Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome

Public Conversation with Archbishop Shane Mackinlay – June 2026

June 26, 2026meorome

The Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome and the Caravita Community held a public conversation with Archbishop Shane Mackinlay of Brisbane on 25 June 2026. Over 30 people attended the public conversation which focused on “Ecumenical Relations on the Journey of Synodality.” Abp. Shane is the Catholic co-chair of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission, the official dialogue commission between the World Methodist Council and the Catholic Church. He was also a participant in the 2023 and 2024 plenary sessions of the Synod on Synodality of the Catholic Church. During his remarks, Abp. Shane wove together his experiences of Methodist-Catholic dialogue and the Synod on Synodality to reflect on the Catholic Church’s efforts to be a more synodal church, the role of bilateral dialogue between Methodists and Catholics in synodality, and the centrality of ecumenism in the church.

The event was held at Via XX Settembre Methodist Church in Rome.

Wesley Seminary Students Visit MEOR – June 2026

June 26, 2026June 26, 2026meorome

Students from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. met the Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome and the WMC representative to the Holy See, on Thursday, 25 June 2026. He shared with them about MEOR’s ministries, 21st century ecumenism, Methodist-Catholic international dialogue, and intra-Methodist relations.

He also accompanied them during their visit to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

Rev. Laferty Gives Overview of “God in Christ Reconciling”

June 26, 2026July 8, 2026meorome

The Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, offered an overview of “God in Christ Reconciling: On the Way to Full Communion in Faith, Sacraments, and Mission,” the 11th report from the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission, to the 2026 Conference of the Methodist Church in Britain. The video was aired on 26 June 2026 for the Conference’s the Presbyterial Session.

Public Conversation on “Ecumenical Relations on the Journey of Synodality” by Abp. Shane Mackinlay on 25 June 2026

June 2, 2026June 19, 2026meorome

The Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome and the Caravita Community invite you to a public conversation with Archbishop Shane Mackinlay of Brisbane on Thursday, 25 June 2026 at 7:00 PM/19:00.

The event will be held in a conversation-style format as Archbishop Shane shares on the topic “Ecumenical Relations on the Journey of Synodality,” sharing about the role of Christian unity in the Catholic Church’s ongoing process of more synodal church.

The event will be one hour and will be held in English.

The event will be held on Thursday, 25 June 2026 at 19:00 (Rome) at the Via Venti Settembre Methodist Church, located at Via Venti Settembre 122, 00187 Rome.

Via Venti Settembre Methodist Church

About Archbishop Shane Mackinlay

Archbishop Shane Mackinlay was born in Melbourne in 1965 and attended the local government school until his family moved to Ballarat in 1975. In Ballarat, he was a student at St Francis Xavier Primary School and St Patrick’s College, where he was dux in 1982. He has two siblings and is the uncle of five nieces and nephews.

He studied for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College, Clayton, completing theology studies at Catholic Theological College and a degree in physics at Monash University. As a deacon, he served in the parish of Warrnambool, before being ordained as priest for the Ballarat Diocese in 1991, and serving in the parishes of Hamilton, Colac and Ballarat Cathedral. He then undertook graduate studies in philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, where he completed a Master’s degree and a doctorate. His doctoral thesis was published by Fordham University Press.

Archbishop Mackinlay was administrator of the Casterton parish for six months and parish priest of the Sebastopol parish for four years. He was parish priest of the Bungaree parish from 2005 until his appointment as bishop; from 2009, he also provided weekend sacramental ministry for the neighbouring parish of Gordon.

For several years, he taught philosophy at Australian Catholic University, Ballarat. Most of his teaching has taken place at Catholic Theological College, Melbourne, where he was appointed Master in 2011. The following year, he was appointed Associate Professor by the University of Divinity.

He was secretary to the Bishop of Ballarat from 1998 to 2001 and was the Chairperson of the Bishop’s Advisory Council of the Ballarat Diocese from its establishment in 2009. He was a member of the College of Consultors of the Ballarat Diocese on two occasions and also served as chair of the two funds that provide support to the active and retired priests of the diocese. From 2012 to 2014 he was the spokesperson for the Catholic Church during the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Non-Government Organisations

Pope Francis appointed Bishop Mackinlay as the eighth Bishop of Sandhurst on 23 July 2019. Since then, he has been elected as Vice-President of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia and as one of the Australian members of the Synod for a Synodal Church. In 2019, he was asked to join the Methodist–Roman Catholic International Commission, and in 2022 was appointed as its Co-Chair.

Archbishop Shane Mackinlay of the Sandhurst Diocese succeeded Archbishop Mark Coleridge and was installed as Archbishop on September 11, 2025, thus commencing his episcopal ministry in the Archdiocese of Brisbane.

MEOR Director Participates in Italian Methodist Gathering – May 2026

June 1, 2026June 19, 2026meorome

The Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome and representative of the World Methodist Council to the Holy See, attended the annual Italian Methodist consultation, held from 29-31 May 2026 at the Methodist retreat center Ecumene in Velletri outside Rome.

Each year, clergy and laity from Methodist churches in Italy gathering May for a time of worship, fellowship, and discussion. The Evangelical Methodist Churches in Italy united with the Waldensian Evangelical Church in 1975 and now have one synod, one set of church order, and a shared identity. In the union, the Methodists were a minority and were permitted to maintain their own international and ecumenical relations as well as their own patrimony. The annual consultation does not have decision-making authority but recommends decisions to the Permanent Committee of the Evangelical Methodist Churches in Italy and the Synod of the Methodist-Waldensian Church.

The 2026 consultation received reports from the Permanent Committee of the Evangelical Methodist Churches in Italy with a particular focus on their international Methodist relations, reflected on migration in Europe and the gift of multiculturalism to the Italian Methodist churches, heard historical reflections on the development of Methodism in Italy, and commemorated the legacy of U.S. pastor and civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rev. Laferty who is a member of the Synod of the Methodist-Waldensian Church in Italy commented, “the annual Methodist Consultation remains a critical instrument of the Methodist-Waldensian union by preserving and promoting Methodist identity in Italy. I am grateful for the opportunity to attend this auspicious gathering and to reconnect with Methodist pastors and lay persons from across Italy.”