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Porvoo Communion celebrates 25th anniversary

Archbishop Michael Jackson with the Bishop of Tampere, the Rt Revd Matti Repo.
Archbishop Michael Jackson with the Bishop of Tampere, the Rt Revd Matti Repo.

After a number of years meeting on–line exclusively, the Porvoo Contact Group met in person on its first of three days in Tampere, Finland on Tuesday (October 11 2022). Later it was joined by the Primates of the Porvoo Communion and will continue meeting until October 13. The theme is: The twenty–fifth anniversary of the Porvoo Communion: Portrait, Unity and Vulnerability.

The PCG Members are lay and ordained members of the constituent churches who discern trends and priorities in their churches. They document and share them as Country Reports. This enables all PCG Members, along with the co–Secretaries and the co–Chairpersons, to get a picture of the changes in church life happening across the Communion. Common themes include the people of Ukraine and church responses, numerical change in church membership, liturgical developments, responses to the Covid–19 pandemic, changes in personnel,priorities in mission.

The PCG Meeting also did considerable planning work for Porvoo Conferences up to and including 2026. In 2023 the Conference will be held in Madrid on the theme: Life in the Eucharist – the Eucharistic life of our churches. The host will be Bishop Carlos Lopez–Lozano, well known to members of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. The theme for 2024 is: Environment and Eschatology – Hope for Future Generations and will be held in Sweden. 2025 will take them to Wales where they will celebrate the seventeen hundredth anniversary of The Nicene Creed on a theme connected with orthodoxy.

Yesterday evening, those attending the Conference worshipped in Tampere Cathedral where the Archbishop of Dublin was preacher. Following worship with the cathedral congregation, participants received hospitality from the Bishop of Tampere, the Rt Revd Matti Repo, and his wife in the Bishop’s House.   

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