Day 1
Commission of Christian Unity and Dialogue Reports on Busy Year
Commission of Christian Unity and Dialogue Reports on Busy Year
The Commission of Christian Unity and Dialogue presented a report on a busy year to General Synod in Wexford today (Friday May 12).
Proposing the report, the Revd David White outlined the Commission’s work over the past year which covered a vast range of topics from ecumenical and interfaith dialogue to webinars on the consequences of Brexit and how the churches are rebuilding post pandemic. He gave a comprehensive picture of the wide array of organisations with which the CCUD is connected with both on this island, in Europe and globally.
Speaking to the report George Woodman (Connor) spoke about the effects of the war in Ukraine on Orthodox relationships.
Bishop Andrew Forster (Derry and Raphoe) spoke of his involvement with the Irish Council of Churches which this year celebrated 100 years since its formation and the Irish Inter Church Meeting which celebrated 50 years. The Churches came together because they believed that they had a message of hope to share with society, he stated. “That’s why I love being involved with the Irish Council of Churches and the Irish Inter Church Meeting because we share hope and love together,” he said.
He added that this year he and Bishop McKeown led a prayer walk around the city walls during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Twenty years ago this would have been unheard of, he commented, but now what was abnormal was normal and what was unthinkable had become something that was now done as a matter of course. “The work of the Irish Council of Churches and the Irish Inter Church Meeting has brought us to this point,” he said.