Feature story
Speakers at the 23rd academic consultation of Societas Oecumenica, the European Society for Ecumenical Research, meeting in Utrecht from 21–25 August addressed the role of churches and ecumenical organisations in the context of the contemporary phenomenon of polarization.
In an opening address, the Societas Oecumenica president, Rev. Prof. Dr Simone Sinn, discussed what could be learned from the experiences of the ecumenical movement, and referred in particular to the “theology of companionship,” developed in the framework of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace of the World Council of Churches (WCC).
This offered perspectives of transformation, emancipation, and decolonization, said Sinn, now professor of religious studies and intercultural theology at the faculty of Protestant theology at the University of Münster, Germany, and previously academic dean of the WCC’s Ecumenical Institute at Bossey.
Among the other speakers, Dr Masiiwa R. Gunda, the WCC’s programme executive for racial justice, highlighted the legacies of enslavement and colonization how one of the greatest polarizing features of the present time. The church is both a “colonizing and decolonizing space,” said Gunda, highlighting how colonized and enslaved peoples have engaged with these dimensions in the quest for affirmation, justice, reconciliation, and healthy human relations.
Dr Stephen Brown, until 2025 editor of the WCC’s journal The Ecumenical Review and Dr Natallia Vasilevich, a member of the “Pathways to Peace” steering group of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), spoke on a panel chaired by Dr Agnes Slunitschek of the experiences of the WCC and CEC in responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the ongoing war.
Vasilevich noted how solidarity with Ukraine was one of CEC's main objectives, and that it had launched a “Pathways to Peace” programme for the conflict, fostering cooperation between church leaders, intellectuals, and political institutions and amplifying the voices of Ukrainian churches and Christians in the ecumenical movement. CEC has now also begun a dialogue with Orthodox and other Christian voices from Russia.
Brown spoke of how the WCC had pursued a policy of both advocacy and diplomacy in dealing with the conflict. The WCC had repeatedly denounced the invasion as an “illegal and unjustifiable war,” and earlier in 2026 had organized a solidarity visit of its leadership to the churches of Ukraine.
The WCC also believes that it is important to keep open avenues for dialogue, including with the Russian Orthodox Church, he said, which is a member of the WCC, though not of CEC. Participating in WCC meetings also means that Russian participants are confronted with differing views of the conflict.
Other sessions at the Utrecht meeting included gender and human identities, democracy and the rule of law at a time of polarization, and the role of liturgy, symbol, and ritual mediation in reconciling polarizations.
At a closing session on “Truth Finding in the Context of De/polarization,” Dr Sara Gehlin of University College, Stockholm, spoke of how the ecumenical gatherings in Stockholm in 1925 and Lausanne in 1927 were engaged in a search for truth to lead the way toward depolarization or a world order that would secure justice and peace for all humanity.
Prof. Dr Annemarie C. Mayer of the University of Trier, Germany, discussed the theological and practical resources for addressing polarization that had been developed by churches and the ecumenical movement. She also posed the question, however, as to whether dissent and conflict might also serve a constructive ecumenical function, both theologically and ecclesially.
In the business meeting, Prof. Dr Heta Hurskainen of the University of Eastern Finland was elected president of Societas Oecumenica, serving until the next academic consultation in Valencia, Spain, in 2028, which will also mark the 50th anniversary of the society.
What does a “decolonized church” look like? Consultation explores (WCC news release, 28 August 2026)
More information about the consultation in Utrecht, Netherlands
