|
|
||||
News items on this pageArticles de nouvelles à cette page
Spe salvi : Encyclique de Benoît XVI de l'espérance chrétienne
Spe Salvi, the Pope's Encyclical on Christian Hope
Benedict XVI responds to 138 Muslim leaders
Anglican-Lutheran communiqué, November 2007
Bishop leaves Canadian church for South American province
Catholic-Orthodox document on the Nature of the Church
De la nature sacramentale de l'Église
Un rassemblement chrétien "historique" appelle au dialogue
"Historic breakthrough" - Global Christian Forum to go forward, extending an invitation to join the encounter
L'oecuménisme - ou l'art de faire du vélo entre cette vie et la prochaine
'Historic' world Christian forum issues call for dialogue
Ecumenism needs reinvention, Pentecostal scholar says
Evangelical and Pentecostals look to new forms of unity
Ecumenism - or how to ride a bicycle between this life and the other
Un responsable du Vatican affirme que le Forum chrétien mondial est essentiel
Vatican official says world forum for Christianity is vital
Un Canadien, John Gibaut, est nommé directeur de Foi et Constitution
A Canadian, John Gibaut, is new director of WCC Faith & Order
Most diverse Christian gathering ever to discuss unity and common witness
Une réunion chrétienne d'une diversité sans précédent pour évoquer l'unité et le témoignage commun
Spe salvi : Encyclique de Benoît XVI de l'espérance chrétienne
[VIS • 30 novembre, 2007] Aujourd'hui est publiée la seconde Encyclique de Benoît XVI, Spe Salvi, qui comprend une introduction suivie de huit chapitres, et qui s'ouvre passage de l'Epître aux romains où Paul dit que nous avons été sauvés dans l'espérance.
Les chapitres s'intitulent: La foi et l'espérance, Le concept d'espérance fondé sur la foi dans le Nouveau Testament et dans l'Eglise primitive, La vie éternelle, qu'est-ce que c'est?, L'espérance chrétienne est-elle individualiste?, La transformation de la foi-espérance à l'époque moderne, La vraie physionomie de l'espérance chrétienne, Lieux d'apprentissage et d'exercice de l'espérance, La prière, école de l'espérance, Agir et souffrir, apprentissage et exercice de l'espérance, Le jugement comme apprentissage et exercice de l'espérance, Marie, étoile de l'espérance.
La rédemption, le salut selon la foi chrétienne, explique le Pape dans son introduction, n'est pas une simple donnée. La rédemption nous est offerte car nous avons reçu l'espérance solide, grâce à laquelle nous pouvons faire face à notre présent qui, même s'il est difficile, peut être accepté et vécu parce qu'il nous vers un but assuré. Ce but est si grand qu'il mérite la fatigue du parcours.
Parmi tout ce qui distingue les chrétiens, il y a le fait qu'ils ont une perspective. Ils savent que la vie ne finira pas dans le vide. L'Evangile n'est pas qu'une communication de connaissances mais la communication qui produit des faits changeant la vie. La porte obscure du temps et de l'avenir est ouverte toute grande et qui possède l'espérance vit diversement car une vie nouvelle lui a été assurée".
L'espérance véritable, c'est parvenir à connaître Dieu, le Dieu véritable, ce que les premiers chrétiens tels les Ephésiens comprenaient parfaitement. Avant de rencontrer le Christ ils avaient de nombreux dieux mais vivaient sans espérance et sans la présence de Dieu. Pour les premiers chrétiens l'Evangile constituait une rencontre réelle avec Dieu, selon un schéma qui n'est pratiquement plus perceptible de nos jours.
Puis le Pape souligne que le message de Jésus n'a rien de socio-révolutionnaire comme pouvait l'être la révolte de Spartacus. Et il ne combattit pas pour une libération politique comme le fit Barrabas ou Bar Kobeká. Ce que Jésus a apporté est totalement différent, c'est une rencontre avec Dieu vivant, avec une espérance plus forte que les épreuves ou l'esclavage, qui transforme du dedans la vie et le monde, même si les structures demeurent apparemment identiques.
Le Christ nous a véritablement libérés, affirme-t-il encore. Quoique esclaves de ce monde, des lois du hasard et de la matière, nous sommes libres parce que le Ciel n'est pas vide, parce que le Seigneur de l'univers est Dieu, parce qu'il s'est révélé comme Amour en Jésus-Christ.
Le Christ est le philosophe parfait qui nous enseigne la réalité de l'homme et ce qu'il faut faire pour l'être vraiment. Il nous montre la voie de la vie par delà la mort, démontrant ainsi qu'il est le Maître de la vie. Lui nous offre l'espérance qui est attente et présence à la fois. L'existence de l'avenir change déjà le présent.
Benoît XVI observe alors que nombre de personnes rejettent aujourd'hui la foi simplement parce que cette perspective ne leur semble pas souhaitable. La crise de la foi est avant tout celle de l'espérance chrétienne. Elles n'attendent plus le rétablissement du Paradis Perdu de la foi mais du progrès qui, à leur avis, permettra l'établissement du règne de l'homme. Leur espérance est une foi dans le progrès fondée sur la raison et la liberté, qui semble garantir par leur seule valeur intrinsèque une nouvelle société parfaite.
Pour le Saint-Père, on trouve deux grandes étapes dans la concrétisation politique de cet espérance, la Révolution française et la Révolution marxiste. Face aux effets de la première, l'Europe des Lumières a du penser une nouvelle raison et une nouvelle liberté. Quant à la seconde, la prolétaire, elle a n'a laissé derrière elle que désastres. L'erreur majeure du marxisme est d'avoir oublié l'homme et sa liberté, croyant que la refonte du système économique aurait tout résolu. La véritable erreur marxiste est son matérialisme. Puis le Pape conclut à l'évidence que l'homme a besoin de Dieu, car sinon il se prive d'espérance. Sa rédemption ne peut simplement découler d'une structure extérieure".
Benoît XVI indique ensuite les quatre espaces pour apprendre et pratiquer l'espérance, le premier étant la prière: Lorsque plus personne ne m'écoute, Dieu m'écoute, si plus personne n'est en mesure de m'aider, lui le peut encore. Et le Pape d'évoquer l'expérience du Cardinal Vietnamien Van Thuan qui fut incarcéré 13 ans dont 9 d'isolement: Dans une situation d'apparente désespérance absolue, à l'écoute de Dieu, et en lui parlant, il forgea son espérance.
La souffrance permet également d'approcher l'espérance. Il faut bien sûr faire tout ce qui est possible pour la diminuer mais ce n'est pas fuir la souffrance qui guérit l'homme, mais sa capacité à accepter l'épreuve. En l'élevant on trouve son sens comme union au Christ qui souffrit pour un amour infini. Il est donc fondamental de savoir aussi souffrir pour autrui car une société qui n'accepte pas ceux qui souffrent n'est que cruelle et inhumaine.
Le Jugement de Dieu est une autre espace d'apprentissage. La foi dans le Jugement final est avant tout espérance: il y a la résurrection, il y a la justice, l'abolition de la souffrance passée, le rachat qui rétablit le droit. Ici le Pape se dit convaincu que la question de la justice est essentielle, qu'elle est l'argument le plus fort en faveur de la foi en la vie éternelle. Il n'est effectivement pas possible que l'injustice de l'histoire ait le dernier mot. La grâce n'exclut pas la justice et les mauvais ne siègeront pas avec leurs victimes, comme s'il ne s'était rien passé.
Posted: November 30, 2007Transmis : 30 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : catholique benoit xvi encyclique espérance
Spe Salvi, the Pope's Encyclical on Christian Hope
[VIS • November 30, 2007] - Benedict XVI's second Encyclical, "Spe Salvi" which is dedicated to the theme of Christian hope, was published today. The document - which has an introduction and eight chapters - begins with a quote from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans: "spe salvi facti sumus" (in hope we are saved).
The chapter titles are as follows: "1. Faith is Hope; 2. The concept of faith-based hope in the New Testament and the early Church; 3. Eternal life - what is it?; 4. Is Christian hope individualistic?; 5. The transformation of Christian faith-hope in the modern age; 6. The true shape of Christian hope; 7. 'Settings' for learning and practicing hope: i) Prayer as a school of hope, ii) Action and suffering as settings for learning hope, iii) Judgement as a setting for learning and practicing hope; 8. Mary, Star of Hope."
The Holy Father explains in his Introduction that "according to the Christian faith, 'redemption' - salvation - is not simply a given. Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey."
Hence, "a distinguishing mark of Christians" is "the fact that they have a future: ... they know ... that their life will not end in emptiness. ... The Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known - it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life."
To come to know God - the true God - means to receive hope." This was well understood by the early Christians, such as the Ephesians who before encountering Christ had many gods but "were without hope." The problem faced by Christians of long standing, the Holy Father says, is that they "have grown accustomed to, ... have almost ceased to notice that we possess the hope that ensues from a real encounter with this God."
The Pope recalls that Jesus "did not bring a message of social revolution" like Spartacus, and that "he was not engaged in a fight for political liberation like Barabbas of Bar-Kochba." He brought "something totally different: ... an encounter with the living God, ... an encounter with a hope stronger than the sufferings of slavery, a hope which therefore transformed life and the world from within, ... even if external structures remained unaltered."
Christ makes us truly free. "We are not slaves of the universe" or of "the laws of matter and of evolution." We are free because "heaven is not empty," because the Lord of the universe is God "Who in Jesus has revealed Himself as Love."
Christ is the "true philosopher" Who "tells us who man truly is and what a man must do in order to be truly human." He shows us "the way beyond death; only someone able to do this is a true teacher of life." He offers us a hope that is, at one and the same time, expectation and presence because "the fact that this future exists changes the present."
The Pope remarks that "perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. ... The present-day crisis of faith," he continues, "is essentially a crisis of Christian hope. ... The restoration of the lost Paradise is no longer expected from faith," but from technical and scientific progress whence, it its believed, the "kingdom of man" will emerge. Hope thus becomes "faith in progress" founded on two pillars: reason and freedom which "seem to guarantee by themselves, by virtue of their intrinsic goodness, a new and perfect human community."
The Pope mentions "two essential stages in the political realization of this hope:" the French and the Marxist Revolutions. Faced with the French Revolution, "the Europe of the Enlightenment ... had cause to reflect anew on reason and freedom," while the proletarian revolution left behind "a trail of appalling destruction." Marx's fundamental error was that "he forgot man and he forgot man's freedom. ... He thought that once the economy had been put right, everything would automatically be put right. His real error is materialism. ... Let us put it very simply: man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope. ... Man can never be redeemed simply" by an external structure, "man is redeemed by love," an unconditional, absolute love: "Man's great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God - God Who has loved us and continues to love us to the end."
The Pope then identifies four "settings" for learning and practicing hope. The first of these is prayer. "When no one listens to me any more, God still listens to me. ... When there is no longer anyone to help me, ... He can help me."
Alongside prayer is action: "Hope in a Christian sense is always hope for others as well. It is an active hope, in which we struggle ... towards a brighter and more humane world." Yet only if I know that "my own life and history in general ... are held firm by the indestructible power of Love" can "I always continue to hope."
Suffering is another of the "settings" for learning hope. "Certainly we must do whatever we can to reduce suffering," however "it is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, Who suffered with infinite love." Another fundamental aspect is to suffer with others and for others. "A society unable to accept its suffering members ... is a cruel and inhuman society," he writes.
Finally, another setting for learning hope is the Judgement of God. "There is a resurrection of the flesh. There is justice. There is an 'undoing' of past suffering, a reparation that sets things aright." The Pope writes of his conviction "that the question of justice constitutes the essential argument, or in any case the strongest argument, in favor of faith in eternal life." It is, indeed, impossible "that the injustice of history should be the final word. ... God is justice and creates justice. ... And in His justice there is also grace. ... Grace does not cancel out justice. ... Evildoers, in the end, do not sit at table at the eternal banquet beside their victims without distinction, as though nothing had happened."
Posted: November 30, 2007Transmis : 30 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : catholic benedict xvi encyclical hope
Benedict XVI responds to 138 Muslim leaders
At the the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr), a group of 138 Muslim religious leaders sent an open letter to the Holy Father Benedict XVI and to other Christian leaders. The letter dated October 13, 2007 was entitled: "A Common Word between Us and You."
On November 19, Pope Benedict XVI replied to the 138 Muslim leaders with a letter signed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, and addressed to Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, president of the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought and one of the signatories of the original letter.
The letter was published in English in the November 30th edition of L'Osservatore Romano. The letter is as follows:
Your Royal Highness,
On 13 October 2007 an open letter addressed to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and to other Christian leaders was signed by one hundred and thirty-eight Muslim religious leaders, including Your Royal Highness. You, in turn, were kind enough to present it to Bishop Salim Sayegh, Vicar of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in Jordan, with the request that it be forwarded to His Holiness.
The Pope has asked me to convey his gratitude to Your Royal Highness and to all who signed the letter. He also wishes to express his deep appreciation for this gesture, for the positive spirit which inspired the text and for the call for a common commitment to promoting peace in the world.
Without ignoring or downplaying our differences as Christians and Muslims, we can and therefore should look to what unites us, namely, belief in the one God, the provident Creator and universal Judge who at the end of time will deal with each person according to his or her actions. We are all called to commit ourselves totally to him and to obey his sacred will.
Mindful of the content of his Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est («God is Love»), His Holiness was particularly impressed by the attention given in the letter to the twofold commandment to love God and one's neighbour.
As you may know, at the beginning of his Pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI stated: «I am profoundly convinced that we must not yield to the negative pressures in our midst, but must affirm the values of mutual respect, solidarity and peace. The life of every human being is sacred, both for Christians and for Muslims. There is plenty of scope for us to act together in the service of fundamental moral values» (Address to Representatives of Some Muslim Communities, Cologne, 20 August 2005). Such common ground allows us to base dialogue on effective respect for the dignity of every human person, on objective knowledge of the religion of the other, on the sharing of religious experience and, finally, on common commitment to promoting mutual respect and acceptance among the younger generation. The Pope is confident that, once this is achieved, it will be possible to cooperate in a productive way in the areas of culture and society, and for the promotion of justice and peace in society and throughout the world.
With a view to encouraging your praiseworthy initiative, I am pleased to communicate that His Holiness would be most willing to receive Your Royal Highness and a restricted group of signatories of the open letter, chosen by you. At the same time, a working meeting could be organized between your delegation and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, with the cooperation of some specialized Pontifical Institutes (such as the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Pontifical Gregorian University). The precise details of these meetings could be decided later, should this proposal prove acceptable to you in principle.
I avail myself of the occasion to renew to Your Royal Highness the assurance of my highest consideration.
From the Vatican, November 19, 2007
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone
Secretary of State
Posted: November 29, 2007Transmis : 29 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : vatican islam muslim dialogue
Anglican-Lutheran communiqué, November 2007
[ACC - November 26, 2007] From Nov. 22 to 25, the Joint Anglican-Lutheran Commission met in Toronto to review the Full Communion relationship between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. The two churches have shared this unique relationship since the Waterloo Declaration of 2001, and now, six years later, they are assessing what they've accomplished and where they can go.
The following communiqué gives the broad strokes of a new, exciting vision, which includes shared congregational ministries and training for lay and ordained ministry.
Joint Anglican Lutheran Commission communiqué - November 22-25, 2007 meeting
The Joint Commission of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada meeting at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Bloor Street, Toronto, greets the members of our two churches and sends this message to all.
We have spent three days reviewing the work of the past six years of full communion and planning the work that lies before us during the next six years. We have heard from the Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, and the National Bishop, Bishop Susan Johnson, of their hopes for the future as our two churches continue to grow into the full communion established in Waterloo in 2001. From all these conversations has emerged the realization that we are living into ‘the hope set before us’ when we embarked on this journey in faith. At a time when much of our attention is focused on divisions within the Christian communions we represent, we share with Anglicans and Lutherans in Canada that there is much in which to rejoice and many reasons to look forward to our churches working collaboratively in many areas of mission and ministry:
• the public face of our churches, especially in addressing together matters of human need and global concerns
• shared congregational ministries
• growth in our understanding of diaconal ministry
• formation for ministry, lay and ordained
We encourage the congregations of our churches to be imaginative in discovering ways to celebrate and work together. As a Joint Commission we look forward to working with the Primate and National Bishop, the Bishops of both churches, our national councils and with the people of our churches as we ‘build one another up into the fullness of the stature of Christ’ and into the unity for which our Lord prayed.
Posted: November 26, 2007Transmis : 26 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : ecumenism churches anglican lutheran canada
Bishop leaves Canadian church for South American province
[Anglican Journal] The retired bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, Don Harvey, has left the Anglican Church of Canada to become a bishop in the South American province of the Southern Cone, a decision that the primate of the Canadian church acknowledged would pose "complications" for the already fragile unity within the local church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Bishop Harvey, who has been outspoken in his opposition to what he considers the Canadian Anglican church's liberal stance on homosexuality, particularly the blessing of same-gender unions, announced his departure more than a week before he was to lead a meeting in Burlington, Ont. to discuss the future of conservative Anglicans in the church.
It also came in the wake of serious concerns raised by some members of the Canadian house of bishops about what they described as "schismatic" activity on the part of Bishop Harvey, who has participated in irregular consecrations abroad of bishops who vow to minister to conservative parishes in the U.S.
Read the entire article on the website of the Anglican Journal.
Also read: Council expresses sadness over bishop's departure (Nov. 17, 2007)
and Bishops continue moratorium on same-gender blessings (Nov. 5, 2007).
Posted: November 16, 2007Transmis : 16 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : anglican canada
Catholic-Orthodox document on the Nature of the Church
VATICAN CITY, NOV 15, 2007 (VIS) - Made public today was the final document of the plenary assembly of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. The meeting was held in the Italian city of Ravenna from October 8 to 14 under the presidency of Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and His Excellency Ioannis, metropolitan of Pergamo. [Editor's note: Ioannis of Pergamo is also known to theologians as John Zizioulas]
The title of the final document is: "Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church. Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority."
Commenting on the 46-paragraph-long text in an interview with Vatican Radio, Cardinal Kasper affirmed that "the document speaks of the tension between authority and conciliarity (or synodality) at the local (i.e., diocesan), regional and universal levels. The important development is that for the first time the Orthodox Churches have said yes, this universal level of the Church exists and also at the universal level there is conciliarity, synodality and authority; this means that there is also a Primate; according to the practice of the ancient Church, the first bishop is the bishop of Rome."
"However," the cardinal continued, "we did not talk of the privileges of the bishop of Rome, we merely indicated the praxis for future debate. This document is a modest first step and as such it gives rise to hope, but we must not exaggerate its importance.
"The next time," added the president of the pontifical council, "we will have to return to the role of the bishop of Rome in the universal Church during the first millennium. Then we must also talk of the second millennium, of Vatican Councils I and II, and this will not be easy; the road is very long and difficult."
The cardinal also commented on the fact that the delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church had abandoned the plenary assembly, explaining that "there was an inter-Orthodox problem over the recognition of the autonomous Church of Estonia" about which Moscow and Constantinople take different views.
"This is an inter-orthodox question," he reiterated, "and we cannot interfere; yet we are extremely sad and concerned because it is important to us that the Russian Orthodox Church should also participate in our future dialogue. Hence we cannot interfere but we wish to ask Moscow and Constantinople to do their best to find a solution, a compromise.
"If they wish," the cardinal concluded, "we can also facilitate this solution, either at the bilateral level between Moscow and Constantinople, or at the pan-Orthodox level, but there is not doubt that we want the Russian Orthodox Church to participate. It is a very important Church, we do not want to dialogue without the Russians and we wish to work to achieve this aim."
Posted: November 15, 2007Transmis : 15 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : dialogue ecumenism orthodox catholic
De la nature sacramentale de l'Église
CITE DU VATICAN, 15 NOV 2007 (VIS). Aujourd'hui a été publié le Document final de l'Assemblée plénière de la Commission internationale pour le dialogue théologique catholiques orthodoxes (Ravenne, Italie, 8-14 octobre), qui avait été présidée par le Métropolite Ioannis de Pergame (Patriarcat oecuménique) et le Cardinal Kasper, Président du Conseil pontifical pour l'unité des chrétiens: "Conséquences ecclésiologiques et canoniques de la nature sacramentale de l'Eglise. Communion ecclésiale, conciliarité et autorité" [Anglais ou Italien].
Hier à Radio Vatican, le Cardinal a commenté ce texte de 45 pages qui traite "de la tension existant entre autorité et conciliarité, ou synodalité aux niveaux diocésain, régional et universel. Pour la première fois les Eglises orthodoxes reconnaissent cela au niveau universel de l'Eglise et qu'à ce niveau il y a conciliarité, synodalité et autorité. Ce qui signifie qu'il existe un primat qui, selon la tradition de l'Eglise ancienne, est celui de l'Evêque de Rome, le premier des évêques".
"Ceci dit, nous n'avons pas traité des privilèges de l'Evêque de Rome mais seulement fixé la procédure à venir. Ce document est donc un modeste premier pas porteur d'espérance, dont on ne doit pas exagérer la portée". Puis le Cardinal Walter Kasper a dit qu'il est prévu d'aborder avec les orthodoxes la question du rôle de l'Evêque de Rome dans l'Eglise universelle du premier millénaire, avant de passer à la problématique du second millénaire, à la lumière des Conciles Vatican I et II. "Ce sera une démarche délicate, un cheminement très long et difficile".
Puis il est revenu sur le départ des délégués du Patriarcat de Moscou en soulignant qu'il s'agissait d'un problème inter orthodoxe à propos de la reconnaissance par Constantinople de l'autonomie de l'Eglise d'Estonie. "Nous ne devons pas interférer mais si cela nous attriste et nous préoccupe. Il est en effet important que l'Eglise orthodoxe russe prenne part à la suite du dialogue. Nous ne pouvons que demander aux deux parties de trouver entre-elles un accord... Nous sommes disponibles si on nous le demandait à faciliter la solution au niveau bilatéral Moscou Constantinople comme au niveau pan orthodoxe, mais il est il indispensable que l'Eglise russe participe aux futurs travaux. C'est une Eglise très importante et nous oeuvrerons à la solution" de ce différent.
Posted: November 15, 2007Transmis : 15 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : dialogue oecuménisme orthodoxe catholique
Un rassemblement chrétien "historique" appelle au dialogue
[Nairobi - ENI\Fredrick Nzwili] Réunis au Kenya, des responsables issus de toutes les principales traditions chrétiennes et provenant de différents pays - de l'Arménie au Zimbabwe - ont promis d'organiser des réunions aux niveaux international, régional et local afin d'aller plus loin dans la réconciliation et la compréhension.
"Reconnaissant que l'unité est le tout premier don de Dieu à travers l'oeuvre du Saint-Esprit, nous nous engageons à promouvoir davantage de compréhension et de coopération entre chrétiens, tout en respectant la diversité de nos identités, traditions et dons individuels", ont déclaré les responsables dans un communiqué publié à l'issue de la réunion, qui s'est tenue du 6 au 9 novembre.
Le Forum chrétien mondial, organisé Limuru, près de Nairobi, a rassemblé environ 240 responsables issus des traditions protestante, anglicane, orthodoxe, catholique romaine, évangélique et pentecôtiste et d'autres Eglises, ainsi que des représentants d'organisations internationales.
"Il s'agit d'un événement historique pour le christianisme mondial", a déclaré Mgr Fernando Capalla, archevêque catholique romain de Davao, aux Philippines.
L'idée de ce Forum a été lancée vers le milieu des années 1990 par le pasteur Konrad Raiser, un théologien allemand qui était alors secrétaire général du Conseil oecuménique des Eglises (COE).
Le pasteur Raiser avait suggéré que le Forum puisse s'ouvrir à l'Eglise catholique romaine et aux dénominations pentecôtistes et évangéliques qui ne font pas partie du COE, organisation dont les 347 Eglises membres sont principalement issues des traditions protestante, anglicane et orthodoxe.
Selon le COE, le Forum a rassemblé la plus grande diversité de traditions chrétiennes jamais réunie au cours d'une rencontre d'envergure mondiale.
"Je pense que le Forum a répondu aux attentes. Nous disposons d'une série de bonnes propositions qui vont nous permettre de nous diriger vers l'avenir", a affirmé au correspondant d'ENI Hubert Van Beek, principal organisateur de la réunion, le 9 novembre, à la clôture du rassemblement.
Il a toutefois reconnu que certaines questions nécessitaient davantage de débats entre les diverses traditions chrétiennes.
Certains membres d'Eglises pentecôtistes et d'autres fidèles du christianisme évangélique ont été en butte a des critiques de la part d'autres chrétiens et des membres d'autres religions, qui les ont accusés de faire du prosélytisme, a indiqué Hubert Van Beek.
"C'est une question qui ne peut pas être résolue en un seul colloque. Il nous faut encore travailler sur ce sujet", a-t-il déclaré.
Lors d'une interview, le pasteur Setri Nyomi, secrétaire général de l'Alliance réformée mondiale, a déclaré que le dialogue qui a eu lieu au Kenya échouerait s'il n'était pas suivi de réunions du même type aux niveaux régional et local.
L'évêque Nareg Alemezian, de l'Eglise apostolique arménienne du Liban, a pour sa part affirmé : "Nous avons pu voir que nous vivons dans une réalité mondiale et que nous sommes des chrétiens du monde. Nous parlons là de christianisme mondialisé. Et nous avons la responsabilité de ramener cet esprit dans nos églises."
:: Sites Internet :
Forum chrétien mondial
Nouvelles et réflexions du COE sur le Forum chrétien mondial
Posted: November 12, 2007Transmis : 12 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : forum chrétien mondial oecuménisme
"Historic breakthrough" - Global Christian Forum to go forward, extending an invitation to join the encounter
After four days of meetings, some 240 leaders of a broad range of churches, confessions and interchurch organizations from over 70 countries agreed to carry forward what they call "the Global Christian Forum process", an open platform for encounter and dialogue whose goal is to "foster mutual respect, explore and address common challenges".
Participants broke into a spontaneous doxology when the final draft of a "Message from the Global Christian Forum to Brothers and Sisters in Christ Throughout the World" was approved at the last session of the meeting, which took place 6-9 November in Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya.
The message, one of the few tangible results of the forum, says the event was a "historic breakthrough" as participants were able to gather "globally as never before". Representatives of the historic Protestant Churches, the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches, the Pentecostal Churches, the broader Evangelical movement and other Christian churches, communities and interchurch organizations, attended the meeting.
"We are extremely pleased by the development and outcome of this meeting," said the Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee. "What one decade ago was born within the WCC as an idea that seemed fragile and almost impossible to achieve has led to a milestone in the ecumenical journey."
Among the forum's achievements, participants affirmed they were encouraged "to move out of the familiar ground, [and] to meet each other on a common ground where mutual trust might flourish", and where they "might be empowered to celebrate, enter into dialogue and act together".
They also agreed to "repent of past failings" in their relationships, and felt encouraged to "develop a new awareness and understanding of one another, and to recognize that God is graciously working among us". This came in spite of an acknowledgment they still have "differing views on substantive issues such as ecclesiology [the understanding of the church], the scope of evangelism and mission".
For the Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church in America and a member of the forum's continuation committee on behalf of the WCC, the event is a "watershed in modern Christian history... God's Holy Spirit has begun erasing the excuses that have kept Christians apart from one another and judging one another."
The message affirms the participants' commitment to promote "ever greater understanding and cooperation among Christians". That is to be done by building "on the basis of many ecumenical, inter-confessional and other historic initiatives to overcome divisions in the Christian family. We do not seek to replace these efforts."
The way ahead
In a separate "Proposals for the future" document, participants made several precise recommendations as to the next steps. The forum's focus will continue to be "relationships" and "conversations", while "any resulting joint actions will be outworked through the participating churches and organizations".
In addition, the process will continue to be based on "committed participation" rather than becoming a "membership organization". The "circle of participation" will be "broadened and deepened", with "particular attention to under-represented groups, including women, youth, indigenous peoples and the physically challenged".
The forum's continuation committee, which will drop the "continuation" from its name, will pursue the forum process at "regional, national and local levels, as well as at the global level".
A "small secretariat" - so far staffed with one person working half time - will ensure the follow up, and in order to fund it "participating church bodies" will be requested to "assume financial responsibility". The forum's committee will undertake to "establish a broad and sustainable financial basis" for its work.
"The WCC, in cooperation with other partners, is committed to supporting the secretariat of the forum as has been the case up to now," said WCC central committee moderator Walter Altmann, commenting on the recommendation.
A "thorough evaluation" of the nine-year forum process will take place and a "representative consultation" will review it and "reflect further on the future of the forum". The forum committee will "engage in dialogue with the church families and bodies represented in Limuru" concerning the appointment of a new committee.
A moving moment of the final session came when participants joined in a standing ovation for Mr Hubert van Beek, the secretary of the forum's continuation committee, in recognition of his unparalleled contribution toward making the whole process possible. "There have been others before us and there will be others who will take over from us", he said in thanking the group for its acclamation, "because our goal does not depend on individual persons, but rather is in God's hands".
Comments from participants at a panel on "Visions and expectations of the Forum"
"The Global Christian Forum provides a new table of dialogue of which we can clearly say 'it's our table, not theirs'" - Rev. Geoff Tunnicliffe, general secretary of the World Evangelical Alliance, Canada.
"Reflecting on the forum's theme - Our Journey with Jesus Christ, the Reconciler - we need to acknowledge that often we have much to do in finding reconciliation among ourselves" - Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, ecumenical officer of the Orthodox Church in America, and a president of Christian Churches Together in the US.
"The World Council of Churches' commitment to the ecumenical vision goes beyond the existing ecumenical structures, including itself" - Rev. Dr Robina Winbush, Presbyterian Church (USA), and WCC central committee member.
"We are grateful for this safe environment that is the Global Christian Forum, in which we have been able not to feel intimidated by the mainline churches and their representatives" - Rev. Peter Sleebos, chairperson of the Assemblies of God, Netherlands.
"We Catholics are deeply committed to the ecumenical movement; it took us some time to get there, but we are here and hope will be accepted as loyal partners. And yes, we want to be part of the Global Christian Forum process, which we see as vital" - Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Vatican.
"This Global Christian Forum is clearly not an end, but a beginning, and at the conference of secretaries of Christian World Communions we are ready to do our best to contribute to it" - Rev. Dr Robert Welsh, general secretary of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and moderator of the conference of secretaries of Christian World Communions, US.
"If we do mission together, we may discover our unity. That is why Christian mission needs to be in the forefront of the Global Christian Forum process" - Commissioner Linda Bond, international relations officer of the Salvation Army International Headquarters, and member of the conference of secretaries of Christian World Communions, Canada.
Resources:
• Message from the Global Christian Forum to Brothers and Sisters in Christ Throughout the World
• Global Christian Forum guiding purpose statement
• Other stories and reflections from the Global Christian Forum meeting in Limuru, Kenya
• Global Christian Forum website
Posted: November 12, 2007Transmis : 12 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : global christian forum ecumenism
L'oecuménisme - ou l'art de faire du vélo entre cette vie et la prochaine
[Juan Michel - COE] "L'unité de l'Eglise, c'est comme la bicyclette: si on s'arrête, on tombe." Cette affirmation provocante a été lancée par le missiologue coréen Wonsuk Ma aux participants du Forum chrétien mondial, qui s'est tenu du 6 au 9 novembre à Limuru, prés de Nairobi, Kenya.
Dans un exposé fondamental présenté le deuxième jour de cette réunion, M. Ma a examiné l'évolution de l'unité et de la mission chrétiennes au cours du dernier siècle, affirmant que dans la mission, la manière apparemment contradictoire d'insister sur "la vie avant la mort" et sur "la vie après la mort", qui a divisé les chrétiens "traditionnels" et "évangéliques" pendant des décennies représentent deux tendances en fait complémentaires et indispensables l'une à l'autre.
L'exposé de M. Ma a été jugé à la fois provocant et stimulant par bien des participants à ce Forum, qui rassemblait quelque 240 représentants de haut niveau d'Eglises protestantes, anglicanes, catholiques, évangéliques, pentecôtistes et autres venus du monde entier pour faire progresser l'unité chrétienne et examiner les défis qui se posent à tous. On a pu dire de ce Forum qu'il constituait une rencontre de traditions chrétiennes sans précédent dans sa diversité.
M. Ma, théologien pentecôtiste coréen et directeur du Centre d'études missionnaires d'Oxford (Royaume-Uni), fonde sa réflexion sur son cheminement personnel, se présentant comme un chrétien de la deuxième génération qui a grandi dans un milieu hostile à l'expression de sa foi.
Tandis que "la vie avant la mort" vise avant tout "la création d'une société équitable", déclare M. Ma, la "vie après la mort" met l'accent sur "le travail de 'sauver les âmes'". Pour ceux qui se réclament de la première tendance, toutes les entraves à l'instauration de la justice constituent autant de thèmes missionnaires, et leur sympathie à l'égard des victimes de la société les incite à participer à leurs luttes. Pour les tenants de la seconde tendance, l'important est d'évangéliser et d'implanter des Eglises.
Pourtant, affirme M. Ma, "ces deux approches sont complémentaires", car la proclamation de l'Evangile "doit inclure l'aspect terrestre comme le céleste". Dans la mesure où "chaque 'camp' détient une partie de la vérité, ni l'un ni l'autre ne représente l'entière vérité et l'un ne saurait être complet sans l'autre".
"Bien que le trait soit un peu caricatural, il est certain que ces deux tendances existent", déclare Clifton Kirkpatrick, pasteur de l'Eglise presbytérienne des Etats-Unis et président de l'Alliance réformée mondiale, en réponse aux commentaires de M. Ma. "Mais dans les deux 'camps', nous sommes en train de découvrir l'Evangile dans son intégralité et il est vrai que nous avons besoin les uns des autres."
Le pasteur Geoff Tunnicliffe, directeur international de l'Alliance réformée mondiale, est d'accord avec l'affirmation de M. Ma "d'une manière générale, dans la mesure où il définit clairement les approches", mais il estime qu'en ce qui concerne les évangéliques, cette description n'est valable que pour le début du 20e siècle. Auparavant, déclare-t-il, ils s'étaient engagés dans des questions de société, comme l'abolition du commerce des esclaves. Plus récemment, à la suite du Congrès de Lausanne sur l'évangélisation dans le monde, en 1974, les évangéliques ont eu le sentiment qu'ils "avaient la permission de s'engager dans des questions en rapport avec 'la vie avant la mort'".
Selon M. Ma, qui déclare appartenir à la tendance stricte du "camp évangélique", celui-ci à "consacré son énergie à 'convertir tout le monde' à notre forme de spiritualité, s'adressant donc aussi bien à d'autres chrétiens qu'à des non-croyants". Outre qu'il s'est laissé aller à "une évangélisation agressive, qu'on a pu qualifier de 'vol d'ouailles', ce camp a aussi consacré "beaucoup de temps et d'énergie à essayer de déterminer qui en fait partie et qui est exclu".
Le pasteur Tunnicliffe reconnaît que "cette observation est valable, dans la mesure où la plupart des ressources missionnaires sont destinées à des pays chrétiens et non pas à ceux où ne se trouvent pas d'Eglises", mais il préfère formuler le problème en termes de liberté religieuse: "Les gens ont le droit de faire leurs choix et s'ils trouvent quelque chose d'authentique qu'ils n'ont pas rencontré dans leur propre tradition, il ne faut pas assimiler cela à un 'vol d'ouailles'."
D'un autre côté, affirme M. Ma, le camp "oecuménique a, non sans ironie", créé un environnement qui "fait qu'il est tout simplement impossible pour certaines Eglises de rejoindre ce réseau". On peut donc dire que ce faisant, ce camp a lui aussi établi une distinction "entre ceux qui en font partie et ceux qui en sont exclus".
"La manière dont le mouvement oecuménique définit le but de l'unité visible en Jésus Christ fait qu'il est difficile pour certaines Eglises qui se réclament d'une théologie plus évangélique de se joindre à lui; et le fait est que certaines de nos attitudes peuvent aussi constituer des obstacles", a reconnu le pasteur Kirkpatrick. "C'est pourquoi nous devons être ouverts aux choses nouvelles que Dieu accomplit, sans renoncer à l'engagement oecuménique fondamental en faveur de l'unité visible donnée par Jésus Christ."
Dans son exposé, M. Ma compare l'histoire des deux "camps" à celle de deux enfants d'une même famille qui ne se seraient jamais rencontrés, jusqu'à ce qu'aujourd'hui, à la suite d'un long processus "de réflexion autocritique et de prise de conscience croissante de l'autre, les deux se rapprochent bien plus qu'il n'aurait été possible il y a quelques décennies."
Le pasteur Kirkpatrick reconnaît l'existence d'une "convergence croissante, du fait que les deux 'camps' ont l'un et l'autre redécouvert l'appel de l'Evangile au salut personnel et à la justice sociale".
Pour sa part, le pasteur Tunnicliffe est plus sceptique: "Je ne suis pas convaincu que ce soit un phénomène mondial. Des entretiens fructueux se déroulent à certains niveaux, mais la base a encore un long chemin à parcourir, et dans les deux camps subsistent des préjugés et des divergences profondes sur des questions fondamentales."
M. Ma estime que les années à venir verront "les cyclistes de l'unité chrétienne" affronter des défis majeurs. "D'une part, il y aura davantage de raisons de voir les divergences se creuser, mais d'autre part la nécessité fondamentale et urgente d'une collaboration de toute l'Eglise se manifestera toujours plus."
Quoi qu'il en soit, M. Ma estime que des occasions telles que le Forum chrétien mondial sont susceptibles de favoriser "une oecuménicité authentique en combinant une koinonia ouverte, un culte rempli de l'Esprit et une volonté véritable de discerner ce que le Seigneur accomplit dans les différentes communions."
--- 30 ---
Juan Michel, responsable des relations du COE avec les médias, est membre de l'Eglise évangélique du Rio de la Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentine.
• Contacts avec les médias à Limuru: Juan Michel (+254) 7 3516 8676
• D'autres renseignements relatifs à la réunion du Forum chrétien mondial
• Site web du Forum chrétien mondial
Posted: November 9, 2007Transmis : 9 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : forum chrétien mondial oecuménisme
'Historic' world Christian forum issues call for dialogue
[Nairobi - ENI\Fredrick Nzwili] Leaders meeting in Kenya belonging to all main Christian traditions, and from countries ranging from Armenia to Zimbabwe, have pledged to convene international, local and regional meetings to deepen reconciliation and understanding.
"Recognising that unity is first and foremost God's gift through the work of the Holy Spirit, our commitment is to press on in promoting ever greater understanding and cooperation among Christians, while respecting the diversity of our identities, traditions and individual gifts," the leaders said in a statement issued at the end of the 6-9 November meeting.
The gathering, called the Global Christian Forum, brought together about 240 leaders from Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal and other churches, and international organizations.
"This is an historic event for world Christianity," said Roman Catholic Archbishop Fernando Capalla from Davao in the Philippines.
The forum idea was originally proposed in the mid-1990s by the Rev. Konrad Raiser, a German theologian who was then general secretary of the World Council of Churches.
He suggested a forum could reach out to Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Evangelical churches that do not belong to the Geneva-based WCC grouping, whose 347 member churches are drawn predominantly from Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox traditions.
The WCC said the forum at Limuru near Nairobi brought together the broadest range of Christian traditions ever gathered at a global meeting.
"I think the expectations have been met. We have a set of good proposals to go into the future," Hubert Van Beek, the main organizer of the meeting, told Ecumenical News International on 9 November at the conclusion of the event.
Still, he acknowledged areas where more discussion was needed between the various Christian traditions.
Some adherents of Pentecostalism, and others within Evangelical Christianity, have come in for criticism by other Christians and members of other religions for engaging in proselytising, Van Beek noted.
"That is something you cannot solve in one meeting. We need to do more work," he said.
The general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, told ENI that participants had agreed to continue the process as a forum with a small structure.
"I had been concerned when I came here that there could be perceptions that the forum is intended to replace the existing ecumenical structures," he explained.
The forum, Noko said, would be a place where members of different traditions could engage in dialogue to promote understanding.
In an interview, the Rev. Setri Nyomi, the general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, said the dialogue at the Kenya meeting would have failed if it were not followed up at a regional and local level.
"We have been able to see that we live in global realities and are global Christians. We are speaking about globalised Christianity," said Bishop Nareg Alemezian of the Armenian Apostolic Church from Lebanon. "We are responsible for taking this spirit with us to our churches."
:: Web links:
Global Christian Forum
WCC news and reflections on the Global Christian Forum
Posted: November 9, 2007Transmis : 9 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : global christian forum ecumenism
Ecumenism needs reinvention, Pentecostal scholar says
[WCC News] Pentecostal theologian and scholar Cheryl Bridges-Johns proposed a radical reinvention of the ecumenical movement in a keynote address delivered on the third day of the Global Christian Forum which takes place 6-9 November in Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya.
Bridges-Johns, a professor at the Theological Seminary of the Church of God in Cleveland (Tennessee), US, sparked a vivid discussion with her lecture, which elaborated on a statement from the 1961 New Delhi assembly of the World Council of Churches: "the achievement of unity will involve nothing less than a death and rebirth of many forms of church life as we have known them".
For Bridges-Johns, what is dying is "the old 'mainstream' ecumenical paradigm," as "the structures built to create and sustain the visible unity of the church are no longer viable". As a result, "a new form of ecumenism is needed that is able to embrace the challenges of world-wide Christianity". The Global Christian Forum "represents such an effort". It is one instance of "a number of new ecumenical tables" that have arisen over the last decade or so.
The Global Christian Forum is for many the most inclusive Christian meeting ever gathered to advance Christian unity and explore common challenges. It has brought together over four days some 240 high level representatives from Protestant, Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical, Pentecostal and other traditions as well as interchurch organizations from some 70 countries.
But, Bridges-Johns affirmed, "even among those who seek a new form of ecumenism and applaud the death of the old, there is a lack of awareness of the extent of the death and re-birth necessary for the achievement of the visible unity of the world-wide church".
According to the speaker, "any new form of ecumenism must take into account the new faces, the different worldviews and new voices of non-Western Christianity". But the so-called "new ecumenism" fails to understand the reality of the "indigenous, multi-faceted forms of Christianity" outside the Western context. "Western conservatives look to the South for support, but fail to understand the worldview of Southern Christianity."
Those wishing to "construct a new ecumenical table" will therefore need to undergo a process of conversion. "All of us, those from the North and those from the South, those from the East and those from the West [need] to die to old assumptions regarding each other."
For Western Christianity, conversion means, among other things, examining its sense that it represents "the pinnacle of evolutionary development," and that it must "die to its elevation of certain forms of scientific reason as more developed than other ways of knowing".
For churches from the South and East, "conversion would mean not being so quick to label Western Christianity as 'apostate' or 'post-Christian'," as well as to "avoid the temptation of judgment".
"We should not dismiss too quickly and easily the ecumenical movement and the instruments it has created," said Bishop Brian Farrell, from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, speaking at a panel later in the day.
Affirming the value and role of the Global Christian Forum, Farrell recalled that the Forum owes its existence to those instruments. "Even if it is 100 years old, the ecumenical movement is still in its beginnings. The cause of Christian unity takes patience and a continued effort."
"Churches in the South should be allowed to set their own agenda," said the Rev. Israel Batista, general secretary of the Latin American Council of Churches, in a comment to the plenary following the afternoon panel. "This Forum is still too Western-oriented; the churches in the South also have the capacity to discern what the Spirit is doing among them," Batista affirmed.
• Additional information on the Global Christian Forum meeting
• News release: Most diverse Christian gathering ever to discuss unity and common witness
• Feature article: Ecumenism - or how to ride a bicycle between this life and the other
• Global Christian Forum website [in English, French and Spanish]
Posted: November 9, 2007Transmis : 9 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : global christian forum ecumenism
Evangelical and Pentecostals look to new forms of unity
[Nairobi - ENI\Fredrick Nzwili] Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic leaders attending a world Christian forum in Kenya that has brought together many of Christianity's diverse strands, say it offers new opportunities, but they also warn of possible difficulties ahead.
"When you share your journey and discover how others people have travelled and find similarities in the journey, that helps you to travel together," commented the Rev. Richard Howell of the Evangelical Fellowship of India.
About 240 leaders from Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal and other churches and international organizations attended the forum in Limuru near Nairobi.
Organizers say the gathering aimed to bring together the various streams of Christianity that have traditionally not been "in conversation" with each other.
The World Council of Churches groups many of the world's Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox denominations but the Roman Catholic Church does not belong to the Geneva-based WCC, nor do many Evangelical, Pentecostal or Charismatic churches.
In many parts of the world, Pentecostal and so-called non-mainline Protestant churches are growing, while mainstream churches continue to lose membership.
"A new form of ecumenism is needed that is able to embrace the challenges of world-wide Christianity," Pentecostal theologian and scholar Cheryl Bridges-Johns said in an 8 November address to participants.
She added that, "the old 'mainstream' ecumenical paradigm" was dying and the structures built to create and sustain the visible unity of the church were no longer viable.
"The achievement of unity will involve nothing less than a death and rebirth of many forms of church life as we have known them," Bridges-Johns said.
David R. Wells of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada said he welcomed the opportunities the forum offered to bring Christians of different traditions into contact with each other.
Still, he cautioned in an interview with Ecumenical News International, "When we get into the areas of real serious disagreement, we will have to see how one another respond to the willingness to agree to disagree."
And Pentecostal leader the Rev. Peter Sleebos of the Assemblies of God in the Netherlands warned about the use of the term "ecumenism", a word that has described the central task of the World Council of Churches since its foundation in 1948.
"Almost all our constituencies at home are very allergic to that word," he told participants on 8 November. "Forum, dialogue or 'exploring for unity' is easy to explain."
Leaders at the Kenya event said they want to continue the global forum as an open space where Christians from different traditions are able to work together in areas of common interest, and undertake individual actions when they differ.
WCC general secretary the Rev. Samuel Kobia welcomed the involvement of Pentecostal and Evangelical leaders in the forum, and said it had helped to overcome prejudices that existed.
In the past, Kobia suggested, Evangelicals had been wary of what has been called the "social gospel", or the kind of commitment to changing society with which the WCC has often been identified.
In recent years, however, Pentecostals and Evangelicals had become increasingly active in campaigns such as those warning of the dangers of climate change, Kobia noted.
"It is time for Pentecostal and Evangelicals to clarify where they stand on issues of social engagement," the WCC leader told journalists at the gathering.
The Rev. Ndaba Mazabane, a South African cleric who is chairperson of the World Evangelical Alliance, welcomed the Global Christian Forum.
"My idea of coming here is to start to deliberate on issues that are more common to us than are those that divide us," he said. "It is the beginning, but I don't know where this journey is going to take us."
:: Web links:
Global Christian Forum
WCC news and reflections on the Global Christian Forum
Posted: November 8, 2007Transmis : 8 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : global christian forum ecumenism
Ecumenism - or how to ride a bicycle between this life and the other
[Juan Michel - WCC News] "Church unity is like riding a bicycle. We will fall unless we go forward." This affirmation was posed as a challenge by Korean missiologist Wonsuk Ma to participants at the Global Christian Forum taking place on 6-9 November in Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya.
In a keynote address delivered on the second day of the forum, Ma analyzed Christian developments in unity and mission over the last century. He affirmed that in Christian mission, the seemingly contradictory emphases on "life before death" and on "life after death" - which have separated "mainline" and "evangelical" Christians for decades - are actually complementary and in need of each other.
Ma's presentation was considered both provocative and stimulating by many at the forum, which included some 240 church leaders from Protestant, Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical, and Pentecostal and other churches and interchurch organizations from around the world. The event is being described as one of the most inclusive Christian gatherings ever to advance Christian unity and explore common challenges.
Ma, a Pentecostal theologian from Korea and the head of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in the UK, based his reflection on his personal journey. He described himself as a second generation Christian in growing up in an environment hostile towards his faith expression.
While the "life before death" camp focuses on the "creation of a just society," Ma said, the "life after death" camp emphasizes on the "the 'soul saving' business". For the former camp, all the issues that hinder the goal of justice are mission topics, and the sympathy with the victims in the society leads to the involvement in their struggles. For the latter camp, evangelism and church planting are the key topics.
However, Ma affirmed, "these two approaches are complementary to each other" as the announcement of the gospel "has to include [the] earthly aspect as well as the heavenly one". To the extent that "each 'life' camp has a part of the whole truth," each of them "does not represent the full truth" and "one is never complete without the other".
"Although it is a bit of a caricature, there have certainly been those tendencies," says Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in response to Ma's comments. "But we in both 'camps' are discovering the wholeness of the gospel and, yes, we need each other."
Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director of the World Evangelical Alliance, agrees with Ma's statement "in a general sense, to the extent it articulates emphases". But he sees that description as appropriate only for the early 20th century, as far as evangelicals are concerned.
Before that, he says, they were engaged in societal issues like the abolition of the slave trade. And more recently, after the 1974 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, evangelicals felt they had "permission to engage in issues pertaining to 'life before death'".
The "evangelical" camp, said Ma, who affirmed he belongs to a radical branch of it, has spent "energy in 'converting everyone' to our form of Christianity, including other Christians as much as non-believers." In addition to indulging in "aggressive evangelism," sometimes portrayed as "sheep-stealing," this camp has also invested "much time and energy trying to figure out who is in and who is out".
Tunnicliffe recognizes this as a "valid observation" so long as "most of the missionary resources are spent in Christian countries and not in areas where churches haven't been planted". But he prefers to frame the issue in terms of religious freedom: "People have the right to make their choices and if they find something authentic they cannot come across with in their own traditions, it should not be assumed that amounts to sheep-stealing."
On the other hand, affirmed Ma, the "ecumenical" camp, has "ironically" created an environment that made it "simply impossible for some churches to approach the network." In that way this camp, too, has established distinctions between those who are "inside" and those who are "outside" the circle.
"The way in which the ecumenical movement has formulated the goal of visible unity in Jesus Christ has made it difficult for some churches with a more evangelical theology to join in; and yes, some of our attitudes have stood as barriers," acknowledges Kirkpatrick.
"So we need openness to the new things God is doing without losing the core ecumenical commitment to the visible unity Jesus Christ has given to us," he said.
In his address, Ma compared the story of the relationships between the two "life camps" to a tale of two siblings who never met each other. Until today, when a long process of "self-critical reflection and growing awareness of each other" has led the two "much closer to each other than was possible decades ago".
"There has been a growing convergence as both 'camps' have respectively rediscovered the gospel call to personal salvation and to social justice," Kirkpatrick agreed.
Tunnicliffe is more skeptical, however. "I'm not convinced that is a global phenomenon," he says. "There are helpful conversations taking place at certain levels, but at the grassroots there is a long way to go, and in both camps stereotypes and significant divides around core issues still remain."
For Ma, the years ahead will see those riding the bicycle of Christian unity facing major challenges. "There will be more reasons why divisions will further intensify, on the one hand, and a more urgent and predominant reason why the church should work together, on the other hand."
However, Ma believes that occasions like the Global Christian Forum have the potential to foster an "authentic ecumenicity by combining open koinonia, Spirit-filled worship, and diligent learning to discern what the Lord is doing in different Christian communions".
--- 30 ---
Juan Michel, WCC media relations officer, is a member of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Media contact in Limuru: Juan Michel (+254) 7 3516 8676
• Additional information on the Global Christian Forum meeting
• Global Christian Forum website [in English, French and Spanish]
Posted: November 8, 2007Transmis : 8 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : global christian forum ecumenism
Un responsable du Vatican affirme que le Forum chrétien mondial est essentiel
[Nairobi - ENI\Fredrick Nzwili] Un éminent représentant du Vatican a déclaré que l'Eglise catholique romaine saluait le Forum chrétien mondial, qui est un rassemblement sans précédent des divers courants du christianisme.
"Lorsque les chrétiens sont divisés, la proclamation de l'Evangile souffre et c'est là une douleur que nous devons tous ressentir", a déclaré l'évêque Brian Farrell, secrétaire du Conseil pontifical pour la promotion de l'unité des chrétiens.
"Tout ce qui peut conduire de manière positive à redécouvrir notre unité dans le Christ est une bonne chose, une chose avec laquelle nous allons essayer de travailler et à laquelle nous voulons être partenaire", a déclaré Mgr Farrell le 8 novembre dans un discours adressé à environ 240 responsables d'Eglise protestants, anglicans, orthodoxes catholiques, évangéliques, pentecôtistes et autres du monde entier.
L'idée de ce Forum a été lancée vers le milieu des années 1990 par le pasteur Konrad Raiser, un théologien allemand qui était alors secrétaire général du Conseil oecuménique des Eglises (COE).
Le pasteur Raiser avait suggéré que le Forum puisse s'ouvrir à l'Eglise catholique romaine et aux dénominations pentecôtistes et évangéliques qui ne font pas partie du COE, organisation dont les 347 Eglises membres sont principalement issues des traditions protestante, anglicane et orthodoxe.
Le COE a déclaré que le Forum, organisé au Kenya, a rassemblé la plus grande diversité de traditions chrétiennes jamais réunie au cours d'une rencontre d'envergure mondiale.
Un important leader pentecôtiste s'est également réjouit du Forum.
"Je suis abasourdi. Ce qui se passe ici pourrait être considéré comme une nouvelle Pentecôte", a déclaré le pasteur Cecil (Mel) Robeck, des Assemblées de Dieu des Etats-Unis.
Le pasteur Robeck, professeur au Séminaire de théologie de Fuller, aux Etats-Unis, est un expert du pentecôtisme mondial, un mouvement de renouveau chrétien né au début du XXe siècle.
Le pentecôtisme tire son nom de la Pentecôte, fête chrétienne qui commémore la descente du Saint-Esprit sur les fidèles de Jésus, leur permettant de se comprendre entre eux alors qu'ils ne parlaient pas la même langue.
Le pasteur Geoff Tunnicliffe, directeur international de l'Alliance évangélique mondiale, qui se décrit comme un réseau d'organisations internationales et d'Eglises dans 128 pays, a également apporté son soutien au Forum.
"Nous pensons que ce forum va permettre une meilleure compréhension et briser les stéréotypes", a-t-il déclaré.
:: Sites Internet :
Forum chrétien mondial
Nouvelles et réflexions du COE sur le Forum chrétien mondial
Posted: November 8, 2007Transmis : 8 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : forum chrétien mondial oecuménisme
Vatican official says world forum for Christianity is vital
[Nairobi- ENI\Fredrick Nzwili] A senior Vatican official has said the Roman Catholic Church welcomes a new Global Christian Forum intended to bring together the diverse strands of Christianity as never before.
"When Christians are divided, the preaching of the gospel suffers and this is a pain we all have to feel," said Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, addressing a 6-9 November meeting of the forum near Nairobi.
"Every thing that leads in a positive way to rediscovering our unity in Christ is something good, something that we will try to collaborate with, something that we will want to be a partner in," Farrell said in an 8 November address to about 240 leaders from Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal and other churches from around the world.
The forum idea was originally proposed in the mid-1990s by the Rev. Konrad Raiser, a German theologian who was then general secretary of the World Council of Churches.
He suggested it could reach out to Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Evangelical churches that do not belong to the Geneva-based grouping, whose 347 member churches are drawn predominantly from Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox traditions.
The WCC has said the Kenya forum has brought together the broadest range of Christian traditions ever gathered at a global meeting.
Farrell said the Global Christian Forum was vital since it did something other inter-church bodies could not do, although he also cautioned against being too quick to replace them.
"The experience of all of us in these days, is that we have been able to talk to each other in honesty," said Farrell. "If we can know each other better, then we can deal with our questions."
Support for the forum came also from the Rev. Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director of the World Evangelical Alliance, which describes itself as a network of international organizations and of churches in 128 nations.
He said, "We believe this table brings greater understanding and breaks stereotypes."
:: Web links:
Global Christian Forum
WCC news and reflections on the Global Christian Forum
Posted: November 8, 2007Transmis : 8 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : global christian forum ecumenism
Un Canadien, John Gibaut, est nommé directeur de Foi et Constitution
Le professeur John St. H. Gibaut de l'Université Saint-Paul, Ottawa, nommé Directeur de la Commission Foi et Constitution du Conseil oecuménique des églises à Genève. Selon un communiqué de presse de l'université, le professeur Gibaut prendra ses fonctions à Genève, en janvier 2008.
Le professeur Gibaut a obtenu un doctorat en théologie (Th.D.) en 1994 à Trinity College, University of Toronto. Depuis 1994 il enseigne la théologie liturgique et historique à la Faculté de Théologie de l'Université Saint-Paul, une université catholique dotée d'une charte pontificale. De 1994 à 2003 il a servi à titre de responsable du programme d'études anglicanes et depuis 2004 il est professeur agrégé et secrétaire de la Faculté de théologie. Au cours des années il a contribué au caractère oecuménique de l'enseignement théologique de la Faculté. Son engagement envers la réconciliation des églises est évident de par sa participation à la Commission du dialogue anglican-catholique du Canada, à la Commission foi et témoignage du conseil des églises du Canada, à la Commission international du dialogue anglican-orthodoxe, et au International Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations. À titre de Directeur de la Commission Foi et Constitution, le professeur Gibaut servira comme membre du groupe mixte de travail entre le Conseil oecuménique des églises et l'Église catholique romaine. Formateur expérimenté, il entend promouvoir une meilleure connaissance de l'apport de la Commission Foi et Constitution et l'importance de la formation oecuménique dans les centres d'éducation théologique.
Read the original news article ...Texte intégral ...
Posted: November 7, 2007Transmis : 7 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : oecuménisme coe foi et constitution
A Canadian, John Gibaut, is new director of WCC Faith & Order
Professor John St. H. Gibaut, from St. Paul University in Ottawa, has been appointed as the new director of the World Council of Churches' Commission on Faith and Order. According to a press release from the university, Prof. Gibaut will take up his duties in Geneva in January, 2008.
In 1994, Professor Gibaut earned a doctorate in theology (Th.D.) from Trinity College and the University of Toronto. He has taught in the Faculty of Theology, Saint Paul University, a Roman Catholic University with a pontifical charter, since 1994, specializing in liturgical and historical theology. From 1994 to 2003, he served as the Director of Anglican Studies within the Faculty of Theology. He has been associate professor of Church History and Secretary of the Faculty since 2004. Through the years he has contributed greatly to the ecumenical character of the Faculty's engagement in theological education. Professor Gibaut's commitment to the task of theological dialogue in service of Christian unity is reflected in his participation as a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue of Canada, the Faith and Witness Commission of the Canadian Council of Churches, the International Commission of the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue, and the International Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations. He has served as Canon Theologian of the Anglican diocese of Ottawa. As Director of the Faith & Order Commission, Professor Gibaut will serve as a member of the Joint Working Group between the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. An experienced educator, he hopes to encourage a greater awareness of the work of Faith and Order and of the need for strong ecumenical formation in centers of theological education.
Read the original news article ...Texte intégral ...
Posted: November 7, 2007Transmis : 7 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : ecumenism wcc faith & order
Most diverse Christian gathering ever to discuss unity and common witness
[WCC News] A unique gathering of high level church leaders to start Tuesday, 6 November near Nairobi, Kenya, features the broadest range of Christian traditions ever represented at a global meeting, allowing for a discussion of unprecedented ecumenical breadth on what Christians are called to do - together if possible - in the world today.
The 6-9 November gathering, called the Global Christian Forum, brings together about 250 high level representatives of all the main Christian traditions and of their global organizations at the Jumuia Conference Centre in Limuru, near Nairobi.
The Forum's stated purpose is to create a new, open space in which a broad range of Christian churches and interchurch organizations can gather in a multilateral setting to foster mutual respect and explore and address together common challenges. It aims to include all streams of Christianity, including those which have not been in conversation with one another. In Limuru about half of the participants will be Evangelicals and Pentecostals.
Over four days, with the theme “Our Journey with Jesus Christ, the Reconciler,” participants will discuss how best to promote dialogue and co-operation on issues of Christian unity and common witness to the world. They will debate proposals for the future of the Forum, and it is hoped that a “Letter to the Churches” will summarize the results of the meeting.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is represented by the moderator of its central committee, the Rev. Walter Altmann; its general secretary, the Rev. Samuel Kobia; its president from the Pacific region, Mr John Doom; and the Rev. Robina Winbush, member of the continuation committee of a process called "Ecumenism in the 21st Century".
First proposed in the mid-1990’s by the Rev. Konrad Raiser, then WCC general secretary, the Forum was born out of the recognition that the ecumenical movement is broader than the WCC. Although it helped to initiate the process, the WCC sees itself as one of the participating organizations alongside others.
Regional consultations have taken place since in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. The methodology used in those encounters encouraged the sharing of the participants’ faith journeys and of the stories of their faith communities.
The Forum process, which is led by a 12-member continuation committee, has so far avoided becoming a new organization or institution, and continues to be based on “participation” as opposed to “membership”.
The Christian traditions represented at the Forum meeting in Limuru are: African Instituted, Anglican, Baptist, Evangelical, (Roman) Catholic, Disciples (Churches of Christ), Friends, Holiness, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Moravian, Old Catholic, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Pentecostal, Reformed, Salvation Army, Seventh-Day Adventist, United and Uniting Churches.
In addition to these Christian traditions or “families”, a number of Christian organizations are also represented: regional ecumenical organizations, youth and student international movements, YMCA and YWCA, United Bible Societies, World Vision International, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, the World Council of Churches and a number of forum-type organizations.
Media contact in Limuru: Juan Michel (+254) 7 3516 8676
The participants list will shortly be available on the Global Christian Forum website in English, French and Spanish.
Posted: November 6, 2007Transmis : 6 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : ecumenism global christian forum
Une réunion chrétienne d'une diversité sans précédent pour évoquer l'unité et le témoignage commun
Une réunion de hauts responsables d'Eglises telle qu'on en n'a jamais vue se déroulera près de Nairobi, Kenya, à partir du mardi 6 novembre. Jamais encore des traditions chrétiennes aussi diverses ne se sont retrouvées pour une rencontre mondiale d'une telle envergure oecuménique; on y parlera de ce que les chrétiens sont appelés à faire dans le monde d'aujourd'hui - si possible ensemble.
Sous le nom de Forum chrétien mondial, cette rencontre, qui se tiendra au Centre de conférences de Jumuia à Limuru, près de Nairobi, rassemblera du 6 au 9 novembre près de 250 représentants de haut niveau de toutes les traditions chrétiennes et de leurs organisations mondiales.
Le but du Forum est de créer un nouvel espace ouvert et multilatéral où des Eglises et organisations chrétiennes de toutes tendances puissent se réunir dans un esprit de respect mutuel pour examiner les défis communs qu'elles rencontrent et la manière d'y répondre. Il s'agit d'inclure tous les courants du christianisme, y compris ceux qui n'ont pas l'habitude d'entretenir des relations. A Limuru, près de la moitié des participants seront des évangéliques et des pentecôtistes.
Pendant quatre jours, sur le thème "Notre pèlerinage avec Jésus Christ le réconciliateur", les participants discuteront de la meilleure manière de promouvoir le dialogue et la coopération en matière d'unité chrétienne et de témoignage commun au monde. Ils examineront des propositions portant sur l'avenir du Forum, et on espère qu'à la fin de la rencontre ils pourront publier une "lettre aux Eglises" qui en résumera les grandes lignes.
Le Conseil oecuménique des Eglises (COE) sera représenté par le pasteur Walter Altmann, président du Comité central, le pasteur Samuel Kobia, secrétaire général, M. John Doom, président de la région du Pacifique et la pasteure Robina Winbush, membre du Comité de continuation du processus "l'oecuménisme au 21e siècle".
L'idée de ce Forum a été lancée vers le milieu des années 1990 par le pasteur Konrad Raiser, alors secrétaire général du COE, pour tenir compte du fait que le mouvement oecuménique ne se limite pas au seul COE. Bien que le Conseil ait contribué à lancer le processus, il ne se considère que comme l'une des organisations participantes parmi les autres.
Des colloques régionaux ont déjà eu lieu en Asie, en Afrique, en Amérique latine et en Europe. Ils sont inspirés par une méthodologie qui encourage le partage des cheminements de foi et des expériences des diverses communautés.
Jusqu'à présent, on a pu éviter que le processus du Forum, géré par un comité de continuation de 12 membres, ne débouche sur la création d'une nouvelle institution ou organisation; il est toujours fondé sur l'idée de participation plutôt que sur celle d'appartenance.
Les Eglises et traditions chrétiennes suivantes seront représentées à la réunion du Forum à Limuru: Eglises d'institution africaine, anglicane, baptiste, catholique romaine, disciples (Eglises du Christ), société des amis, de sainteté, luthérienne, mennonite, méthodiste, morave, catholique-chrétienne, orthodoxe et orthodoxe orientale, pentecôtiste, réformée, Armée du salut, adventiste du septième jour, Eglises unies et en union.
En plus de ces traditions ou "familles" chrétiennes, un certain nombre d'organisations seront également représentées: organisations oecuméniques régionales, mouvements internationaux de jeunesse et d'étudiants, UCJG et UCF, Alliance biblique universelle, World Vision International, Comité de Lausanne pour l'évangélisation du monde, Alliance évangélique mondiale, Conseil oecuménique des Eglises et d'autres groupements conçus comme des forums.
--- 30 ---
Contact médias à Limuru: Juan Michel (+254) 7 3516 8676
La liste des participants va être disponible sous peu sur le site web du Forum chrétien mondial (en français, anglais et espagnol)
Posted: November 5, 2007Transmis : 5 novembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : forum chrétien mondial oecuménisme
| Volunteer needed for translation The webeditor is seeking a volunteer translator to assist with English to French translation or proof-reading. If you are interested, please email . |
Donate now through CanadaHelps.org