Posted by George Patsourakos
on 10/8/2009, 9:40 pm
Patriarch Bartholomew opened the meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Plenary Commission meeting in Kolympari, Crete yesterday, by emphasizing that Christian unity can be achieved only by a double conversion -- "turning both toward the past and the future."
The Ecumenical Patriarch said, "It is crucial that we learn from the early Fathers and Mothers of the Church and from those who -- in each generation -- maintained the integrity and intensity of the Apostolic faith."
He added, "At the same time, we should turn our attention to the future, to the age to come, toward the Heavenly Kingdom. This perspective should offer a way out of the impasse of provincialism and confessionalism."
This understanding of Christian unity "permits us to discern the areas of our common ministry and united mission, preservation of creation, and promotion of tolerance and understanding among religions and people in our world as major concerns of the Church," the Patriarch concluded.
Meeting in Crete from October 7 to 14, 2009, the Plenary Commission will focus its theological search for Christian unity on three main topics: How churches understand the "one Church" (ecclesiology); how they relate to their sources of authority; and how they use these sources to make decisions in the area of moral discernment.
For more information on the Crete meeting, visit the World Council of Churches website.
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