Webinar: The Bishop of Rome and Christian Unity

Event

Webinar: The Bishop of Rome and Christian Unity

In the lead-up to the WCC 6th World Conference on Faith and Order under the theme “Where Now for Visible Unity?”, Faith and Order, in collaboration with Christian World Communions (CWCs), is organizing a series of webinars to explore key theological, ecclesiological, and missional questions relevant to contemporary Christian unity.

18 March 2025
16:00 (CET)
Registration link

One of the long-standing issues among Christian churches concerns the role of the Bishop of Rome in fostering unity. In his 1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint, Pope John Paul II invited church leaders and theologians to engage in dialogue on how the ministry of the Bishop of Rome could be exercised as a “service of love recognized by all concerned” (Ut Unum Sint, 95). This invitation initiated significant ecumenical discussions and theological reflections.

Marking the 25th anniversary of Ut Unum Sint in 2020, the DPCU renewed and deepened these discussions, considering theological dialogue documents and various church responses to the encyclical.

This process culminated in the publication of the 2024 study document, The Bishop of Rome: Primacy and Synodality in the Ecumenical Dialogues and in the Responses to the Encyclical Ut Unum Sint. The document synthesizes 30 responses to Ut Unum Sint and 50 ecumenical dialogue texts, offering an objective summary of contemporary ecumenical perspectives. Scholars from various Christian traditions contributed to the drafting process, ensuring a broad and inclusive approach.

This webinar aims to encourage reflection on the document's findings and foster further theological dialogue on the ministry of the Bishop of Rome in the service of Christian unity.

Program

Welcome and introduction of webinar and of the moderator
By Prof Dr Vasile-Octavian Mihoc (WCC)

Welcome and introduction of topic by the moderator
By Prof. Dr Catherine Clifford (Catholic, Ottawa, Canada)

Presentation of the study document “The Bishop of Rome: Primacy and Synodality in the Ecumenical Dialogues and in the Responses to the Encyclical Ut Unum Sint” (LEV, 2024), including an overview of its development
By Rev. Prof. Dr Juan Usma Gomez and Rev. Prof. Dr Hyacinthe Destivelle (DPCU)

Orthodox/Oriental Orthodox Perspective
By Prof. Dr. Eve Tibbs (Ecumenical Patriarchate, Faith and Order)

Mainline Protestant Perspective
By Prof. Dr. Nicholas Sagovsky (England, Anglican Communion)

Free Churches Perspective
By Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Newman (USA, Baptist)

Q&A and discussion

Words of thanks
By Mons. Prof. Dr Andrzej Choromanski (DPCU)