A few weeks ago, I attended the Synod Convention of the ELCIC Saskatchewan Synod. The ELCIC is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, one of the more ecumenically engaged churches in Canada. I have known the ELCIC in Saskatchewan for many years. In fact, when I was the executive director of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism in the 1990s, the ELCIC was one of our seven sponsoring churches and I worked very closely with the Saskatchewan bishop, clergy, and many lay people. In some ways, attending the Synod Convention was a homecoming. There were many people there that I have known for 20 or ..read more

The reason why the 2024 edition of the Vatican yearbook has re-inserted "Patriarch of the West" as one of the historical titles of the pope appears to be a response to concerns expressed by Orthodox leaders and theologians. For months after the yearbook, the Annuario Pontificio, was released, the Vatican press office said it had no explanation for the reappearance of the title, which Pope Benedict XVI had dropped in 2006. But new documents from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity place the change squarely in the middle of a broad discussion among all mainline Christian chur ..read more

The Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel and Israel's massive military response in Gaza have led to strong papal pleas for peace but also to Vatican-Israeli diplomatic tensions. At a concert and reception June 6, Raphael Schutz, the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See, told guests, "It is no secret that after Oct. 7, at some junctions, Israel and the Holy See have not seen eye to eye the same reality in the Middle East. In such moments, as well as during my 41 years as a diplomat, I've believed that being frank and speaking clearly was no opposite to being diplomatic." A ..read more

Recognizing that the Christian churches continually are called to grapple with new moral issues and that reaching different conclusions can complicate the search for Christian unity, a commission of Catholic and Anglican bishops and theologians has been studying how their traditions make decisions and what they can learn from each other. Members of the official Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) met May 11-18 in Strasbourg, France, to continue their examination of "how the Church local, regional and universal discerns right ethical teaching," according to a statement rel ..read more

A few weeks ago, I attended the “Grand Opening” event of a new Buddhist Temple recently constructed in my north Edmonton neighbourhood. It was a beautiful event, marked by ritual and ceremony, hospitality and fellowship. It also involved a fair bit of informal interfaith dialogue with the monks of the temple and between fellow visitors of various traditions, who, like me, appreciated the opportunity to see inside the temple and to learn what this new community was all about. This is now the third new non-Christian prayer space and second Buddhist temple to open in my neighbourhood in recent y ..read more

The Canadian Council of Churches’ Commission on Justice and Peace deplores the violence and cycle of reprisals in Palestine and Israel that is leading to thousands of lives lost and even more death, suffering, and trauma to come. We call on Christian communities across Canada to be salt and light in a way that opens up space to stand for peace with justice for all. ... Read more » ... lire la suite  ..read more

Unity within Christian communities and the unity of all the churches will grow only as believers draw closer to Jesus and learn to be honest in examining if they are listening to the Holy Spirit or to their own preferences, Pope Francis told leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion. "We are called to pray and to listen to one another, seeking to understand each other's concerns and asking ourselves, before enquiring of others, whether we have been docile to the promptings of the Holy Spirit or prey to our own personal or group opinions," Pope Francis said May 2 as he welcomed to the Vatica ..read more

The rain came with a cool breeze, driving away the humid heat through the open windows of the church. An auspicious blessing from God! So began the collective story of the 4th Global Gathering of the Global Christian Forum in Ghana, a country where Christianity is vibrant and thriving. An outpouring of hospitality and generosity characterised our time together from 16-19 April, 2024. The very first youth gathering in GCF’s history preceded the main Forum from 13-15 April. The diversity and vision of the young adults gave energy to their own conversations about justice, hope, and reconciliatio ..read more

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 ..read more

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 intrins ..read more