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World Council of Churches - Update
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 22/11/2005

A TRIED AND TRUE EXPRESSION OF PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION, THE JOINT
WORKING GROUP BETWEEN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE WCC SET TO TACKLE
NEW CHALLENGES

	Free photos available, see below

Becoming a "trusted partner" for one another "has been perhaps the most
enduring achievement of the past four decades" of collaboration between
the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (WCC), and
this continued cooperation "must be considered one of the significant
achievements of the modern ecumenical movement".

This assessment was offered in a communiqué issued at the end of a
two-day consultation on the mandate and role of the Joint Working Group
(JWG) between the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC. The 17-19 November
2005 consultation was held on the occasion of its 40th anniversary.

Stating that the Group "may not be the only possible alternative to
membership of the Roman Catholic Church in the World Council of Churches,"
the communiqué affirms that "it has proved to be an effective expression
of the desire of both parties for an ongoing collaboration and partnership".

Founded in 1965 following the Second Vatican Council, the JWG is a
consultative body entrusted with initiating, evaluating and sustaining the
many forms of collaboration between its two parent bodies.

Among the areas of concern noted at the consultation, the communiqué
highlights "the communication of the results of its studies, deliberations, and declarations to the parent bodies, the reception of its reports, and
the implementation of its recommendations".

"More attention must be given to exploring effective ways of fostering
reception of ecumenical agreements within the Roman Catholic Church and
among the member churches of the WCC," the communiqué affirms.

Spiritual ecumenism, ecumenical formation, moral issues and new challenges

The consultation, which took place at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey,
Switzerland, the site of the first JWG meeting in 1965, affirmed the JWG's
Eighth Report, covering the period 1999-2005, and its recommendations.

First place among the recommendations is given to "the need to promote a
return to the spiritual roots of ecumenism". What is needed, the report
says, is "a renewed ecumenical spirituality based on the riches of our
respective traditions," which should allow "enriching one another
spiritually, through common prayer and other forms of spiritual sharing".

The second recommendation stresses that "greater effort is needed in the
field of ecumenical formation". The report emphasizes the "importance of
offering young people opportunities to be exposed to traditions other than
their own, especially in shared programmes of formation, mission and
service".

In the third place, and as an area of concern, the report stressed the
need to follow closely the topic of "possibly church-dividing difficulties
encountered in giving common witness in the field of personal and social
moral issues". A list of those issues includes "bio-ethics, human, civil
and religious rights, issues of peace, social justice, healing of
memories, human sexuality and reproduction".

Finally, the report lists a number of "new challenges" that are demanding
a response from Christians and "can be fruitfully examined by the next
JWG". These are "inter-religious dialogue," "religious pluralism and, in
some places, the increasing absence of God in cultural life," "the spread
of modern technology and the power of the media," "the prevalence of
injustice, different forms of violence and the fear induced by international terrorism".

The co-moderators of the Joint Working Group are Bishop Dr Jonas Jonson
(Lutheran), and Archbishop Mario Conti (Roman Catholic). JWG members serve
for seven years, between WCC assemblies; new members will be appointed
after the 9th Assembly scheduled to take place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in
February 2006.

The full text of the communiqué is available at
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/ecumenical/jwg40th-communique.html

Free high-resolution photos of the consultation are available at
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/photo-galleries/meetings/jwg40th/40thanniversary.html

Additional information on the work of the JWG between 1999-2005, as well
as collaborative efforts between the offices and programmes of the WCC and
the PCPCU over the same period are available in the Eighth Report of the
JWG:
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/ecumenical/8thjointworkinggroup.pdf

See also our News Update of 18 November 2005
http://www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/pu-05-31.html

and our Press Release of 9 November 2005
http://www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/pr-05-69.html

This material may be reprinted freely.

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in
more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly,
which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.