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World Methodist Council Leaders Meet Pope Francis – December 2024

December 16, 2024December 18, 2024meorome

ROME (MEOR) – The president of the World Methodist Council Bishop Dr. Debra Wallace-Padgett and WMC general secretary Rev. Dr. Reynaldo Ferreira Leao Neto met Pope Francis in private audience on Monday, 16 December 2024. They were accompanied by the Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome. Cardinal Kurt Koch and Fr. Martin Browne OSB from the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the Rev. Lee Padgett were also in attendance.

In welcoming Bishop Wallace-Padgett and Dr. Neto, Pope Francis said, “for a long time, Methodists and Catholics were estranged and wary of each other. Today, however, we can thank God, that for almost 60 years, we have been progressing together in reciprocal knowledge, understanding, and love.”

Pope Francis addressing the delegation from the World Methodist Council in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on 16 December 2024. Photo by Vatican Media.

Pope Francis continued, saying, “opening ourselves to one another has brought us closer and made us realize that reconciliation is a task of the heart. When the Heart of the Lord Jesus touches our hearts, he transforms us. This is how our communities will be able to unite their differing minds and wills in order to let themselves be guided by the Spirit as brothers and sisters.”

Bishop Wallace-Padgett responded to Pope Francis by thanking him for the warm welcome. She remarked that Catholics and Methodists share a common faith in Jesus Christ and are called to work together. She reminded Pope Francis of the commitment of the World Methodist Council to migrants and refugees and accompanying its member churches as they minister to and with migrants. She also reaffirmed the WMC’s commitment to the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome as a central conduit of the relationship between the WMC and the Catholic Church. She thanked Pope Francis for welcoming MEOR’s director Rev. Matthew A. Laferty.

Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett presenting Pope Francis a reproduction of a portrait of Mary Bosanquet Fletcher. Photo by Vatican Media.

The delegation presented several gifts to Pope Francis. The gifts included:

a reproduction of a portrait of Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, a leader and preacher in the early Methodist societies in England,
a photograph of Dinka women in South Sudan returning home from work by Methodist photojournalist Paul Jeffrey,
a book of Wesley hymns in Spanish, and
a contemporary Methodist prayer book.

Following the presentation of gifts, the group prayed the Lord’s Prayer together.

Pope Francis last met with the WMC president and general secretary, along with the WMC steering committee and Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission, in October 2017 for the 50th anniversary of the international Methodist-Catholic dialogue. In 2017 the Rev. Dr. Jong Chun Park and Bishop Ivan Abrahams were president and general secretary respectively.

Dr. Park was a fraternal delegate to the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church in 2023 and 2024 and met Pope Francis in private audience on several occasions.

Bishop Wallace-Padgett and Dr. Neto were elected to their offices in August 2024 at the World Methodist Council meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden. They are visiting Rome from 16 -19 December 2024 on their first inaugural visit to Rome and the Vatican. In addition to their meeting with Pope Francis, they have meetings planned with various Vatican offices, leaders of the Methodist and Waldensian churches, members of the diplomatic corp, and Catholic organizations based in Rome.

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.

Methodist and Reformed Offices Host Luncheon for Synod Fraternal Delegates

October 15, 2024October 29, 2024meorome

The Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome and the Reformed Churches Ecumencial Office in Rome hosted a luncheon on 11 October 2024 for the fraternal delegates to the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, commonly known as the Synod on Synodality. In addition to the delegates from Protestant and Orthodox churches, the luncheon also included H.Em. Cardinal Mario Grech and Sr. Nathalie Becquart XMCJ from the General Secretariat of the Synod, Brothers Alois, Matthew, and Richard from the Taize Community, Ms. Margaret Karram from the Focolare Movement, Pastor Luca Baratto from the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy, and Fr. James Loughran from Centro Pro Unione. Also in attendance was H.E. Mons. Flavio Pace and Fr. Martin Browne OSB from the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promoting Christian Unity.

The luncheon was held in Hotel Casa Valdese near the Vatican. The Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, noted that Casa Valdese is one place in Rome where the Methodists and Reformed meet, as the hotel is owned by the Methodist-Waldensian Church in Italy, a union of Methodist and Reformed churches.

As the luncheon was held on the 62nd anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Rev. Laferty read a short excerpt from Methodist Observer at Vatican II by Albert C. Outler. Outler was one of the official Methodist observers to the Second Vatican Council. Rev. Laferty concluded with Outler’s words:

What could come of such a Church in council? Some of us expected very little. None of us foresaw what actually happened.

Rev. Laferty said the Synod on Synodality holds the same sentiment and hoped that the Synod would positively impact the ecumenical movement like the Second Vatican Council.

Rev. Tara Curlewis, the ecumenical liaison officer of the Reformed Churches Ecumenical Office, also welcomed the guests and thanked them for their contributions to the Synod. She discussed how the Synod is already guiding the work of Christian unity and pointing us to deeper communion. She offered a blessing before the meal.

Photo gallery: Various photos from the luncheon. Photos by Tara Curlewis/WCRC.

Photo top: Rev. Laferty, Cardinal Mario Grech, Sr. Nathalie Becquart, Rev. Curlewis. Photo by Dirk Lange/LWF.

Methodists Worldwide Represented at Important Vatican Synod

October 14, 2024October 19, 2024meorome

ROME (MEOR) – The Catholic Church has convened an important synod in the Vatican on 4 October with Catholic bishops, priests, and lay people from around the world. Pope Francis invited 16 delegates from Protestant and Orthodox churches to attend and participate in in the Synod on Synodality. The Reverend Prof. Jong Chun Park, immediate past president of the World Methodist Council, is representing Methodists at the 4 week-long meeting.

In October 2021, Pope Francis initiated a multi-year process of listening and consultation across the Catholic Church, instructing every diocese worldwide to engage Catholic parishes, other churches, different religions, and people living on the margins in listening and discernment. The synodal journey emphasizes communion, participation, and mission.

The process culminated in the Synod on Synodality, a two-part international meeting of laity, clergy, and bishops meeting in Rome in October 2023 and October 2024. Pope Francis attends many of the sessions as he will confirm the outcomes of the Synod.

Prof. Park shares about the work of the Synod following the inaugural session of the second plenary on 4 October:

Prof. Park made an intervention, or plenary speech, in the Synod proceedings on 11 October. In his speech, Prof. Park contextualizes his listening to the Holy Spirit within Korea’s Confucius and Buddhist heritage. Prof. Park said, “the Holy Spirit urges me to listen to Confucius for the sake of Christ in order to be a more faithful person as I witness Christian faith.” He went on to say that listening to the teachings of Buddha enables him to be a more merciful person as he shares Christian love. Finally, Prof. Park noted that the 19th century Korean sage Suwun “illuminates my darkened soul….to be a more hopeful person as I witness Christian hope….Soo-on is the one who gave [the Korean people] a hope which echoes a vision of the hopeful St. Paul’s new creation.”

Following his plenary speech, Prof. Park spoke about the Synod, its methodology, and work during the second week:

The proceedings of the Synod are confidential. A concluding report with recommendations will be drafted in the week of 20 October by a commission appointed by the Synod. This commission includes Bishop Shane Mackinlay and Prof. Catherine Clifford who are both members of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission.

The Synod will be closed on 27 October with Catholic Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. After the Synod, a new phase of work will be initated for the reception of the Synod’s work.

Photo above: Prof. Jong Chun Park (left) with Pope Francis (right) on 11 October inside the Hall of Paul VI inside the Vatican. Photo by Vatican Media.