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WCC Faith and Order director Canon Dr John Gibaut today cited progress in the work of the Faith and Order Commission at the annual meeting of its standing commission outside Milan.
“While it will be two years before the work of the commissioners in Gazzada will take effect, this meeting will be regarded as a watershed in the recent history of Faith and Order,” said Gibaut.
From 16 to 20 July 2011, the WCC’s Faith and Order Standing Commission met at the Villa Cagnola, Gazzada Schianno, Italy, hosted by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
The 34 members of the standing commission came from 26 different countries around the world, representing a dozen church families from the WCC member churches and beyond.
The commission made significant progress in bringing its three major studies (Moral Discernment in the Churches, Sources of Authority, and Ecclesiology) to the next stages before the 2013 Busan Assembly, according to Gibaut. The commission considered a first draft of a text on the Church to succeed The Nature and Mission of the Church (2005).
To enhance its visibility and effectiveness, a plan for a major restructuring of the Commission on Faith and Order was also discussed and approved in principle. The plan - which proposes a smaller, single commission to replace the current structures of a standing and a plenary commission - will be further refined in preparation for final approval by the standing commission and the WCC Central Committee in 2012.
Members of the commission attended Sunday mass at the local Catholic parish in Gazzada, where they were welcomed by clergy and people. The commission was welcomed to the Archdiocese of Milan by the auxiliary Bishop Luigi Stucchi, together with ecumenical guests from Milan.