The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and throughout the year 2018 (6)

The Ecumenical Situation in the caribbean*

The Caribbean region stretches from the Bahamas in the north to Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana (Cayenne) on the South American mainland, and from Barbados in the east to Belize in Central America in the west. The common identity of the Region is based on geographical considerations as well as on a shared history of colonialism, exploitation and resistance against foreign domination, and on a common cultural awareness.

The presence of some of the churches in the Region – e.g. the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches - coincides with the beginning and early period of the colonial enterprise. Other churches came later as part of the 18th, 19th and early 20th century missionary movement. Even more recently, the evangelical and pentecostal movements have spread throughout the Caribbean. Consequently, evangelical alliances or fellowships can be found in many countries and territories of the Region.

The Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC) grew out of a dynamic precursor of ecumenical activity in the 1960s and was formally established during the socio-cultural and political ferment of the early 1970s. This was the immediate post-colonial period of the Region during which many countries gained their political independence. It was a time when the Region as a whole was enveloped in a movement towards self-determination, development and new forms of self-expression. The joint response and contribution of several churches to this new regional awareness was the formation of an organisation called Christian Action for Development in the Caribbean (CADEC). This organisation is the precursor of the CCC, and would later become one of two major departments of the CCC. The other department was known as the Agency for Renewal of the Churches (ARC).

The founding assembly of the CCC took place in 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica. The preamble of its constitution reads:

We, as Christian people of the Caribbean, because of our common calling in Christ, covenant to join together in a regional fellowship of churches for theological reflection, inspiration, consultation, and cooperative action, to overcome the challenges created by history, language, culture, class and distance. We are therefore deeply committed to promoting peace, the holistic development of our people and affirming social justice and the dignity of all persons. We pledge to journey together in Christ and to share our experiences for the strengthening of the kingdom of God in the world.

The thirty three member churches of the CCC represent a vast diversity of people and cultures, spread over many islands and mainland territories of South and Central America and belonging to four major linguistic groupings – Dutch, English, French and Spanish. Included in this grouping are: Cayenne (French Guiana), Cuba, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique and Puerto Rico. The CCC’s member churches share the common conviction that, despite the divisiveness of the long colonial heritage, there is an authentic, unifying Caribbean identity through which Caribbean people must articulate God’s will for them and make their response to it.

As one of six Regional Ecumenical Organisations (REOs), the CCC is historically unique, being the first instance in the world in which the Roman Catholic Church – formally through its bishops’ conference - was a founding member of an REO. The involvement of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) as a founding member of the CCC was held up as an example in the preparatory document – “Lineamenta” – for the Roman Catholic Church’s 1997 Synod of the Americas. In the section of the document entitled “Areas and Ways of Communion,” the document states: “One example of greater possibility for dialogue with other confessions is demonstrated by the work of some bishops of the Caribbean, who contributed to the founding of the only ecumenical organisation present in the region” (Section IV, Art. 42).

Over the forty three years of its existence, the CCC’s member churches have together taken many initiatives in the areas of theology, Christian education, integral development, youth and women’s concerns, family life, human rights, and communications. Some of the significant achievements of the CCC have been the media channels Contact and Caribbeat, the Caribbean Contact monthly newspaper and the Christian education series - Fashion Me a People.

In 1983, the CCC’s mandate was re-formulated to read: “Promoting ecumenism and social change in obedience to Jesus Christ and in solidarity with the poor”. Since then, the Conference has developed a strategic approach and implemented an integrated programmatic response to the many socio-economic issues and social ills impacting the Caribbean. Among these are endemic poverty, a high incidence of HIV/AIDS infection, drug-trafficking and addiction, and uprootedness as persons are displaced for various reasons – including natural disasters, violence and the search of work and a better life.

The policy of the CCC is a deeper ecclesial engagement with, and mutual accompaniment of the member churches, through their existing agencies and institutions, and right down to the local congregations. The major programme initiatives are:

• Priority Regional Initiatives (HIV/AIDS, drugs, violence, family, food, uprooted people)

• Sustainable Socio-economic Development (poverty reduction, project funding, disaster preparedness)

• Advocacy and Communications (public awareness, information, dialogue and exchange)

• International Relations (regional integration, solidarity visits), and cultural affairs.

In addressing some of these issues, the CCC works very closely with major regional intergovernmental organisations, chief among these being the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It has also engaged over the years with various departments of the United Nations (UN) and European and North American governments.

In addition to the above initiatives, the CCC established a Regional Forum of National Councils of Churches (NCCs), as a space for greater networking and mutual accompaniment of these councils in the region. This was in recognition of the critical role played by NCCs in several parts of the Region, some NCCs – e.g. the Cuban and Jamaican NCCs - pre-dating the CCC by decades. The Forum was first convened in 2001 under the theme: “Sing a New Song” It met annually thereafter until 2008. Like some other initiatives, the Regional Forum had to be curtailed because of significantly reduced funding to the organisation.

In recent times, a greater emphasis on the theological basis of Ecumenism is being pursued by the CCC’s Secretariat in conversation with member churches. This is in an effort to strengthen the fundamental issue of “koinonia” which, it is felt, has been somewhat obscured by an over-emphasis on “diakonia.” In this regard, a measure has been taken to ensure, not only that discussions on these and other “faith and order” issues take place, but also to ensure that there is a “space of hospitality” where members of various dominations – theologians, clergy and others - can encounter one another in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and edification. With these objectives in mind, the Caribbean Regional Centre for Ecumenical Encounter & Dialogue was launched in December 2014. The creation of this Centre is a collaborative venture between the CCC and the monks of the century-old Benedictine Monastery of Our Lady of Exile – popularly known as /Mount St. Benedict’ – in Trinidad. (Given its historical pastoral ministry to people of many different religious persuasions, the Monastery was seen as a natural setting and choice for such an initiative).

There has also been a new engagement by the CCC with other ecumenical expressions and configurations – e.g. the Taize movement and the Caribbean ‘chapter’ of the Global Christian Forum (GCF). The latter is an important means of outreach and dialogue with Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians. The CCC has actually acted as convener / facilitator of the Caribbean GCF.

Apart from the CCC, there are other institutional expressions of ecumenism in the Caribbean. One such outstanding manifestation is The United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI), located in Jamaica. As an institution, the UTCWI is a collaborative venture of various Protestant denominations. Interestingly, the UTCWI is located next to the Roman Catholic Theological College (and former seminary) of St. Michael’s. The lecturers and students of both institutions have enjoyed a very amicable and mutually edifying relationship over the several years of the institutions’ existence.

On a wider Regional level, there is also the Caribbean Association of Theological Schools (CATS). This organisation brings together in a collaborative manner the two major theological colleges of the Anglophone Caribbean – UTCWI; Codrington (Anglican) College, (Barbados); and the two Roman Catholic Colleges: St. John Vianney and the Uganda Martyrs, (Trinidad), and St. Michael’s (Jamaica).

In terms of Protestant ecumenical theological colleges in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, there is the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico and the Evangelical Seminary of Theology of Matanzas, Cuba. Both institutions are collaborative ventures of various Protestant denominations. The latter is currently headed by the Rev. Dr. Carlos Emilio Ham, a former President of the CCC and a former staff member of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

No consideration of the ecumenical situation in the Caribbean would be complete without noting that the Caribbean made a tremendous gift to the wider ecumenical movement in the person of the Rev. Dr. Philip Alford Potter – the celebrated third General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Dr. Potter, now of sacred memory, was a Methodist minister and a native of the Commonwealth of Dominica. During his tenure as the General Secretary of the WCC (1972 – 1984), Rev. Potter fought the immoral apartheid regime of South Africa. It was also during his tenure of office that Pope John-Paul II – in response to an invitation of the WCC - made his historic visit to the headquarters of the WCC in Geneva, Switzerland. This was a major milestone in ecumenical relations between the Vatican and the WCC. It is estimated that there are currently thirteen member churches of the WCC in the Caribbean, representing 1.4 million Christians. Following in Rev. Potter’s footsteps, other Caribbean ecumenists continue to make significant contributions in the wider international ecumenical arena. Among these is the Rev. Neville Callam of Jamaica. Rev. Callam, the incumbent General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), was for many years a highly respected member of the WCC’s “Faith and Order Commission.”

Jointly prepared and published by
The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
The Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches