On Friday, 24 April, delegations from the Catholic Church and the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) met at the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU) in Rome to plan a new round of international bilateral dialogue. The Catholic Church was represented by the Secretary of the DPCU, Archbishop Flavio Pace, the head of the Western section, Mons. Juan Usma Gómez, and Dr. Beatriz Sarkis. Cardinal Kurt Koch, the Prefect of the DPCU, expressed his satisfaction with the recommencement of the dialogue and expressed his best wishes for the project. Rev. Dr Hanns Lessing, the WCRC’s executive secretary for communion and theology, Rev. Prof. Anna Case Winters, Rev. Dr Rathnakara Sadananda, and Rev. Tara Curlewis, the WCRC’s liaison in Rome, represented the WCRC.
The meeting revisited the thematic and methodological trajectories of the first four rounds of dialogue and discerned the results that had been achieved. A special focus of the discussion was the reception of the dialogues by the two communions. Both delegations supported that future dialogues should be conducted in ways that would allow the results to be received at all levels of church life.
The meeting agreed that the upcoming 50th anniversary of the publication of the first dialogue report, with the theme “The Presence of Christ in Church and World,” was a reason for celebration. It was therefore resolved that the fifth round of dialogue should begin with collecting the memory of the dialogue journey, which should lead to the publication of a synthesis report on the first four rounds in 2027. This report shall make the results accessible to a wider audience.
The planning meeting also defined the mandate, method, composition and theme of the new round of dialogue. An agreement was made that the fifth round should continue the reflection of the first four rounds on ecclesiology and the church’s witness, this time exploring the ecumenical potential of the theology of the three offices of Christ as prophet, priest and king. This theology has been formative for both traditions and is significant for the self-understanding of both communions.
