WCC assembly invites churches to renew commitment to unity, dialogue

Published: 2006-02-24

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (CNS) -- Delegates at the Ninth General Assembly of the World Council of Churches adopted a document inviting churches to renew their commitment to Christian unity and dialogue. Prepared by the council's Faith and Order Commission, the document, "Called To Be One Church," recapitulates previous work and statements on unity as a divine gift and calling, based on the common faith expressed in the Nicene Creed and on common baptism. It concludes by addressing 10 questions to be considered by the churches between now and the next assembly. Days earlier at the Feb. 14-23 assembly, the document was the centerpiece of reflection in a plenary session titled "Church Unity: Claiming a Common Future." A prominent Argentine theologian, Dominican Father Jorge Scampini, who serves as a resource person to the Faith and Order Commission, urged the World Council of Churches to continue to strengthen its role as a "privileged instrument" of the ecumenical movement in the quest for increasingly visible unity.

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