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Press Release No. 11/18e

27.06.11 11:37

Points of Convergence on the Unity of the Church 
 

“With the Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to the witness of Holy Scripture and as expressed in the ecumenical Nicene –Constantinopolitan Creed of 381, we believe in the Triune God: Father Son and Holy Spirit . Because we here confess “one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church “ our paramount ecumenical task is to show forth this unity , which is always a gift of God”. (Charta Oecumenica 1)  

The Churches in Dialogue Commission of the Conference of European Churches held a Consultation on “Visions of Unity in our churches – Points of Convergence” at Ráday College, Budapest from 22-23 June 2011.  

The task of the consultation was to try to discern points of convergence in the conception of the unity of the Church as the main goal of the ecumenical movement. Five papers were presented on the positions of different traditions regarding visions of unity and points of convergence:  the perspectives presented were by: Dr Walter Klaiber (Methodist); Dr Martyn Davie (Anglican); Rev. Prof. Dr Viorel Ionita (Orthodox); Prof. Dr Annemarie C. Mayer (Roman Catholic); and Prof. Dr Friederike Nüssel (Lutheran/Reformed).  From these papers eight points of convergence were identified:

1. The Unity of the Church is from God, it is the gift of the Holy Spirit…
2.  Unity demands expression in live and mission…
3. Between ecclesial and Eucharistic community there is an organic link…
4. Christian identities are rich gifts of God to be shared with each other…
5. The Search for unity always exists in a particular context…
6. “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic” is the starting point of the theological reflection on unity…
7. The unity of the Church also requires both conciliar fellowship and mutual reception of conciliar decisions by the churches…
8. Using the same terms does not always lead to or reflect common understanding…

Click here to see the full text of the Report from the consultation.

The Report ends urging the churches to commit themselves:

“to follow the Apostolic exhortation of the letter to the Ephesians and persevere in seeking a common understanding of Christ’s message of salvation in the Gospel; in the power of the Holy Spirit, to work towards the visible unity of the Church of Jesus Christ in the one Faith ,expressed in the mutual recognition of baptism and in Eucharistic fellowship as well as in common witness and service”. (Charta Oecumenica 1)

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PDF file of this press release 

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 120 Anglican, Orthodox, Protestant, and Old Catholic Churches from all countries of Europe, and of 40 associated organisations. CEC was founded in 1959. It has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg. 

For more information:
CEC General Secretariat
Phone +41 22 791 62 28
Fax +41 22 791 62 27
e-mail: GenSecretariat@remove-mecec-kek.org

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