Five fraternal delegates to the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church, called the Synod on Synodality, share their experiences during a webinar on 20 January 2025.
The speakers were: H.Em. Metropolitan Job (Getcha) of Pisidia from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Rev. Prof. Jong Chun Park from the World Methodist Council, Dr. Elizabeth Newman from the Baptist World Alliance, Rev. Dr. Opoku Onyinah from the Pentecostal World Fellowship, and Rev. Dr. Hanns Lessing from the World Communion of Reformed Churches.
Prof. Catherine Clifford from St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Synod delegate from North America, moderated the webinar.
The webinar was sponsored by the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, Legation of the Armenian Church to the Holy See, Anglican Centre in Rome, and Reformed Churches Ecumenical Office in Rome to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome 