Catholic church joins national ecumenical councils

New era for Christian unity
by Joanna Moorhead CHRISTIAN unity in Britain will enter a new era this weekend when, for the first time, the Catholic church formally declares its willingness to work alongside other churches on national ecumenical councils.
The Catholic church will be represented on three new ecumenical bodies being inaugurated this weekend in England, Wales and Scotland. They, along with the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland which comes into being in eight days' time, replace the British Council of Churches, a group which the Catholic church declined to join for decades.
A view from inside and out, page 5 As a visible sign of his commitment to the work of the new ecumenical groups being set up, Cardinal Basil Hume will attend the inauguration in St George's Cathedral, Southwark, tomorrow of Churches Together in England (CTE), of which he is one of four presidentsdesignate. The following weekend, he is almost certain to be elected one of six presidents of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland (CCBI) at that body's inaugural meeting in Liverpool.
The general secretary of CCBI, the Revd John Reardon, said this week that the events of the next two weekends would be "extremely important" in the history of ecumenism in the British Isles. "The bodies which are being set up are the ones through which the churches will demonstrate their commitment to one another and their willingness to work as closely as possible together," he said.
The areas of closer cooperation likely to result from the new organisations included evangelisation, said Mr Reardon. "Increasingly, all the churches are going to want to do the work of evangelisation together and will want to learn from one another."
Christian ecology groups, and justice and peace networks, were 'so likely to feel the effects of closer co-operation, he said. And education, prayer and worship would also become the focus for closer ties.
Mr Reardon said it was also possible that statements on public and international affairs would in future be issued jointly by all the churches.
The other regional bodies, Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), and Churches Together in Wales (known by the initials of its Welsh translation, CYTUN) will be inaugurated at services at Aberystwyth University and Dunblane Church of Scotland cathedral. Among the Catholic representatives in Aberystwyth will be Archbishop John Ward of Cardiff and Bishop Daniel Mullins of Menevia, who will give the address at CYTUN's first meeting. The Scottish event will be attended by Bishop Mario Conti of Aberdeen.
Seven days later Cardinal Hume and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, will be among a plethora of church dignitaries who will gather in Liverpool for the opening ceremony of the CCBI.
The proceedings, on Saturday September 8, will begin with a service at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, followed by a procession along Hope Street to the Catholic Cathedral.