wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Patriarch Bartholomew: Have one foot in the past and one in the future

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 7/10/2009 6:38:07 

>ONE FOOT IN THE PAST AND ONE IN THE FUTURE

Because unity is finally a gift of God, "it demands a profound
sense of humility and not any prideful insistence." With this
call to the "never-ending search" for unity of the church, which
"is also an ever-unfolding journey", Patriarch Bartholomew I
opened the 7-14 October meeting of the Faith and Order Plenary
Commission, in Kolympari, Crete, Greece.

In his opening address to the 152 theologians attending the
event, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, a former
member of Faith and Order, also highlighted the importance of a
double conversion, namely turning both "toward the past and the
future".

"It is crucial that we learn from the early Fathers and Mothers
of the Church", and "from those who – in each generation –
maintained the integrity and intensity of the Apostolic faith."

"At the same time, we should turn our attention to the future, to
the age to come, toward the heavenly kingdom." This
"eschatological" perspective should offer "a way out of the
impasse of provincialism and confessionalism".

This understanding of Christian unity "permits us to discern the
areas of our common ministry and united mission", he said, before
mentioning "preservation of creation" and "promotion of tolerance
and understanding among religions and people in our world" as
major concerns for the church.

Crete has already hosted one meeting of the Faith and Order
Standing Commission, in 1984. This time the Plenary Commission,
which meets every 7 years, is being hosted at the Orthodox
Academy of Crete and is honoured by the presence of the
Ecumenical Patriarch.

As in the rest of Greece, the vast majority of the population is
Orthodox. For historical reasons, the Archdiocese of Crete does
not belong to the Church of Greece and is under the direct
jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate was among the first churches to
participate in the development of the modern ecumenical movement,
and it is particularly known for its Encyclical to "All the
Churches of Christ", issued in 1920, in which it called for the
formation of a worldwide fellowship of churches. It is a founding
member of the WCC. The patriarchate is also involved in the
coordination of inter-Orthodox relations.

During this meeting, the Commission will focus its theological
search for Christian unity on three main topics: how churches
understand the "one church" (ecclesiology), how they relate to
their sources of authority, and how they use these sources to
make decisions in the area of moral discernment. The overall
theme of the meeting is "Called to be the One Church: that they
may become one in your hand."

In his sermon at opening prayers, the WCC general secretary, Rev
Dr. Samuel Kobia, encouraged participants to "work in love".

"You may reach an agreement this week on the place of the
teachers and early witnesses of the Church. You may find an
agreement this week on how best to proceed on questions on moral
discernment in the Churches. You may arrive at a clear, fresh
direction on how to proceed on the work of ecclesiology. But if
these things are not done in love, then they are merely clever",
he warned.

>More on the Crete meeting:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/crete2009

Full text of the Ecumenical Patriarch’s address:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=7208

Full text of the general secretary’s sermon:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=7207

>More on churches in Crete:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=7191

More on the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4874

>More on the Orthodox Academy of Crete:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=7191#c27774

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

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just anfellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.