wfn.org | NCCCUSA/Edgar Statement on Death of Father John F. Hotchkin

[Carol Fouke <carolf@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227; news@ncccusa.org; www.ncccusa.org
NCC6/26/2001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DR. BOB EDGAR'S STATEMENT ON DEATH OF FATHER JOHN F. HOTCHKIN

	June 26, 2001, NEW YORK CITY - National Council of Churches' General
Secretary Bob Edgar today offered his condolences at the sudden death of
Father John F. Hotchkin, recalling his "winsome influence in the cause of a
wider Christian fellowship."

	Father Hotchkin, Executive Director of the National Conference of Catholic
Bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, died June 24
at age 66.  He had been ill the past 10 days with severe bronchitis.

	Dr. Edgar had just been with Father Hotchkin at the Reformed Church in
America's June 8-13 General Assembly in Pella, Iowa.  Just prior, on May 30,
Father Hotchkin had addressed the National Council of Churches' Executive
Board, meeting in Washington, D.C., where he had confirmed the participation
of the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious
Affairs in an exploration of a broader Christian unity in the United States.

	At the NCC Executive Board meeting, Father Hotchkin had affirmed the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops' "interest in meeting together to
think together and share what we might be called on as church communities to
do in the future."

Dr. Edgar's statement follows:

"Father Hotchkin was beloved not only by Roman Catholics, but by those of us
who came under his winsome influence in the cause of a wider Christian
fellowship.  His enthusiasm for Christian unity and cooperation built
lasting bridges of trust and friendship across the wide gaps and perilous
canyons within the religious landscape.

"He was a key figure in the current movement to create an entirely new
ecumenical table, and we will miss his joyful, intelligent pursuit of that
conversation among the many families of Christian communions, as well as his
friends in other faith traditions."

	- The Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches

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