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The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed condolences following the death of Brother Jeffrey Gros, recalling his significant contributions to Christian unity and ecumenical dialogue as a Catholic theologian.

Gros passed away on 12 August in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 75.

He worked for ten years as director of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and associate director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“It is with deep sadness that we have received the news of Brother Jeffrey Gros’s passing away. We remember his profound contributions to Christian unity and his support of the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order,” said the WCC general secretary.

“We thank God for the life and work of Brother Jeffrey Gros,” Tveit added.

Gros served as one of the co-editors of the WCC publications series entitled Growth in Agreement, which collects and presents reports and agreed statements of international ecumenical bilateral dialogues among churches. For volume 2, Gros worked with Harding Meyer and William G. Rusch, covering the period 1982-1998. For volume 3, he worked with Thomas F. Best and Lorelei F. Fuchs, S.A. to gather documents from the period 1998-2005. Gros teamed with the same group on volume IV which is currently under production.

WCC member churches in the USA