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Two papers—“Cultivate and Care: An Ecumenical Theology of Justice for and within Creation” and “Love and Witness: Proclaiming the Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ in a Religiously Plural World,” from the World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission were highlighted during a webinar on 18 February.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will host a webinar on 18 February from 14:00-15:30 (GMT+1) entitled “Common witness on environmental justice and religious pluralism” that will explore two recent papers released by the WCC Commission on Faith and Order.

One of the foundational moments in the modern ecumenical movement is an encyclical letter issued 100 years ago by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 1 January 1920. As its opening words state, it was addressed “Unto the Churches of Christ everywhere” and sent as a letter to the leaders of key Christian churches. Its first words are an appeal to “Love one another earnestly from the heart,” quoting from 1 Peter 1:22. The thrust of the letter is the suggestion that doctrinal differences among Christian churches do not, or at least should not, prevent “rapprochement” between Christians.

The Vatican and the World Council of Churches today announced that Pope Francis will visit the WCC this June. The formal announcement took place on 2 March at a joint press conference in the Vatican.

Roman Catholic and WCC representatives are forging new ways of working together on today’s most pressing issues.

Rev. Dr Hielke Wolters is leaving the WCC after serving for nine years - the last seven years as associate general secretary - but he is not leaving the ecumenical movement to which he has been dedicated since his student days. Officially is he going to retire, but only on the paper. He has many thoughts and plans to realize as he moves back to the Netherlands to serve, in one way or another, the church or the wider ecumenical movement. Wolters said to WCC News with a smile: “I’m open for any suggestion and I know that God will lead me in the right direction when that time comes.”

Future collaborative work of the Roman Catholic Church with the WCC was the focus of the latest meeting of executives of their Joint Working Group in Geneva.

In an age of religious pluralism and of religious justification of all manner of atrocities, how do religious communities contribute authentically to the public good?

At the start of a new year of work at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, respected German theologian Jürgen Moltmann led a day-long series of presentations and discussions as a guest of the WCC on Wednesday, 13 January. He also responded to comments and questions on his new book, The Living God and the Fullness of Life (WCC Publications, 2016).

How does the on-going quest for Christian unity relate to the search for interreligious understanding? How can these two distinct forms of dialogue be related and practiced?

Meeting from 17 to 24 June, the newly reconstituted Commission on Faith and Order of the WCC has begun to define its principal trajectories for ecumenical study and common activity from 2015 until the next WCC Assembly in 2020.

During the week of 22 June 2015, the 50th anniversary of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC will be celebrated by church leaders. A public event to mark the anniversary will be held at the Centro Pro Unione in Rome, Italy on 23 June.

To address confusions about the respective roles of intra-church and inter-religious dialogue, or dialogue among Christians as contrasted to dialogue among world faiths, a group engaged with the WCC is to prepare a short guide that will offer definitions for sometimes confusing terminology used in such dialogues, setting out different goals of the two forms of dialogue and offering practical suggestions and examples about the methodologies and issues.