November was a busy month for Director Matthew A. Laferty.
The Director attended the North Central Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church, meeting 2-5 November 2022 in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
He participated in a special meeting organized by the brothers of the Taize Community on the theme of synodality from 13-15 November in Taize, France.
On 16 November, Director Matthew A. Laferty chaired a session of the academic conference “Roma (a)cattolica. Pluralisation of Religion in Rome between the End of the Papal State and the Beginning of Fascism (1870-1922)” sponsored by the German Historical Institute in Rome, Centro Melantone (Institute for Ecumenical Studies), the Waldensian Faculty of Theology, the Anglican Centre, and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
The Forum – the MEOR oversight committee – met on 18-19 November in Rome. During the annual meeting, the Forum received the Director’s annual report, reviewed MEOR finances, and developed strategic plans for the future.
The Director preached at Christ Church Lutheran in Rome for Eternity Sunday (Ewigkeitssonntag), 20 November 2022. The congregation remembers those who dead in the past year on the last Sunday before Advent, a German Protestant tradition dating back to 1816.
The Director is a member of the national dialogue commission between the Methodist Church in Britain and the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of England & Wales and Scotland. The commission met in Crewe, United Kingdom, from 22-23 November 2022. The subject of the meeting was ordained ministry and authority. Director Laferty presented an overview of the recent report of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission – God in Christ Reconciling: On the Way to Full Commission in Faith, Sacrament, and Mission.
The Director attended a Solemn Mass for the Feast of St. Andrew at the Pontifical Scots College in Rome on 30 November 2022. Cardinal Arthur Roche preached and presided.
Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome 