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A three-point agenda for further collaboration - understanding of the church, spirituality, and ecumenical formation - was proposed by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia to Pope Benedict XVI during their meeting today at the Vatican. Kobia also invited the pope to visit the WCC headquarters "as yet one more concrete step in our long journey towards visible unity".
In his remarks, Benedict XVI assured Kobia that the church he heads is "eager to continue cooperation" with the WCC, and expressed hope that the visit had been "fruitful, strengthening the bonds of understanding and friendship between us". "The commitment of the Catholic Church to the search for Christian unity is irreversible," said the pope.
The three above-mentioned "areas of capital importance" for collaboration were at the heart of Kobia's remarks to Benedict XVI at what was a first meeting since both took up their current positions, and before a private conversation between the two took place.
Dialogue about the understanding of the church (ecclesiology in theological terminology) is currently important among the Council's member churches since it affects, among other things, "their ability or inability to recognize one another as churches". The WCC "would like to encourage dialogue on these fundamental questions," Kobia told the pope, "in our relationships with all our ecumenical partners".
Spirituality, defined as a search for "a holy ground on which to stand" and from which "to exercise leverage on a world in need of transformation and hope", was another topic listed by the WCC general secretary as deserving collaboration. "Grounded on the fertile soil of our respective spiritual treasures, we could seek together a stable place of moral clarity and confidence amid today's turbulent human landscape of shifting values, uncertain hopes and crumbling commitments," Kobia suggested.
As to ecumenical formation, Kobia affirmed that at a time when the "classical ways" of doing it are "progressively diminishing," it becomes an "imperative" to work in order that "important steps towards visible unity" are "communicated, fully received, and put into practice in the lives of the churches".
Additional information on the visit is available at:
www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/pr-05-35.html
The full text of Dr Kobia's address is available at:
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/ecumenical/kobiaatvatican2005.html
The full text of Pope Benedict XVI's address is available at:
212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/16687.php
More information on collaboration between WCC and the Roman Catholic Church is available on the WCC website at: