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World Council of Churches (WCC) president for Europe Anders Wejryd, speaking in Utrecht, Netherlands on 20 January, congratulated the Old Catholic Church and the Church of Sweden on entering into a communion.
Wejryd, who has personally pushed for this dialogue for many years, said an agreement of this kind is in line with the ethos of the WCC. “An agreement like this makes visible and public what the ecumenical movement is about,” he said.
The aim of the WCC has never been limited to the Geneva headquarters, he continued. “It is when processes in the member churches and surrounding societies have been picked up, visualized, made clear and expressed in relation to and together with the member churches that things have moved,” he said.
The pressure on churches to somewhat withdraw from active commitment with societal affairs is felt all over Europe, reflected Wejryd. “The pressure comes both from the outside and from within,” he said. “Religion is seen as a field of its own, aside from politics, economy and everyday life.”
In the ecumenical tradition however, faith is something that inspires and guides each individual when she or he leads her life and makes her choices, Wejryd emphasized. “The Christian faith and tradition also provide basic standards for acceptable politics,” he said. “These two churches have ambitions not to give in to this pressure to withdraw from the issues of society to resort to a safe side-field.”
