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Orthodox churches convened in Cyprus this week to prepare for the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly, as well as to pray and reflect together on how to keep dialogue open amid the world’s grave challenges.

The WCC convened an inter-Orthodox consultation in Cyprus on 6-13 October to respond to the text “The Church: Towards a Common Vision,” a convergence document presented by the WCC Faith and Order Commission.

“The people of the Caribbean have a rich story to tell, one that can enrich the spiritual lives of Christians around the world,” said Fr Anthony Currer of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. That very story was shared in a heartfelt way this week at an ecumenical gathering to create the first draft of the text that will be used for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2018.

While the Church of Cyprus, a member of the WCC, seeks unity for its island, together with other churches in the country, it recognizes that the challenge is to first heal the wounds caused by Turkish invasion 40 years ago.

The “pilgrimage is both a way to continue working for the one ecumenical movement and a way to move forward in our times that offer new dimensions, opportunities and practices,” said the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

“Without any doubt, ecclesiology remains in our times the crucial issue for Christian theology in ecumenical perspective.” This was one of the conclusions drawn by a week-long consultation in Cyprus at which forty Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox representatives provided a common response to The Nature and Mission of the Church, a 2005 ecumenical text published by the WCC Commission on Faith and Order.