With our recent celebration of the Easter Vigil in mind, it’s a good time to reflect on the ecumenical significance of baptism and offer a brief review of some of the dialogues that have taken place on this topic. From a Catholic perspective, the ecumenical significance of baptism is clearly affirmed in Vatican II’s Decree on Ecumenism, which states that: “all who have been justified by faith in baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers [and sisters] by the children of the Catholic Church” (#3).
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Two things struck me while reading Dignitas Infinita or “Infinite Dignity,” the new declaration on surrogacy, gender and life from the Vatican released April 8 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

For one, the document sets a new standard for transparency about how it was written, and, second, it goes to lengths to impress on its readers how long the church has taught on these topics.

The document, which applies church teaching to current threats to human dignity, makes clear that human dignity does not depend on wealth, intelligence, social status or abilities, but on the intrinsic worth of every human being.
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Archbishop Linda Nicholls, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has announced that she will step down from her role on September 15, 2024.

The canons of the Anglican Church of Canada require primates to retire upon reaching their 70^th birthday. Archbishop Nicholls will reach mandatory retirement age in October.

Archbishop Nicholls was elected as the 14th Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada on July 13, 2019. She was the first woman to hold the office in Canada and only the second in the Anglican Communion.

Prior to her election, she served as Bishop of Huron (2016-2019) and Area Bishop of Trent-Durham in the Diocese of Toronto (2008-2016). She was also Coordinator for Dialogue for Ethics, Interfaith Relations and Congregational Development at the Anglican Church of Canada’s national office. She spent almost twenty years as a parish priest in the Diocese of Toronto.
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The world’s cultures, traditions, spiritualities and languages must be acknowledged, respected and protected, especially those of Indigenous peoples, Pope Francis said.

The entire patrimony of human knowledge “should be employed as a means of overcoming conflicts in a nonviolent manner and combating poverty and the new forms of slavery,” he said in remarks read by an aide March 14 to participants attending a workshop at the Vatican.

The Pontifical Academies of Sciences and of Social Sciences jointly sponsored a workshop March 14-15 on the knowledge of Indigenous peoples and the work and research being carried out in the sciences.
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On January 25, at the annual ecumenical service in Rome that marks the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis spontaneously invited Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to offer remarks after Francis’ own homily. Archbishop Justin’s reflection constituted a second homily, though it was called a “discourse” in the Vatican media. Such an invitation had only been offered to Orthodox bishops in the past, so this marked a significant sign of welcome between two leaders who have become close collaborators in a number of projects. On previous occasions, Archbishop Justin and his predecessors had been invited to offer remarks at a later portion of the liturgy, but never immediately after the homily.
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The Anglican Church of Canada’s Council of General Synod (CoGS) has passed resolutions on the need for further discussion and education around medical assistance in dying (MAID), the formation of a discipleship and evangelism task force, and a review of the process by which ecclesiastical provinces elect CoGS representatives. General Synod last year referred all three resolutions to CoGS, which passed them at a March 9 online meeting held over Zoom.

Resolution C003, on MAID, reaffirmed “the teaching of Scripture that life is a divine gift, the call of the Baptismal Covenant to ‘respect the dignity of every human being,’ and the teaching of Jesus Christ that he has come so that people may have ‘abundant life’ (John 10:10).” It requested that Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, write to Canada’s minister of health expressing concerns about the expansion of the MAID program as well as the church’s support for a robust palliative care system.
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The Coptic Orthodox Church halts its theological dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church because of Vatican’s publication of “Fiducia supplicans”

The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria has made the momentous decision to suspend its two-decades-long doctrinal dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church after the Vatican recently approved blessings for same-sex couples, something Coptic officials have called a “heresy”.

The Holy Synod of the ancient, Egypt-based Church announced on March 7 that it had decided “to suspend the theological dialogue with the Catholic Church, re-evaluate the results that the dialogue has achieved since its beginning twenty years ago, and establish new standards and mechanisms for the dialogue to proceed.” The catalyst for the decision, however, was the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s publication last December of Fiducia supplicans, the document on blessings for couples “in irregular situations” — including those of the same sex.
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Original English text. A translation was published in the Italian edition of L’Osservatore Romano, 23 January 2023.

Like many ecumenical partners, Methodists and Anglicans walked very closely with the Catholic Church throughout many significant events in 2023. This common journeying has taken various forms, including sympathy and prayerful solidarity on the occasion of the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI at the very beginning of the year, to participation in the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the later part of the year, with many other events and encounters in between.
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The Canadian Council of Churches is pleased to announce the launch of a new archive website: justiceandpeace.ca!

This digital library contains over 25 years of theological resources, position statements, advocacy letters, briefing notes, and other materials. They can be used as a starting point for thought, conversation, advocacy, and ecumenical participation. These resources arose through ecumenical dialogue, communal prayer, bible study, and advocacy efforts amongst members of the CCC‘s Commission on Justice and Peace. Statements and letters from the Canadian Council of Churches, Canadian churches, and religious leaders are also included in the archives.
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