The Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission, formally called the Joint International Commission for Dialogue between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church, held a plenary meeting from 22-27 September 2024 in Pocheon, Korea, at the Kwanglim Seminar House, approximately 30 kilometers northeast of the Seoul city center. The commission was established in 1967 as a bilateral theological dialogue between the World Methodist Council and the Catholic Church with the goal of full communion in faith, sacramental life, and mission.
The Commission expresses its deep appreciation and thanks to Bishop Chungsuk Kim and the Kwanglim Methodist Church for hosting the Commission. The Commission also thanks Rev. Soonjung Kwun for organizing the Commission’s local arrangements and the many pastors and lay people from Kwanglim Church who accompanied and cared for the Commission during their meeting. Additionally, the Commission expresses its gratitude to Commission member Dr. Jung Choi for assisting in the Commission’s preparations and program.
The Commission began its meeting on 22 September 2024 with Sunday worship at Kwanglim Methodist Church in Seoul. Kwanglim Church is the largest congregation in the Korean Methodist Church with over 90,000 members. Bishop Chungsuk Kim, senior pastor of the Kwanglim Methodist Church and bishop of the Seoul South Annual Conference of the Korean Methodist Church, hosted the Commission for luncheon following worship. The Commission also visited Jeoldusan Martyrs’ Shrine where Catholic Mass was celebrated.
The Commission dedicated the majority of its meeting to its continuing deliberations on the theme of mission and unity. The Commission focused on missional ecclesiology, unity in diversity, and local experiences of mission and unity.
Over the next year, working groups of the Commission will draft chapters on the common Christian faith, hermeneutics for unity, growth in mutual recognition, diversity of experiences of communion, and proposals for Catholics and Methodists growing together.
The Commission also reviewed revisions to its synthesis document – Together To Holiness – which harvested the fruits of the first 40 years of international Methodist-Catholic dialogue to include materials published by the Commission since 2006. The Commission intends to publish a revised synthesis document which articulates the Christian faith shared by Catholic and Methodists in 2025 to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed.
The Commission received Bishop Hee-Soo Jung of Ohio (The United Methodist Church), Dr. Kyungrim Lee, and Mrs. Yoonju Choi on Thursday, 26 September 2024 at the Kwanglim Seminar House. On a pastoral visit to Korea, Bishop Jung, a Korean immigrant to the United States, spoke powerfully about the need for reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. Dr. Lee and Mrs. Choi shared about their organization ‘SEUM’, a child welfare organization in Seoul to minister to children of incarcerated persons.
On Friday, 27 September, the Commission met with national Methodist and Catholic leaders in Seoul. The Commission visited the headquarters of the Korean Methodist Church and was met by Rev. Yongyoon Lee (chief of staff of the Office of the Council of Bishops), Rev. Dong Hwa Tae (general secretary of the General Board of Missions), and other headquarters staff who shared about the KMC structure, mission, and Christian witness in contemporary Korean society. Following a lunch hosted by the Korean Methodist Church, the Commission visited Chungdong First Methodist Church in Seoul, the first Methodist congregation in Korea, where the Commission learned about the early history of the Methodist Church in Korea and the missionary experience of Rev. Henry Appenzeller. The Rev. Prof. Jong Chun Park, immediate past president of the World Methodist Council, accompanied the Commission on their visit to Chungdong Church and met the Commission following the tour. The Commission then toured the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the cathedral church of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul. The Archdiocese of Seoul hosted a dinner for the Commission, attended by Archbishop Giovanni Gaspari (Apostolic Nuncio in Korea and Mongolia), Bishop Matthias Iong Hoon Ri (president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea and president of the CBCK’s Committee for Promoting Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue), and Bishop Paul Kyung Sang Lee (auxiliary bishop of Seoul).
Three Commission members were unable to attend the meeting due to family and work commitments.
The Commission’s next plenary meeting will be held in San Salvador, El Salvador, 19-25 October 2025.
The Commission is made up of:
Methodist Members
Rev. Prof. Edgardo A. Colón–Emeric (Co-Chair), United States of America
Rev. Matthew A. Laferty (Co-Secretary), Methodist Ecumenical Office, Rome
Dr. Jung Choi, Korea/United States of America
Rev. Prof. Blanches de Paula, Brazil
Prof. Geordan Hammond, United Kingdom
Rev. Prof. Glen O’Brien, Australia
Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri, Malaysia
Prof. Lilian Cheelo Siwila, Zambia/South Africa
Catholic Members
Bishop Shane Mackinlay (Co-Chair), Australia
Rev. Martin Browne OSB (Co-Secretary), Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Rome
Prof. Catherine E. Clifford, Canada
Rev. Prof. Gerard Kelly, Australia
Sr. Prof. Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu DDL, Nigeria
Rev. Prof. Daniel Franklin Pilario CM, Philippines
Rev. Prof. Jorge Scampini OP, Argentina
Dr. Clare Watkins, United Kingdom
Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome 