ecumenism – Page 6 – Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome

MEOR Oversight Committee Concludes Biennial Meeting – November 2024

November 29, 2024December 3, 2024meorome

ROME (MEOR) – MEOR’s oversight committee met in Rome on 26-27 November 2024 for its biennial meeting. The committee – called The Forum – meets twice a year and gives “attention to the following functions including receiving regular reports from the Director, approving an annual work plan, [and] authorising new initiatives after consultation.”

The meeting focused on long-term planning and strengthening institutional partnerships. The Forum reaffirmed MEOR’s fourfold mission – 1) ecumenical dialogue, 2) joint action for peace and justice, 3) prayer and reflection, and 4) hospitality – as foundational for the next planning cycle (2024-2029). The Forum heard reports from the various stakeholders about their financial contributions for the coming years. Additionally, the stakeholders discussed the use of the MEOR premises in Via del Banco di Santo Spirito and maximizing its utilization.

The Forum received a report from the Director on his activities and plans for the coming months. A finance report was also presented.

The Forum elected Rev. Dr. Reynaldo Ferreira Leao Neto, general secretary of the World Methodist Council, and Rev. Luca Anziani, president of the Evangelical Methodist Churches in Italy, as co-chairs for 2025.

The Revd Michaela Youngson, who served as co-chair from 2021-2024, was thanked for her service. Dr. Neto presented Rev. Youngson a gift – an icon of Mary and Elizabeth embracing – on behalf of the World Methodist Council for her leadership and commitment to MEOR.

The Forum attended the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on 27 November where they briefly met Pope Francis afterward. They also visited the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, the Vatican’s ecumenical department, on the same day, where they were welcomed by Abp. Flavio Pace, Dicastery secretary, and met with Fr Martin Browne OSB, official for relations with Methodists.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Mujinga, general secretary of the Africa Methodist Council, and Rev. Tara Curlewis, ecumenical liaison officer of the Reformed Churches Ecumenical Office, joined the Forum for dinner on 26 November or 27 November respectively.

Members participating in the meeting were Rev. Dr. Leo Neto, Rev. Micky Youngson, Rev. Steven Cooper, Rev. Luca Anziani, Rev. Dr. Heather Morris, Rev. Dr. Jean Hawxhurst (online), and Rev. Matthew A. Laferty. Dr. Paul Dimmock provided staff support for the meeting.

The Forum will meet again in March 2025 in an online format.

The Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome is the representation office and ecumenical formation center of the World Methodist Council in Rome, working for for ecumenical dialogue, joint action for peace and justice, prayer and reflection, and hospitality.

Photo: The MEOR Forum and Dr. Martin Mujinga (third right) with Fr. Martin Browne OSB (center) in the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity on 27 November 2024. Photo by B. Sarkis/DPCU.

MEOR Welcomes Africa Methodist Council General Secretary – November 2024

November 28, 2024November 29, 2024meorome

ROME (MEOR) – The Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome welcomed the Rev. Dr. Martin Mujinga from 22-27 November 2024.

Dr. Mujinga is the general secretary of the Africa Methodist Council since 2024. The Africa Methodist Council was established in 2015 as the pan-African association of Methodist, Wesleyan, and related Uniting and United Churches. AMC is comprised of 44 African churches and works for Methodist unity in witness, facilitating mission in the African continent, and fostering ecumenical and inter-religious activities, all with the aim to enhance Methodism within Africa and promote the unity of Methodist families in Africa. Dr. Mujinga is a minister in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe and was his church’s general secretary (2021-2023) prior to his election in leadership in the Africa Methodist Council.

Dr. Mujinga spoke on migration and identity on 23 November during an ecumenical panel at the international symposium “World Christianity in an Era of Accelerated Mobility,” co-hosted by the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the Tavola Valdese, and the Waldensian School of Theology in Rome.

Rev. Dr. Martin Mujinga (second right) presents on migration and identity at the international symposium “World Christianity in an Era of Accelerated Mobility” on 23 November 2024. Photo by M. Laferty/MEOR.

He attended Sunday worship at Ponte Sant’Angelo Methodist Church near the Vatican where he gave the final blessing with Rev. Dr. Reynaldo Ferreira Leao Neto, general secretary of the World Methodist Council. Rev. Sarah Mae Gabuyo, pastor of Ponte Sant’Angelo Methodist Church, presented Dr. Mujinga a small gift on behalf of the congregation.

Rev. Sarah Mae Gabuyo (center) presents Dr. Mujinga (right) and Rev. Dr. Reynaldo Ferreira Leao Neto (left), general secretary of the World Methodist Council, gifts during the Sunday worship service at Ponte Sant’Angelo Methodist Church on 24 November 2024. Photo by M. Laferty/MEOR.

MEOR organized several visits for Dr. Mujinga during his stay in Rome with Director Matthew A. Laferty accompanying:

Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy and Rev. Luca Baratto, FPCI executive secretary,
Via XX Settembre Methodist Church in Rome and Rev. Mirella Manocchio, pastor,
Sant’Egidio Community where Dr. Mujinga and Director Laferty also attended evening prayer marking the declaration of the martyrdom of Floribert Bwana Chui, and
the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls and the tomb of the Apostle Paul.

Dr. Mujinga joined the MEOR Forum to attend the General Audience with Pope Francis on 27 November where Dr. Mujinga briefly met Pope Francis following the event. He also visited the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity with the Forum.

Dr. Mujinga’s trip was supported by the World Communion of Reformed Churches, World Methodist Council, and Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome.

Banner photo: Rev. Matthew Laferty, Rev. Dr. Leo Neto, and Rev. Dr. Martin Mujinga on 23 November 2024 in Rome.

Groups Visit MEOR During First Week of November 2024

November 8, 2024November 9, 2024meorome

Several groups visited the MEOR offices during the first week of November 2024.

A group of Methodist, Lutheran, and Catholic volunteers from Infopoint Kirchen – Offener Himmel in Salzburg, Austria, visited Rev. Matthew A. Laferty and the offices of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome on Wednesday, 6 November 2024, where Rev. Laferty shared about MEOR’s ministry of ecumenial dialogue, cooperation, and hospitality. ‘Offener Himmel’ is an ecumenical project of the Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg and the churches of the Ecumenical Working Group of Salzburg. The Rev. Dorothee Büürma, pastor of the Salzburg United Methodist Church, led the group.

On the same day, Pope Francis greeted the group following the Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, accompanied by Rev. Laferty.

Rev. Laferty also welcomed Rev. Steve Stockman and Fr. Martin Magill from the 4 Corners Festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 6 November 2024. The 4 Corners Festival seeks to inspire people from across Belfast to transform it for the peace and wellbeing of all. It features innovative events designed to entice people out of their own ‘corners’ of the city and into new places where they will encounter new perspectives, new ideas and hopefully meet new friends.

Rev. Steve Stockman, Rev. Laferty, Fr. Martin Magill

Rev. Laferty also arranged several visits for Rev. Stockman, Fr. Magill, and their group, including a meeting with the Irish ambassador to the Holy See Ms. Frances Collins on Wednesday, 6 November 2024.

A group from Christians Aware visited the MEOR offices on 7 November 2024 on their ecumenical pilgrimage in Rome. Director Matthew A. Laferty met the group and shared about MEOR’s ministry, Methodist-Catholic dialogue, and ecumenism in Rome.

Christians Aware is a network of individuals and groups including Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Society of Friends and United Reformed Church Members who link in with local churches and communities around the world. It offers varied opportunities for listening encounters, learning and reflection, so that understanding and trust may grow between people who may then work together to overcome injustices.

Top photo: Pope Francis greeting (l-r) Ms. Margit Wallner, Rev. Dorothee Büürma, and Rev. Matthew A. Laferty in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on 6 November 2024. Photo by Vatican Media.

Rev. Prof. Jong Chun Park Shares Videos About Experiences of the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality

October 30, 2024November 2, 2024meorome

The Reverend Prof. Jong Chun Park spent October 2024 in Rome at the invitation of Pope Francis as a fraternal delegate (or non-Catholic delegate) representing the World Methodist Council to the Catholic Church’s 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Prof. Park, immediate past president of the World Methodist Council, participated in all aspects and deliberations of the Synod except voting. Prof. Park is a theologian from Korea, former seminary president, and pastor in the Korean Methodist Church.

During his four-week residency in October 2024, Prof. Park made four short videos about the work of the Synod and his experiences thereof.

In his first video, Prof. Park speaks from the Hall of Paul VI in the Vatican as the Synod opened on Wednesday, 4 October 2024.

Prof. Jong Chun Park in this second video shares briefly about how the Synod’s work is structured and the topics explored in first two weeks of the Synod on Synodality.

In his third video, Prof. Park speaks about ‘Places’ – the theme of the third week of the Synod on Synodality – and the role of primacy in the synodal process.

The Rev. Prof. Jong Chun Park talks about the final document of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church in his final video from Rome. The Synod approved the final document on Saturday, 26 October 2024, and it was immediately ratified by Pope Francis. In this 5 minute video, Prof. Park lays out the structure of the final document and gives brief commentary on the various sections.

All of Prof. Park’s videos are available on the MEOR channel on YouTube.

Director Laferty, Prof. Park Participate in Ecumenical Prayer Vigil in Historic Square in the Vatican During Synod on Synodality

October 15, 2024October 28, 2024meorome

ROME (MEOR) – On 11 October 2024, the Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, and the Rev. Prof. Jong Chun Park, immediate past president of the World Methodist Council, participated in an ecumenical prayer vigil in the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs in the Vatican. The square commemorates where the Apostle Peter was executed. The prayer vigil was held on the 62nd anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council for delegates and experts to the 16th Ordindary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, called the Synod on Synodality. The service was led the fraternal delegates to the Synod along with permanent representatives of Christian world communions in Rome and local Roman ecumenical leaders. Prof. Park is the fraternal delegate to the Synod and Rev. Laferty represents the World Methodist Council in Rome.

Pope Francis preached, saying

the unity of Christians is essential to their witness: unity is for the sake of mission….the unity of Christians is essential to their witness: unity is for the sake of mission. “That they may all be one… so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). This was the conviction of the Council Fathers when they declared that our division “scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature” (Unitatis Reintegratio, 1). The ecumenical movement evolved from the desire to bear common witness: to witness alongside one another, not standing apart from or, worse yet, at odds with one another. In this place, the Roman protomartyrs remind us that today too, in many parts of the world, Christians of different traditions are laying down their lives together for their faith in Jesus Christ, embodying an ecumenism of blood. Their witness speaks more powerfully than any words, because unity is born of the Cross of the Lord.

Rev. Laferty and Prof. Park assisted in leading prayers.

Rev. Laferty (left) processing into the Square of Roman Protomartyrs with Pope Francis and other ecumenical leaders. Photo by Vatican Media.
Rev. Prof. Jong Chun Park leads prayers during the ecumenical prayer vigil. Photo by Vatican Media.
Rev. Laferty (right) and Rev. Paul Tche of the Disciples of Christ (left) leading prayers as Pope Francis looks on. Photo by Vatican Media.