News

On Wednesday 12 January 2021, the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (OEIA) of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, organized an online meeting on the ecumenical dimension of the synodal process.

On 11 January, a Steering Committee meeting was held online in order to prepare for the first session of the sixth phase of the International Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Disciples of Christ, scheduled to take place in June 2022, in Kentucky, USA. The Disciples of Christ will host this plenary session.

Pro Oriente and the Institute for Ecumenical Studies (IES) of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) are organizing two international academic conferences on synodality in the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions.

“The Spirit of God never ceases to work and to give rise to creators of fraternity, solidarity and unity,” writes Cardinal Parolin in a message conveying Pope Francis’ greetings and prayers for young people of the Taizé Community.

In his Christmas message of the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, invites the faithful entrust themselves to God's love, which helps overcome fears. There is also a strong call to be merciful and firm in the faith, especially at a time of pandemic.

Metropolitan Hilarion meets with Pope Francis on Wednesday ahead of the weekly General Audience, to discuss various issues of common concern among the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Churches.

The Orthodox Primate, Ieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, pays a courtesy visit to Pope Francis at the Apostolic Nunciature to bid him farewell.

Catholics in Greece are praising Pope Francis’ visit as offering the opportunity for a new highwater mark for ecumenical relations with the Orthodox majority.

His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece welcomes Pope Francis to the Orthodox Archbishopric of Greece in Athens. With a spirit of brotherhood and mutual respect, both leaders express their good wishes for each other looking at ways to face the challenges and hopes of today.

Pope Francis meets with Rabbi Arie Zeev Raskin and through him, extends a greeting to the Jewish community in Cyprus.

The Orthodox Metropolitan Vasilios of Constantia and Famagusta is one of the Orthodox leaders welcoming Pope Francis to Cyprus.

Pope Francis concludes his Apostolic Journey to Cyprus with an Ecumenical Prayer service with migrants, where he reflects on God’s dream for a “world of peace, in which all His children live as brothers and sisters.”

On the second day of his visit to Cyprus, Pope Francis meets with the Holy Synod of the Cypriot Orthodox Church. During his address, the Pope underlined the common bonds between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and his desire to deepen ecumenical dialogue, taking as his model St Barnabas.

Pope Francis expresses his spiritual closeness to Patriarch Bartholomew in a letter for the feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, celebrated on 30 November, the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. 

Pope Francis welcomes a group of young Lutherans on an ecumenical pilgrimage from Germany to Rome.

Pope Francis sends a congratulatory letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I as he marks the 30th anniversary of his election as the Archbishop of Constantinople.

Pope Francis highlights the importance of dialogue in the service of communion and synodality in his address to members of the St. Iranaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group.

While visiting Rome for a series of meetings with Pope Francis and other religious leaders, the head of the Anglican Communion is wearing a gift Pope Paul VI gave to his predecessor, the Most Revd Michael Ramsey, in 1966.

In an interview with Vatican News, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk reflects on the importance of joint efforts geared towards the protection of our common home and the need for interreligious dialogue on the path to a world of fraternity.

As Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury visits Rome for a series of encounters with Pope Francis and other religious leaders, the head of the Anglican Communion sits down with Vatican News to discuss topics ranging from ecumenical efforts on climate change to synodality and hopes for a joint visit to South Sudan.

Pope Francis pays tribute to Slovak Jews, victims of persecution, and thanks the Jewish Community in Bratislava for opening doors on the path to healing and fraternity.

On the first stop of his Apostolic Journey to Slovakia, Pope Francis urges an ecumenical gathering to resist the temptation of interior slavery with the twin forces of contemplation and action.

Pope Francis meets with representatives of the Ecumenical Council of Churches and some Jewish communities in Budapest, and tells them to be vigilant of the past, to become roots of unity, and to enable the world to blossom.

The President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, writes to two Jewish leaders in response to concerns raised about the Holy Father’s catechesis during the General Audience on 11 August.

Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández of La Plata, in Argentina, offers a commentary on the fulfillment of the Law according to the Jewish and Christian traditions.

As Americans mark the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reflects on the legacy of that historic day, as well as the inspiration civil rights campaigners can draw from Pope Francis.

On 15 August 1947, the Korean peninsula was liberated from 35 years of brutal Japanese colonization. The day also marks the division of Korea into two nations.

Christians across the United Kingdom and Ireland are marking “Climate Sunday” as part of preparations held in the runup to the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

An interview with the Metropolitan of Chalcedon, head of the delegation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople for the celebration of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul: "Announcing the Gospel in the world is not a matter of strategy...

Pope Francis meets with a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew and speaks of the importance of Christian communion as an example as we seek global communion after the pandemic.