What is the relationship between God’s grace present and active in Mary’s life, and her own (and our own) human actions or belief? What is meant by the veneration of Mary (or of the saints) as distinct from worshipping God? When and by whose authority did Marian titles, feasts, and dogmas come to be assigned within the Christian Church? Are all such titles, feasts, and dogmas essential, obligatory, and/or intended to be marked with equal solemnity? How is Mary’s life and faith presented as a model for female Christian discipleship, or as exemplary for Christian life in general?
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Archbishop Chris Harper was installed as the new Anglican Indigenous Archbishop and Presiding Elder of the Sacred Circle at the first gathering of Sacred Circle 11

National Anglican Indigenous Archbishop installed on first full day of Sacred Circle

 — May 29, 202329 mai 2023

Archbishop Christopher A. Harper was installed today as the National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop and Presiding Elder of Sacred Circle, with pastoral oversight over all Indigenous Anglicans. The installation took place at a meeting of Sacred Circle 11, the national gathering and decision-making body for Indigenous Anglicans in Canada.

The Archbishop previously served as the Diocesan Bishop of Saskatoon.
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Attendees and guests at this week's Governing Board meeting in Québec City. On Friday morning the Governing Board visited the Anglican Cathédrale Holy Trinity in the heart of the old city
Participants à la réunion de cette semaine du conseil de direction à Québec. Vendredi matin, le Conseil dd direction a visité la cathédrale anglicane Holy Trinity au cœur de la vieille ville

Le CCE se réunit à Québec

 — May 24, 202324 mai 2023

Cette semaine, les membres du Conseil de direction du Conseil Canadien des Églises se réuniront au Monastère des Augustines, à Québec, pour leur réunion du printemps 2023 (du 24 au 26 mai 2023).

La décision de convoquer cette réunion dans une ville francophone a été prise par le Conseil de direction après une saison de discernement sur ce que le Conseil pouvait faire pour mieux comprendre la vie de l’Église et de ses membres au Québec et améliorer ses relations avec elle.
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Patriarch Kirill meets with Rev Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, and a WCC peace delegation

WCC delegation goes to Moscow on peace mission

 — May 18, 202318 mai 2023

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr. Jerry Pillay, has led a delegation to Moscow to meet with leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, including Patriarch Kirill. The 24-hour visit, which was taking place on Wednesday and Thursday, followed a similar WCC trip from May 10-13 to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

“Consolidation and unity in Ukrainian society, including especially among the majority Christian Orthodox believers, is an obvious necessity in the current circumstances faced by the nation and people of Ukraine” observed Rev. Pillay. “We visited Moscow to discuss engagement also by the Russian Orthodox Church in dialogue on the war and its consequences, including with regard to the deep divisions in the Orthodox family in this context,” Pillay reported, “and I am grateful for HH Patriarch Kirill’s commitment to exploring this possibility.”
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Coptic Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and patrarch of the See of St. Mark visited the offices of the Synod Secretariat in Rome. Pictured here, Msgr. Luis Marín de San Martín, undersecretary of the Synod, and Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod

Pope Tawadros II blesses the synodal process of the Catholic Church

 — May 12, 202312 mai 2023

“Your Holiness, we humbly ask you to bless our synodal journey and to accompany us with your prayers, yours personally and those of your Church, that we may know how to put ourselves in the Spirit’s hands!”, it was with this particular request that Cardinal Mario Grech concluded his address of greeting this morning to His Holiness Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, accompanied by an eminent delegation of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
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Pope Francis kisses one of the relics Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, Egypt, gave him of the 21 Coptic martyrs murdered by Islamic State terrorists in 2015 The two popes met in the library of the Apostolic Palace in Rome

United in prayer: Pope adds Coptic Orthodox martyrs to Catholic calendar

 — May 11, 202311 mai 2023

Pope Francis has continued his predecessors’ serious commitment to ecumenical dialogue, but he also makes ecumenical gestures that underline that seriousness. Meeting Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, Egypt, Pope Francis paid tribute to the 21 Coptic martyrs murdered by Islamic State in 2015, noting they were killed for being Christian, not for being Orthodox. And he announced that they would be added to the Roman Martyrology, the book-length calendar of saints and blessed remembered by Catholics at Mass.
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Pope Francis speaks at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops in Paul VI hall at the Vatican. The pope in his speech outlined his vision for how the entire church must be

Francis’ synod reforms show voices of Catholic laity can no longer be ignored

 — May 10, 202310 mai 2023

Pope Francis’ decision in late April to include lay persons as full participants with voting rights in the upcoming Synod of Bishops is a significant step towards making the synod a body that more adequately represents and embodies an act of discernment by the whole entire people of God.

In exhorting the pastors of the local churches to embark upon a synodal process with the whole community of the baptized and listen to the voices of the marginalized, the pope has been seeking to reawaken the muscle memory of the ecclesial body.
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Britain’s King Charles III greets well-wishers outside Buckingham Palace in London a day before his coronation takes place at Westminster Abbey

Coronation ceremony marks turning point in Catholic-Anglican relations

 — May 6, 20236 mai 2023

When King Charles III and his wife, Queen Consort Camila, are crowned on Saturday, the event will mark a historic juncture in Catholic-Anglican relations, as it will be the first time a Catholic bishop has participated in the ceremony in four centuries.

In a May 5 statement, the Archdiocese of Westminster in the UK, overseen by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, called Saturday’s coronation “an historic occasion for the nation, and also for the Catholic community.”

“For the first time in over 400 years, a Catholic Archbishop will take part in a Coronation in this country,” the statement said, referring to the fact that Nichols has not only been invited to attend the ceremony, but he will also give a blessing.
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An Indigenous artifact on display at the McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg, Ont. Such artifacts are held in museums across Canada and around the world, including the Vatican Museums. Pope Francis, in a news conference aboard the papal plane back to Rome from Hungary on April 30, said the Vatican is making sure these artifacts are returned

Pope Francis pushes return of Indigenous artifacts

 — May 3, 20233 mai 2023

Pope Francis is getting personally involved in making sure sacred items and cultural artifacts held in the Vatican Museums are returned to Canadian Indigenous communities.

“The restitution of Indigenous things of Canada is underway, at least we agreed to do so,” Pope Francis told reporters during his news conference on the plane trip back to Rome April 30 following his papal visit to Hungary. “I will now ask how that’s going.”
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