WCC NEWS: Progress cited in Faith and Order agenda

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World Council of Churches - News

PROGRESS CITED IN FAITH AND ORDER AGENDA

For immediate release: 25 July 2011

WCC Faith and Order director Rev. Canon Dr John Gibaut today cited
progress in the work of the Faith and Order Commission at the annual
meeting of its standing commission outside Milan.

“While it will be two years before the work of the commissioners in
Gazzada will take effect, this meeting will be regarded as a watershed in
the recent history of Faith and Order,” said Gibaut.

From 16 to 20 July 2011, the WCC’s Faith and Order Standing Commission
met at the Villa Cagnola, Gazzada Schianno, Italy, hosted by the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The 34 members of the Standing Commission came from 26 different countries
around the world, representing a dozen church families from the WCC member
churches and beyond.

The Commission made significant progress in bringing its three major
studies (Moral Discernment in the Churches, Sources of Authority, and
Ecclesiology) to the next stages before the 2013 Bussan Assembly,
according to Gibaut. The Commission considered a first draft of a text on
the Church to succeed The Nature and Mission of the Church
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=a82375f17878327a7794 ) (2005).

To enhance its visibility and effectiveness, a plan for a major
restructuring of the Commission on Faith and Order was also discussed and
approved in principle. The plan—which proposes a smaller, single
commission to replace the current structures of a Standing and Plenary
Commission—will be further refined in preparation for final approval by
the Standing Commission and the WCC Central Committee in 2012.

Members of the Commission attended Sunday Mass at the local Catholic parish
in Gazzada, where they were welcomed by clergy and people. The Commission
was welcomed to the Archdiocese of Milan by the Most Revd Luigi Stucchi,
auxiliary bishop, together with ecumenical guests from Milan.

Commission on Faith and Order (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=d140c0d24aafc3162f06 )

Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=91f611bc0d761300df81 )


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship 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 Olav Fykse Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.



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