Magyar Egyház, 2006 (85. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2006-01-01 / 1. szám

8. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ WARC Leaders Call for New Era of Partnership with Vatican Leaders of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) have called for a new era of partnership on justice issues in their first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on 7 January. "We are eager during our visit here at the Vatican to pur­sue with you how Catholic and Reformed Christians might be partners together for God's justice in a world wracked by poverty, war, ecological destruction and the denial of human freedom," Clifton Kirkpatrick, president of WARC, told the pontiff. Kirkpatrick led a team of five WARC leaders in the visit to the Vatican. The delegation included: WARC general secretary, Setri Nyomi; Sabine Hofmeister, moderator of the Reformed Synod of Denmark; Maria Bonafede, moderator of the Walden­­sian Church; and Odair Pedroso Mateus, WARCs executive sec­retary for theology and ecumenical engagement. In addition to the meeting with the pope, the delegation also met with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Council for Justice and Peace. Kirkpatrick said the Reformed family is grateful to God for the three phases of the Reformed-Catholic dialogue that have been completed and said WARC was eager to move closer to the Catholic church "in common faith and witness." While there have been breakthroughs in ecumenical rela­tions between Catholics and Protestants, Kirkpatrick called for further movement. "There is still much to be done to move beyond our past condemnations of one another, as parts of the one body of Jesus Christ, serve God together without worrying about inhibitions in our nations and to come together at the table of our Lord. "We are eager to be partners with you in this important ministry of Christian unity." In the pope's response, he noted that the dialogues be­tween Catholic and Reformed theologians had shown significant convergence on the understanding of the nature of the church of Jesus Christ. "It is an encouraging sign that the current phase of dia­logue continues to explore the richness and complementarity of these approaches," the pope said. Following the meeting, WARC general secretary Nyomi said: "This visit was an important symbol of WARC’s commit­ment to Christian unity as well as to working with other Christian world communions in transforming the world into more just com­munities." Maria Bonafede of the Waldensian church noted that the ecumenical situation in Italy has been marked by some progress, including ecumenical cooperation around the Bible, doctrinal and pastoral agreement about interconfessional marriages and joint study meetings. However she expressed a hope that in Italy and other countries with Catholic majorities, those communities will be freed from confessional interference in both society and political life. She said she hopes that the Reformed communion will con­tinue to express the conviction that Christian witness must be given without privileges. In his statement the pope stated, "I pray that our meeting today will itself bear fruit in a renewed commitment to work for the unity of all Christians. The way before us calls for wisdom, humility, patient study and exchange." WARC is a fellowship of more than 75 million Re­formed Christians in 215 churches in 107 countries. PRESENTATION TO HIS HOLINESS, POPE BENE­DICT XVI, on behalf of the delegation from the WORLD ALLI­ANCE OF REFORMED CHURCHES by Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, President January 7, 2006 Your Holiness, in this Season of Epiphany we greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, who is revealed as Lord and Savior of the world. We extend a special word of congratulations to you in this first year of your papal ministry and assure you of the prayers of Reformed Christians all over the world that God will richly bless your ministry. We come representing the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the global fellowship of 215 churches of Reformed, Congregational, Waldensian, and Presbyterian traditions com­posed of some 75 million Christians from all parts of our world. We are churches shaped by the Protestant Reformation and its values but also deeply committed to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church of which both of our communities are a part. We are extremely grateful for the three phases of the Re­formed-Roman Catholic dialogue that have been completed and have borne real fruit in our common understanding of the pres­ence of Christ and the nature of the church and in our common witness to the Kingdom of God. We are eager to begin the next stage of efforts to move closer together in common faith and wit­ness and look forward to exploring this possibility with the Pon­tifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity while we are here in Rome. As Reformed Christians, we will also soon be commemo­rating the 500th anniversary of the founding of our movement and are eager to find ways to approach these events and our learning from them ecumenically with our sisters and brothers from the Catholic Church. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches has recently concluded its 24th General Council, the every seven year gather­ing of leaders from Reformed Churches all over the world * this one held in Accra, Ghana in August of 2004. The theme of that Council was Jesus' promise in John 10:10 that he has come so that all "may have life, and have it in fullness." The exploration of that theme and the witness of our growing churches in Africa and other parts of the South led us to a common core commitment to justice in the economy and the earth as our central calling as Re­formed Churches in this period of history. We see this commit­ment not simply as a matter of social justice but rather as a con­cern that is central to the very integrity of our Christian faith. We are eager during our visit here at the Vatican to pursue with you how Catholic and Reformed Christians might be partners together for God's justice in a world wracked by poverty, war, ecological destruction, and the denial of human freedom. Finally, we come as pilgrims in the cause of Christian unity. At the core of our tradition is the understanding that to be Reformed is to be faithful to Jesus' high priestly prayer "that they might all be one*that the world might believe." (John 17:21) We are grateful for new ecumenical breakthroughs between Protestant and Catholics. In talking with the Moderator of the Waldensian Church here in Italy, who is part of our delegation, 1 was pleased to leam of positive new ecumenical developments between Prot­estants and Catholics around honoring the Bible and interconfes­sional marriages and of new structures of ecumenical cooperation at the grass roots levels * developments that are paralleled in the U.S.A. where I live and in many parts of the world. However, there is still much to be done to move beyond our past condemna­tions of one another, to truly respect one another as parts of the

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