tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4914086549048539202024-03-14T03:40:54.069+01:00Ecumenism around the worldInternational ecumenical experiencesat-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-91804248624530334612015-01-22T23:25:00.001+01:002015-01-22T23:25:20.298+01:00Ecumenism and the Consecrated Life<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CZaUQJtWmc8/VMD9sOAKx6I/AAAAAAAAAxo/6ieJ8JrgWSA/s1600/DSC03700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CZaUQJtWmc8/VMD9sOAKx6I/AAAAAAAAAxo/6ieJ8JrgWSA/s1600/DSC03700.JPG" height="320" width="152" /></a> A 4 day colloquium sponsored by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL) began today at the Augustinianum in Rome. This is one of the events prepared for the year dedicated to the Consecrated Life.<br />
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One day will be dedicated to the religious life in the Catholic church, one day to religious life in the Orthodox churches and one day dedicated to the consecrated life in the Anglican and Protestant traditions. The last day the group will join with Pope Francis for the closing of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at the basilica of St. Paul's outside the walls.<br />
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Each day the participants gather for an ecumenical morning prayer based on this year's theme "Give me a drink". This then followed by a greeting from wither the Prefect of the CICLSAL or of the Congregation for Oriental Churches and the President of the Council for Chrostian Unity. The morning session concludes with a major presentation of the meaning of the consecrated life for each tradition (Catholic, Orthodox, or Reformed) and two testimonies give concerning the meaning of the vowed life and communal or fraternal living. The afternoon sessions are spent in sharing experiences and working on a final message to be issued at the conclusion of the colloquium.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dom Joao Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the CICLSAL</td></tr>
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Today's session continued with a greeting from the Prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz who explained that the importance of religious life for the Catholic church is best understood from its charismatic and prophetic structure. This is the reason why the manifestation of the consecrated life is important for the life and mission of the Church. Unfortunately often times religious life is not really understood nor appreciated by the local church and at times even tensions arise between structures of authority within the church. Tensions should not be feared because they are signs that there is life since it is the Spirit which is always challenging the structures to grow and to be better equipped to be at service to the Gospel, The sole fount is Jesus Christ and the Gospel he came to proclaim that enlivens the church with various charisms. What religious need to do is to constantly return to this dynamo of energy which is filtered through the founding vision of the Founders and Foundresses of the diverse religious institutes so that their witness remains authentic and at service of the Gospel. A self-referencing attitude will hinder the true purpose that consecrated men and women have in the world today.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fr. José Carballo, ofm, Secretary of CICLSAL</td></tr>
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In the major presentation of Fr. José Rodriguez Carballo, ofm the Secretary of the Congregation, entitled "Consecrated Life in the Latin Church", a mosaic of consecrated life in the Catholic Latin churhc was presented. Here he made the distinction between the various institutes who dedicate themselves to God and to the service of their neighbor through the public profession of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience. What is important is to not two realities of the public profession and the living of a life in common. On the other hand "secular institutes" are those who have some of profession of the counsels but they do not live in community, as religious do, and they do not do ministry in their own Institute. The third type is a "society of apostolic life". Their members live in common like religious, strive to reach holiness, dedicating themselves mainly to apostolic ministry. The difference from Institutes of consecrated life is in the fact that the profession of the counsels does not constitute the characterizing element of their life.<br />
An interesting statistic is the total number of consecrated persons in the various states of religious life totals approximately 756,385.<br />
Archbishop Carballo emphasized three essential elements of consecrated. These include <b>consecration, fraternal life in community and mission</b>. The <i>consecration</i> underscores God's initiative and transforming relationship that the individual freely accepts. Rooted in baptism consecrated persons are called to holiness as are all the baptized. However, because of the vows that they freely pronounce there are "totally dedicated to God, loved beyond all things" (LG 44). The vows are primarily a gift of Christ, the Savior, in that they are fullness, love and freedom of the human person. The vows are grace, namely the Father's saving response in Christ through the Spirit to the most profound expectations of the human person -- to become everything for Christ, and through Christ, to his or her brothers and sisters in community, and with them, to all humanity.<br />
<i>Fraternal life in community</i> is the true form of prophecy in the Church and the world, and must never be absent from consecrated life. Fraternal life in community has its roots in the God's paternity, which allows us to see his countenance in others, and, therefore, we can call them 'brothers' and 'sisters', and consider them as 'part of us'. To achieve this, fraternal live in community needs to be sustained by common prayer, by each one's freedom, and by the commitment of all the community members to continually build community. It needs to be a life based on dialogue and respect for every person. It needs to be a life that takes into account the gifts of each brother or sister and it needs to be marked by co-responsibility of each member to enliven fraternal life in community.<br />
Lastly <i>mission</i> is one of the three founding and fundamental elements of religious life. Religious fully participate in the church's mission, and the latter, on her part, takes part in the <i>missio Dei</i>. Mission, more than a geographical movement is one of the heart.<br />
These elements of the consecrated life may help others see how religious life has a definite ecumenical dimension. Since the consecrated life is centered on Christ its purpose it to go out of itself and people where their needs are the greatest. It is a concrete form of human dialogue which becomes a dialogue of communion, humble service, and an humanizing place.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kjZIn5pPv_I/VMF2aEyvlAI/AAAAAAAAAyY/D7uFhon77IY/s1600/DSC03703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kjZIn5pPv_I/VMF2aEyvlAI/AAAAAAAAAyY/D7uFhon77IY/s1600/DSC03703.JPG" height="200" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fr. José Maria Hernandez, CMF</td></tr>
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This rich presentation of the reality of the consecrated life in the Latin Catholic church was followed by two testimonies seeking to illustrate how the vowed life contributed to an ecumenical awareness and offered opportunities to heal divisions and overcome that which separates us. This was recounted through the dialogue of life in the experiences of José Maria Hernandez, CMF.<br />
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The second witness was given by Sr. Agnés Granier, RSA who spoke about the values of community life that lead to mission and the going out of oneself to where God's love is most needed.<br />
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Fr. Guido Dotti concluded the morning with a brief presentation of the Bose Ecumenical Community of men and women. <br />
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The afternoon session was held in working groups that discussed the morning's presentations and began working on a final statement. Catholic vespers were celebrated in the church of the Gesù. Tomorrow the program will concentrate on discovering Orthodoxy's forms of consecrated life,at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-54366865741267868142013-12-19T23:06:00.000+01:002013-12-19T23:06:56.612+01:00Lutherans and Catholics to commemorate the Reformation<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Tallinn, Estonia</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chapel - Lutheran Theological Institute</td></tr>
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Well, here I am again, this time in Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn is to supposed to have been founded sometime in the 11th century but only made its appearance in historical documents around 1154 under the name of Qaleven. The Arab geographer al-Idrisi charted it on one of his maps. Evidently it was a well fortified settlement on the seaside to protect trading in the area but without a permanent population. The ancient city is very rich in fine architectural and art monuments. But I am not here as an art historian but collaborating on a joint Lutheran and Catholic project. During our stay we were guests of the Evangelical Lutheran theological institute in Tallinn.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dwDgZgV5Mo0/UrNj4A2Mv1I/AAAAAAAAAvM/4l6Rk8Rbi3I/s1600/DSC00229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dwDgZgV5Mo0/UrNj4A2Mv1I/AAAAAAAAAvM/4l6Rk8Rbi3I/s200/DSC00229.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old city</td></tr>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">From Conflict to Communion</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/From%20Conflict%20to%20Communion.pdf">From Conflict to Communion -- text</a></span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This is the title of the most recent document of the Lutheran-Catholic Commission on Unity in view of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity (PCPCU) has asked six liturgists and theologians to come together to work on liturgical materials for the year 2017 while each side provided a co-secretary. This is actualy the second of three meetings to take place with the first one in May of this year in Wurtzburg, Germany. The task of the committee is to come up with a good liturgical model that could be used by Lutherans and Catholics around the world to commemorate this historical event.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What do we commemorate?</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Working from the document, the committee came up with three values that seem to characterize the history of the relations between Lutherans and Catholics since this historical event that brings us right up to the latest document produced after 50 years of experience of bi-lateral dialogue. It very quickly became clear that we do not celebrate the division of Christians that resulted at the time of the Reformation in the 16th century. Rather we commemorate what we have learned from this experience. What are the values that result because of the reform of the church? First it is important to situate the Reformation of the 16th century in a long line of reforms of the church which also continue until today.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some members of the committee</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the committee</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Three values quickly became evident as they surfaced to give shape to the project, namely <i>joy, repentance and common witness</i>. Many elements motivate our joy: such as our common faith; renewal in each of our churches; harvesting the fruits of 50 years of ecumenical dialogue; gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit; coming together to praise God; leading us to Christ; shared gratitude; joy in common baptism; common faith and life in the triune God. Asking for forgiveness is important for every generation; repentance for not having taken seriously the baptismal commitment to live as sisters and brothers and forgiveness for the </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">hermeneutics of suspicion which need to be overcome. Joy and repentance bring us to celebrate our common witness and to commit ourselves to furthering the implications of our common baptism. Here we remember those women and men who have lived their baptismal commitment with great coherence and that at times led them to die rather than compromise the values of the Gospel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>In the meantime</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> To prepare for this event, both Catholics and Lutherans need to reflect on their journey together during these last 50 years. In what can we rejoice together? What can we do better to witness to the communion that we already share? Like all of the results of the ecumenical dialogues we need to find ways to receive this last document and prepare this event together. Each of us will have different values in this commemoration; each of us will have learned different things about ourselves and about the other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The LWF has established a </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">special committee for 2017 whose motto is: “Liberated by God’s grace” based on these principle scriptural readings: Gal 5:1, Rom 3:24, Isa 55:1, Eph 2:8-10, Lc 4:16-21, Rev 21:6. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o7reAuZRFZs/UrNkW7eXUuI/AAAAAAAAAv4/crQUYGrb0FE/s1600/DSC00236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o7reAuZRFZs/UrNkW7eXUuI/AAAAAAAAAv4/crQUYGrb0FE/s320/DSC00236.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter, Susan, Martin and Wanda</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Practically speaking it would be good to pick up once again the documents produced by the International Joint Commission and to verify if both sides have indeed received the results of the dialogues and how they have been able to act on them together. Not only in the theological faculties and seminaries is it important to present the results of this Lutheran-Catholic bi-lateral dialogue but also at the parish level especially where Lutherans and Catholics live side by side in the same territory, neighborhood, city or where they both face the same pastoral problems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> One more meeting is scheduled for this joint committee to complete its work and submit it to the responsible Lutheran and Catholic authorities.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2x6A-LKa8Pg/UrNkni1f7XI/AAAAAAAAAwA/iSoaSMbHevU/s1600/DSC00283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2x6A-LKa8Pg/UrNkni1f7XI/AAAAAAAAAwA/iSoaSMbHevU/s320/DSC00283.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Christmas market</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From a very "Christmassy" Tallinn, peace and all good!</span></b><br />
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at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-76568454071876706742013-11-19T12:53:00.000+01:002013-11-19T14:01:52.531+01:00Busan: A post-script<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Christianity in Korea</strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN"> The WCC General Assembly has been over for a week now and all the participants have returned home. It is time to take a look at what happened during this Assembly and to share some last impressions.</span><br />
I spoke about how the opening plenary of the Assembly had a wonderfully creative and artistic presentation of Christianity in Korea.<br />
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However, it took us some time to realize that Christianity= Protestantism and excluded Catholicism and Orthodoxy. We could get lost in the spectacular presentation into reading history anachronistically. In point of fact when the first Protestant missionary societies arrived they already found baptized Christian men and women who were living and serving the Gospel as well as giving their lives as witnesses of the truth of the Gospel. These were the first Korean Christians.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_MtBXLw3cQg/Uor3ulrRs-I/AAAAAAAAAsU/Sai876rz2wY/s1600/Jeoldusan+Martyrs+Shrine+9179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_MtBXLw3cQg/Uor3ulrRs-I/AAAAAAAAAsU/Sai876rz2wY/s320/Jeoldusan+Martyrs+Shrine+9179.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeoldusan Martyrs shrine</td></tr>
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The roots of Christianity began with lay people! The Catholic community in Korea came into being when Yi Seung-hun, one among a group of Korean scholars who on their own studied Catholic books and practiced the faith, went to Beijing and was baptized there in 1784. On his return to Korea he spread the Gospel and baptized others. These first Christians like the first generation of followers of Jesus were to suffer martyrdom for their beliefs in Jesus. The first of these began just a few years after the first appearance of Christianity in 1791.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1TyAdPFgr3c/Uor4szMwsZI/AAAAAAAAAsg/iyK4L2M5Dz0/s1600/Day+05+Cathedral+St+Kim+9700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1TyAdPFgr3c/Uor4szMwsZI/AAAAAAAAAsg/iyK4L2M5Dz0/s320/Day+05+Cathedral+St+Kim+9700.JPG" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Andrew Kim, frist Korean priest</td></tr>
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The first native priest was Andrew Kim Tae-gon ordained in 1845 and martyred in the 4<sup>th</sup> persecution 1846.<br />
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Here is a link to a brief history of Catholic Christianity in Korea presented by the Bishops' conference to the confessional gathering at Busan.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>What is <em>Madang?</em></strong></span><br />
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<i> Madang</i> is a Korean term meaning a courtyard in a traditional Korean house.<br />
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It is a space for encounter and for sharing.<br />
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The organizers, aided by the local committee, wanted to present the Assembly under the form of a "shared space for encounter" that would intersect with the five dimensions of being church together: fellowship (<i>koinonia</i>), mission and witness (<i>martyria</i>), service (<i>diakonia</i>), ecumenical formation, and interreligious dialogue and cooperation.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6UHE7JB-Z8c/Uor7EbuG_AI/AAAAAAAAAtA/CDaulQNkILE/s1600/Day+02+Madang+9405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6UHE7JB-Z8c/Uor7EbuG_AI/AAAAAAAAAtA/CDaulQNkILE/s320/Day+02+Madang+9405.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cultural presentation</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wjU-QE-rS_8/Uor7X8vgJtI/AAAAAAAAAuA/ErAE9N1bk1A/s1600/Day+02+Madang+9415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wjU-QE-rS_8/Uor7X8vgJtI/AAAAAAAAAuA/ErAE9N1bk1A/s320/Day+02+Madang+9415.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Labyrinth</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the stands at the madang</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN">To give a flavor of what happened during the assembly here are some pictures of the Madang space and some clips of the cultural and interreligious events that took place.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN">The <em>madang</em> program was intended to be a place for the exchange of gifts among the participants through workshops, exhibitions, side events, theatre, visual arts and simple a place to relax and discuss.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>The Next Seven Years</strong></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The experience of the General Assembly has set the program for the WCC for the next seven years. There will be some structural changes in the WCC as well as some new buildings to help better use the properties in Geneva as well as be a stream of income to support the work of the WCC. There will be some serious issues that the Council will have to confront. Some of these could be further church divinding if the churches begin to polarize into camps. Some of the most difficult issues will be the question of ethics and the role of the churches in giving guidance especially to the newer churches and to the Orthodox churches. The documents of the Assembly are mostly available on the WCC web site for those who wish to read the final </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">statements and the program assembled.</span></span><br />
An interesting aspect of the Assembly was the Global
Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI). This was a theological educational program that preceded the Assembly and continued during the Assembly. Approximately 170 young theologians from diverse church traditions participated. <br />
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They have affirmed in a letter to the Secretary General of the WCC that they believe in the ecumenical movement and they intend to continue putting into practice what they have studied.. This experiment worked well and the WCC was encouraged to continue the GETI experiment on other occasions. It looks like a new model of ecumenical theological formation may have been born which corresponds to a model of theological education pursued in an ecumenical and dialogical way..<br />
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<span lang="EN"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What's coming up in Rome</span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On Wednesday, 20 November at 6:00 pm, the Centro Pro Unione will have a lecture given by Prof. Alberto Melloni, Professor of the History of Christianity at the</span></span> University of Modena-Reggio
Emilia and Director of the Fondazione per le scienze religiose Giovanni XXIII, Bologna. He will speak<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> on the role that the diaries, letters and films play in the interpretation of the documents of the Second Vatican Council. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Times;"> On Monday 25 November at 5:30 pm, in collaboration with the publishers of the review <i>Concilium</i>, the Queriniana, the Asian Centre for Cross-cultural Studies, and the Centro Pro Unione will present the volume entitled "Per una riforma della curia romana". The presentation should be a stimulating look at the theological, canonical, historical and ecumenical issues in such an undertaking requested by Pope Francis at the beginning of his Pontificate.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Times;">Go to <a href="http://www.prounione.urbe.it/new/eng/conferences.html#20_11" target="_blank">Conferences page </a>of the Centro Pro Unione web site</span></span>at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-66889376920538236862013-11-09T00:54:00.000+01:002013-11-09T12:29:26.403+01:00WCC Assembly ends<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Two Important Statements</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Unity Statement</b></span></div>
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The Assembly ended today. Among the documentation of the Assembly that will be important as the WCC goes forward during the next 7 years were the issuances of the Unity statement and its closing message.<br />
<a href="https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/assembly/2013-busan/adopted-documents-statements/unity-statement">WCC Unity Statement</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Message to the Churches</b></span></div>
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The second was the message to the churches.<br />
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<i>Join the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace</i></div>
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<i>By the tender mercy of our God,</i></div>
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<i>the dawn from on high will break upon us,</i></div>
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<i>to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,</i></div>
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<i>to guide our feet into the way of peace.</i></div>
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<i>Luke 1:78-79</i></div>
Dear Sisters and Brothers, we greet you in the name of Christ.<br />
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1. We gathered in the Republic of Korea at the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (30 October – 8 November 2013). Coming from 345 member churches of the fellowship and from partner organizations in the ecumenical movement, we joined in prayer, shared stories from our local communities and took to heart strong messages of agony and hope. We are thankful for the many engaging statements released. Our common pilgrimage traced the theme “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.”</div>
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2. In the city of Busan, we journeyed together on a road of transformation – we pray that as we are being transformed ourselves, God will make us instruments of peace. Many of us travelled to other parts of Korea where we witnessed the open wounds of a society torn by conflict and division. How necessary is justice for peace; reconciliation for healing; and a change of heart for the world to be made whole! We were encouraged by the active and committed churches we encountered; their work bears bountiful fruit.</div>
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3. We share our experience of the search for unity in Korea as a sign of hope in the world. This is not the only land where people live divided, in poverty and richness, happiness and violence, welfare and war. We are not allowed to close our eyes to harsh realities or to rest our hands from God’s transforming work. As a fellowship, the World Council of Churches stands in solidarity with the people and the churches in the Korean peninsula, and with all who strive for justice and peace.</div>
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4. God our Creator is the source of all life. In the love of Jesus Christ and by the mercy of the Holy Spirit we, as a communion of the children of God, move together towards the fulfillment of the Kingdom. Seeking grace from God we are called, in our diversity, to be just stewards of God’s Creation. This is the vision of the New Heaven and Earth, where Christ will “fill all in all” (Eph 1.23).</div>
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5 We live in a time of global crises. Economic, ecological, socio-political and spiritual challenges confront us. In darkness and in the shadow of death, in suffering and persecution, how precious is the gift of hope from the Risen Lord! By the flame of the Spirit in our hearts, we pray to Christ to brighten the world: for his light to turn our whole beings to caring for the whole of creation and to affirm that all people are created in God’s image. Listening to voices that often come from the margins, let us all share lessons of hope and perseverance. Let us recommit ourselves to work for liberation and to act in solidarity. May the illuminating Word of God guide us on our journey.</div>
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6. We intend to move together. Challenged by our experiences in Busan, we challenge all people of good will to engage their God-given gifts in transforming actions.</div>
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This Assembly calls you to join us in pilgrimage.</div>
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May the churches be communities of healing and compassion, and may we seed the Good News so that justice will grow and God’s deep peace rest on the world.</div>
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<i>Blessed are they who observe justice,</i></div>
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<i>who do righteousness at all times!</i></div>
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<i>Psalm 106:3</i></div>
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<b>God of life, lead us to justice and peace!</b></div>
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APPROVED</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nota: Dissenting opinions: Archimandrite Jack Khalil of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East wished to register his dissent to the use of the word “transformation” in two places in the message, on the theological ground that as Christians our transformation is already completed in our baptism. Metropolitan Bishoy of Damietta wished to register his dissent to the phrase “all people are created”, having prefered it to say “were created”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>First woman moderation of the Central Committee</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The newly installed 150-member committee made history Friday by unanimously electing Dr Agnes Abuom of Nairobi, from the Anglican Church of Kenya, as the moderator of the highest WCC governing body.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Two vice-moderators were elected, United Methodist Church Bishop Mary Ann Swenson from the USA and Prof. Dr Gennadios of Sassima of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“My open prayer is that we shall move forward together, in the next years, despite our diversities that have the potential to divide us,” Abuom said shortly after her election, “…and that the WCC will continue to remain an instrument for providing a safe space for all who can come and share their hopes, aspirations and visions, and prophetic voice.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Abuom was the Africa president for the WCC from 1999 to 2006. She has been associated with the All Africa Conference of Churches and WCC member churches in Africa. She is a co-president of the Religions for Peace and the National Council of Churches of Kenya. Her</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> areas of work include economic justice, peace and reconciliation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Foot washing as a symbol of going forward as pilgrims</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The closing ritual if the Assembly included footwashing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>How do we follow?</i> Follow the narrow path, the rugged path, the unpopular, sometimes lonely path, the path of the cross. With a humble spirit, we will follow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Washing of the feet -- a Biblical sysmbol</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Old Testament references (Gen 18:4; 19:2; 24:32; 43:24; 1 Sam 25:41; 2 Sam 11:8; Ps 58:10) show that the washing of the feet was the first act on entering the tent or house after a journey. The biblical people wore sandals, and this washing was refreshing as well as cleansing. In the case of ordinary people, the host furnished the water and the guests washed their own feet, but in the richer houses, a slave washed their feet. It was looked upon as the lowliest of all tasks. On the last evening of his earthly life, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Jesus’ act of washing the feet of his disciples has revolutionary potential, for it redefines the meaning of power and authority and questions the structures associated with them. True authority is nothing less than the exercise of diakonia, the praxis of love in the perspective of the new world God is promising to us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Prayer</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">L: We worship the Father of Light, and his only begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity one in essence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">L: She came to Jesus, unnamed, uninvited, but unafraid.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">C: And she poured out her gratitude.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">L: She gave her costly gift, embalmed him with her tears, for she alone could see where his path would lead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">C: And she poured out her grief.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">L: We come to Jesus, invited to walk his Way, enabled to pour out our lives</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">C: in service of God’s Reign, as we come to worship.</span><br />
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I arrived back in Rome at 9:00 PM. It was a long trip of over 15 hours. In the next days I want to share some of the side activities that took place at the Madang as well as some photos of the Assembly. </div>
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Oh yes, I forgot to mention that soon after the Halloween decorataions came down on the 2nd of November, look what appeared not only in the restaurant but in the department stores!</div>
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<b>Peace and all good.</b></div>
at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-14317964005812917362013-11-09T00:06:00.000+01:002013-11-09T11:58:27.143+01:00Go in Peace<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>God of life, lead us to build peace in today's world</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Worship: Paths of Peace</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We are called to be peacemakers. This peace, which we share with one another, is of the Spirit who breathes onto us the deep peace of Christ. Jesus eases our troubled souls (John 14:27-31), assuring us of God’s care even as God clothes the common flowers and beautiful weeds of the field (Mt 6:25-34).<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The symbol used today was that of tenacious wildflowers, unlike cultivated flowers are tended only by God. The Spirit of God grants us courage and wisdom to journey into the peaceable reign of God on earth.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The prayer concluded with this invocation:<br />
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<b>God of peace and possibility,</b></div>
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<b>make us instruments of your peace here and in all places,</b></div>
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<b>so that we, may fulfil your will.</b></div>
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<b>In the name of the Prince of Peace,</b></div>
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<b>Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.</b></div>
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<b>Amen.</b></div>
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<i>Salaman atruku lakom; salami au' tikom.</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bible study: Go in peace</span><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The biblical text was from John 14:27-31 part of Jesus’ farewell discourse. Jesus offers an alternative, a difference, a dilemma: the peace he offers contradicts peace as the “world understands it”.<br />
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In this way he endows the word peace–itself powerful and highly significant in the Israelite tradition–with new meaning, new sense. He leaves us questioning and deciding what value it will have for our lives, knowing that this peace unites us with Jesus’ presence and love. This peace is his person, as the Apostle Paul acknowledges: “For he is our peace” (Eph 2:14). It is with this in mind that we approach this Gospel text.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In the time of Jesus the word peace was part of the imperial propaganda. The <i>Pax Augusta</i> justified imperial rule. It was something that Rome offered as an (imposed) gift to other peoples, the <i>Pax Romana.</i> At the same time it was identified as <i>Pax deorum</i>, the consent of the gods to bless the Roman legions with the glory of victory. This peace went hand in hand with security offered by world leaders.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>However, the Hebrew meaning of the shalom that Jesus offers is quite different. His peace does not bring death to the body nor does it imply an expression of superiority or the imposition of power. In fact Jesus proposes himself as the abundance of life and freedom.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Shalom is the key word in this passage. From the Hebrew and biblical meaning, there is a complexity in the word and its context. Other senses associated with this word are salvation , mercy, health. It is even used for one sleeping into death (Gen 15:15). Primarily the shalom of God is about life, not death. So the word goes far beyond the Greek concept of eirene or a sense of quietude and tranquility.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The greeting of the Risen Lord is a declaration of peace fulfilled in three acts: life as a gift from God to be proclaims to all peoples (“so I send you”), the presence of the Holy Spirit that revives creation (“receive the Holy Spirit”) and the forgiveness that restores human relationships (“if you forgive, you will be forgiven”).<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In the final act, the passage is a call to action: “Rise, let us be on our way”. Peace is meant to be a witness to bear and a task to fulfill.<br />
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The wildflower was used as the symbol for today's reflection. It is something that is sown by God who alone takes care of it. We see these flowers come back every year with their natural colors and beauty and yet no one tends them except God. The Bible study ended with the observation: "Peace is a defenseless flower", and yet . . .</div>
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. . . flowers produce seeds. How can we sow the seed of peace in our children and young people?<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We concluded the study with this prayer:<br />
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This was the last of the Bible studies so let me recap the Biblical framework with this last slide:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Peace plenary</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This was the last plenary, the peace plenary. It was intended to share stories, images and signs of hope that God is leading us to justice and peace. It added dimensions of peace to earlier plenaries on justice, mission, unity and Asia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The format was one of story sharing of the insights and struggles in the face of inequality, injustice and indifference.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The first of the stories was from Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Laureate in 2011. It told how she founded various peace and reconciliation initiatives and how she led a non-violent Christian and Muslim women’s movement that played a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s civil war in 2003.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The moderator of the session Anglican Bishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town then asked Chang Yoon Jae to speak about issues related to society, justice faith and peace.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The initiative and experiences of the peace churches was presented by Stanley Noffsinger who interviewed two young persons one from Iran and the other from Costa Rica. These young people spoke about damage that the embargo on Iran is doing to the people in the villages often time causing shortages of food, medicines and creating issues for the youth of unemployment. Fabian who was born deaf, talked about programs that discriminate against people who live with disabilities. He seeks to build the sense of peace by promoting programs of wholeness and inclusiveness for those who are often left out of the social fabric of society thereby giving them a sense of wholeness and integrity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Assembly continued to work through the documents and proposals at the business meetings. The use of consensus approval continued with the delegates lifting up their orange or blue cards to signify approval or non approval.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Since the Vatican delegation will be leaving on Friday morning this was our last offical session at the Assembly. The WCC delegates will continue through Friday to approve changes in policy, accept reports and issue a closing statement to the churches. But we had one last duty to carry out – the confessional meeting.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Confessional meeting</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Catholics who were present at the Assembly gather one last time as a group that included, journalists, steward, the members of the local Korean Catholic church and the Vatican delegated observers to share our impressions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Most felt it was an enriching experience, a learning experience for some and an opportunity for all to share by our presence the desire of the Catholic church to work for the unity of Christians, peace and justice together with all who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some learned of the complexities of the WCC and the difficulties that it faces as an institution of such diverse types of churches and ecclesial communities. One disappointment was expressed. The issues of Faith and Order which focuses the attention on the unity that we seek was not as strong as it could have been. For example, there were two very important documents that the Catholic Church and the WCC worked on during the last seven years, namely the document on the Church and the Joint Working Group’s final statement. These were only mentioned in passing and didn’t seem to play a role in the Assembly’s program. Even the Unity plenary which was to focus on the unity statement only gave a nod to these two documents. Since the delegates of the Assembly will be the ones who will return to their churches and have the duty of bringing the documents to their ecclesial bodies for reception, it seemed that this was a missed opportunity.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In addition the Catholics had an opportunity to share with Bishop Farrell of the Christian Unity Council some hopes for work of the PCPCU in the coming years. The wish that the Council would prepare a study on the reception of the Church document and give the Catholic response as a means of helping the Catholic church on the local level to be more active, more informed about ecumenism and taking the next steps on the journey to Christian unity. There was also the hope that the Korean Catholic church would be able to correct the mistaken impression that Christianity came to Korea only when Protestant missionaries arrived. It was also the hope of the Catholics present that unity and peace in the Korean peninsula would soon be achieved. We were told that there are no priests serving the Catholics in the North which was a disturbing fact.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So as I prepare to board the plane for return to Rome I leave you with one last interview from one of the Catholic stewards at the Assembly </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and of course my wishes of </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Peace and all good!</b></span></div>
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at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-15690061625620008332013-11-06T18:35:00.000+01:002013-11-06T18:35:39.427+01:00Unity and Justice<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Worship -- Paths of justice</b></span><br />
Today's worship used one of the most common biblical images: food. God opens his hands and fills all living creatures with nourishment. God feeds the church at the Eucharist. Feeding the hungry is a fundamental call of the Christian life.<br />
In today's prayer the Scripture lesson was taken from 1 Kings 21:1-22. It is a story of struggle for justice. Justice for those who are dispossed of their lands, dispossed of their rights, dispossed of their means of sustenance.<br />
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The prayer of confession and repentance was very forceful:<br />
--when we ignore the beauty of creation;<br />
--when trees are torn down and forests become deserts;<br />
--when bees die and mango trees no longer have fruit;<br />
--when we mine the land for its gold and oil yet millions have no food;<br />
--when we know what we should do yet walk the other way<br />
<b>how terrible for us.</b><br />
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<b>God of creation,</b></div>
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<b>hear the confession of our hearts.</b></div>
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<b>Send your Spirit to renew the whole creation </b></div>
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<b>as we proclaim the everlasting love of your Son. </b></div>
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<b>Amen.</b></div>
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The refrain of the closing hymn went like this:</div>
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<i>Until all are fed! We cry out; until all on earth have bread. Like the One who loves us each and every one; we serve until all are fed.</i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bible study: Struggles for justice in an ambiguous world</span></b><br />
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At first glance the text chosen was very difficult to get into. We had a lot of good discussion but often times no consensus on how to interpret the text.The characters in the story include Jezebel, a princess from Phoenicia who is brought to the northern kingdom of Israel to marry King Ahab Jexebel's deity was Baal while the king's was Yahweh (but he later converts to his wife's). When the king wanted the vineyard of Naboth and is refused, Jezebel goes into action hatching a plot to kill Naboth. Her reasoning was that the King could do whatever he wanted since he was king. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small group discussions during the Bible study</td></tr>
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The reason why Naboth will not give the land is because it is the inheritance given by Yahweh to his ancestors. To make a long story short, Jazebel had Naboth accused of blasphemy and stoned, The prophet Elizah is sent by Yahweh to deal with Ahab by cursing him because he caused the wrath of God and caused Israel to sin.</div>
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In the context of today's work in the Assembly on justice, questions concerning the inheritances and rights of people were posed.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Plenary session: God of life, lead us to do justice in today's world</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The theme of the plenary looked at the injustice that prevails in the world and the Christian imperative for justice. In light of the this the plenary focused on social injustice, namely discrimination, gender injustice marginalized communities, and economic and ecological questions. This was done in the Madang style of conversation with the intervention of several people.</span><br />
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Speaking on economic injustice and the dispossession of people's ancestral lands was Mr. Martin Khor. </div>
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In a very passionate presentation on the injustice in witholding vital medicines from those in poorer countries especially in light of HIV Aids was Rev. Phumzile Mabizela. The cost of such medication is so prohibative that poor people cannot afford the medication and eventually end up dying. She also emphasized that their is no reason for children to be born HIV positive. However, unless people can obtain the expensive medication in Africa there is still a large percentage of children being born HIV positive.</div>
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The other participants spoke about the necessity for theological reflection on this issues as they relate not only to justice but also to the unity of the church. The churches need to recoginzie the moral imperative of confronting justice as an integral part of "costly discipleship". Here is where the churches can make a difference by working together in the public arena for the cause of justice. By doing so together they also make an important statement about unity.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Walker-Smith is Julia Duchrow, Bishop Iosif of Patrara, Mabziela and Martin Khor</td></tr>
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The afternoon was pretty much business with the election of the Central committee and the hearing of the reports and statements that need to be received.</div>
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The session began with a choir of young children who sang about protecting each other's rights.</div>
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The Assembly elected a 150-member Central Committee, which serves as the main decision-making body of the Council between assemblies. <br />
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The new 150-person Central Committee counts women: 39%, men: 61%, youth: 13%, indigenous persons: 5%, persons with disabilities: 2%, ordained: 68%, and 32% of the members of the committee are lay persons. The nominations committee worked with a pool of names put forward by the WCC's 345 member churches. A 25-person executive committee, a moderator and two vice-moderators will be elected by the Central Committee later this week. You can see the list by cliking on the link<br />
<a href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/central-committee/NC032FINALMembersoftheCentralCommitteeasElectedbythe10thAssembly.pdf">http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/central-committee/NC032FINALMembersoftheCentralCommitteeasElectedbythe10thAssembly.pdf</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>SEDOS</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Since today 's theme dealt with justice, I want to share with you news on an organization of religious communities who all have as their apostolate mission</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Peace and all good.</span>at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-12740959876840242602013-11-06T16:56:00.000+01:002013-11-06T16:56:02.071+01:00Unity -- the heart of the ecumenical movement<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The Heart of the Matter: Unity</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Worship: Fire and wind – ways toward unity</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The symbol used today was the icon of Pentecost. In the Eastern tradition icons are written by the artist who had entered into a spiritual retreat in order to open eyes onto the heavenly reality. We never say an icon is beautiful but rather it is <b>true</b>. This means that those who use the icon for their spiritual enrichment find in its beauty, divine truth.<br />
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<i>“Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind. (...)</i></div>
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<i>Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.” </i></div>
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The One Spirit creates a unity manifested as a <i>koinonia</i> of spiritual diversities. Even though St. Luke and St. Paul were not physically present on the day of Pentecost, the portrayal of their presence with the Apostles in an open circle demonstrates that the unity God seeks through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is an open process with eschatological significance. The king at the bottom of the icon represents the cosmos, which speaks to the fact that the descent of the Holy Spirit is constantly implementing God’s will for the unity and restoration of the whole of creation.<br />
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Both fire and wind remind us how important it is to develop a discerning Christian witness, and to develop it together - in the perspective of the eschatological hope we all share as Christians.</div>
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The prayer concluded with these words:</div>
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<b>Triune One who makes us one</b></div>
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<b>make our unity visible </b></div>
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<b>and bring healing to the world.</b></div>
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<b>Amen.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Bible study: Being and Becoming Church</b></span></div>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Bible study explored several dimensions of the Pentecost event. First of these was the element of staying together. Luke mentioned that “they were all together in one place”. The disciples had experienced several traumatic events: betrayal by one of their, death of their master, news of the empty tomb, and after Jesus’ ascension the disarray of what they were to do now. Their response, their choice was <i>to stay together and to pray.</i> They gathered there as a bewildered community, not with the expectation of being endowed with mystical or supernatural powers but to celebrate together their hope in God amidst fears, anxieties and uncertainties.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Pentecost event was the reversal of the Babel curse (Gen. 11:1-9) where humans lost the possibility of communication and reciprocal comprehension due to diverse languages. Because they became a <i>Spirit-filled community</i>, the possibility of mutual understanding was restored. All now spoke one language, the Gospel, and each heard and understood the message in his or her own language.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>With fear conquered, the disciples became the instruments of the Holy Spirit. They not only went out with great zeal to proclaim the wonders of God done in Jesus Christ but they ‘gathered in’, forming a community with the purpose of welcoming diversity. The church was not so much a closed and self-sufficient institution as it was a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). What sustains unity is a common vision of the Spirit-led community.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Bible study invited the participants of the Assembly to take the next step and relate it to the church today by asking what would it be like to be gathered again in one place and what would make the church today an authentic ‘Pentecost-church’? How can we understand the Pentecost event from a unity perspective that can bring new insight, dynamism, and power to the ecumenical movement? The role of the Spirit is unity in diversity, as well as the relationship of Pentecost to justice and peace, are interesting to explore in today’s changing landscapes. <br />
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The Bible study had time to discuss and share everyone's insights in small groups.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Unity plenary</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This plenary was a little different than the previous ones. It was presented in a prayerful atmosphere beginning with a reflection on the icon of the Trinity and concluding with a form of the Taizé prayer for unity.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mary Tanner led the plenary whose purpose was to present the Unity Statement of the WCC. The Statement contains a line very close to the opening of the Vatican II document, <i>Lumen gentium</i>, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: “Unity of the Church, the unity of the human community and the unity of the whole creation belong together”. She added that “Our unity is not of our own making” since it is grounded in the communion of love that flows through the Holy Trinity.<br />
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Metropolitan Nifon of Targoviste, Romanian Orthodox Church described the situation within the WCC where some of the constituencies speak out against the ecumenical movement for fear of losing their traditions. Encouragement in the face of fear needs to be taken from the very life of the Trinity itself in whose image the Church is created. He made an appeal not to forget the two Orthodox bishops who have been abducted in Syria and for whom we have no news.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Rev. Dr Neville Callam, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, offered reflections on the “Journey of fellowship: hopes and challenges on the way”. He especially lifted up the work of the Faith and Order Commission, especially on the recently released document <i>One Baptism: Toward Mutual Recognition</i> and <i>The Church: Towards a Common Vision</i>. In spite the progress made on the ecclesiological front other obstacles to unity include conflicts on moral issues, weak promotion of unity among young adults and racism, including that within the church.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev. Neville Callam</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Alice Fabian, the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa who served as a member of the unity statement drafting group, and Bishop Mark MacDonald shared reflections on the “Journey of fellowship: God’s gift and calling”. The plenary closed with an invitation to recommit to the search for unity in faith.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To conclude the plenary, Tanner asked the participants to write their own prayers for unity that were collected during the plenary and formed part of the closing mid-day prayer led by two brothers from Taizé with young people from different parts of the world.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Today was the last of the sessions on the conversations so everyone was busy preparing the statements that would be brought to the Assembly. The conversation that I followed was on the Church. The task was to formulate affirmations of the text and challenges that are presented by the text. Finally recommendations were offered to the WCC for action in the next seven years.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This text on the Church was very positively received in our group. The greatest difficulty forseen is how this text can speak to the new ‘non-denominational. Churches that are being formed and are growing rapidly especially in what is called the ‘global south’ (although this includes Asia as well). All of this material now goes to the floor for the consensus process and then to the program committee who hands it over to the new Central committee for action during the next seven years.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Catholic evening prayer</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> This very long day came to a beautiful close with a form of evening praise offered by the Catholics present at the Assembly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Members of the Vatican delegation and elements from the local Catholic church took part in the modified vespers. Many cultural elements were included in the sing of evening song.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> As in traditional Korean prayer the assembly was called to prayer by the ring of the gong.</span></div>
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As a meditation following the reading, traditional dancers interpreted the piece of scripture.</div>
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The prayers were presided over by Archbishop Kim and Bishop Farrell with Sr, Cecilia as leader.</div>
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During the singing of the <i>Magnificat</i>, traditional dance prayerfully and graciously brought to life the words of this hymn of praise of Mary.</div>
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A small musical ensemble accompanied the singing and the psalm was sung to the music of a harp.</div>
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As the prayer began with the gong so it concluded to send the worshippers to a peaceful evening rest.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Group of traditional dancers together with the Bishops</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Pilgrimage of peace</b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I want to share with you some brief reflections from Fra. Roberto Giraldo, ofm who went to the DMZ on a prilgrimage of peace and unity.</span></div>
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Peace and all good.at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-43726570720897852142013-11-04T16:26:00.000+01:002013-11-05T15:04:34.264+01:00Down to Business at the WCC Assembly<b>New Presidents elected</b><br />
After the weekend of rest, the General Assembly picks up the pace. The first elections took place in the business session this afternoon. These will be <i>ex officio</i> members of the Central Committee.<br />
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The eight new WCC Presidents are:<br />
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<b>Africa</b>: Rev. Dr <a class="internal-link" href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/presidents-officers/rev-dr-mary-anne-plaatjies-van-huffel"><b>Mary Anne</b> <b>Plaatjies van Huffel</b></a>, Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa<br />
<b>Asia</b>: Rev. Prof. Dr <a class="internal-link" href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/presidents-officers/rev-prof-dr-sang-chan-1"><b>Sang</b> <b>Chan</b></a>, Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea<br />
<b>Europe</b>: Archbishop <a class="internal-link" href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/presidents-officers/archbishop-anders-wejryd"><b>Anders</b> <b>Wejryd</b></a>, Church of Sweden<br />
<b>Latin America and Caribbean</b>: Rev. <a class="internal-link" href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/presidents-officers/rev-gloria-nohemy-ulloa-alvardo"><b>Gloria Nohemy Ulloa Alvarado</b></a>, Presbyterian Church in Colombia<br />
<b>North America</b>: Bishop <a class="internal-link" href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/presidents-officers/bishop-mark-macdonald"><b>Mark MacDonald</b></a>, Anglican Church of Canada<br />
<b>Pacific</b>: Rev. Dr <a class="internal-link" href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/presidents-officers/rev-dr-mele2019ana-puloka"><b>Mele’ana Puloka</b></a>, Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga<br />
<b>Eastern Orthodox</b>: H.B. <a class="internal-link" href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/presidents-officers/h-b-john"><b>John X</b></a> Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East<br />
<b>Oriental Orthodox</b>: H.H. <a class="internal-link" href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/organizational-structure/presidents-officers/patriarch-h-h-karekin-ii"><b>Karekin II</b></a>, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Water the source of life -- it purifies and liberates</b></span></div>
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Today's worship used the symbol of water to re-link us to our baptism. In baptism the water symbol has two valences: it is a sign of life but also that of destruction. The Christian is born "of water and the Spirit" (John 3:5). However, we know the consequences of water unleashed: floods, tsunami, polution -- all elements of destruction and death.</div>
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Today millions of people die because of the lack of safe drinking water, yet multinationals like Coca-cola or Nestlé buy up the water rights in the same countries were people do not have access to their own water. They profit from selling water while the legitimate owners of the water die.</div>
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Religious leaders from Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist faiths poured water into a common vessel. In almost all religions and their sacred texts, water is a symbol of cleansing, justice, peace, and it is therefore profoundly relevant to the Assembly theme: <i>God of life, lead us to justice and peace.</i></div>
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The Scripture reading for the worship and Bible study came from Acts 8:27-39, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Not only did we consider the question of baptism but also that of mission since Philip was proclaiming and explaining the Word of God. This led the eunuch to seek baptism.</div>
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<i>We praise you God, for this font, for you breathe into the water to wash away sin and birth us anew into you peace and joy. <b>We praise you, O God for water!</b></i></div>
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<i>O God, you are the Ocean, the source of all life. </i></div>
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<i> O God, you are the River, saving us from death. </i></div>
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<i> O God, you are the Stream, restoring our community's strength. We praise you O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, today, tomorrow, forever. <b>Amen and Amen!</b></i></div>
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The theme of water was then further developed in the Bible study as we made the transition from worship to the plenary on mission.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Mission: a call to life-giving witness</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">You will remember that the plenary sessions serve to develop one of the major sub-themes of the Assembly. Today it was mission. The <b>C</b>ommission on <b>W</b>orld <b>M</b>ission and <b>E</b>vangelism (CWME) presented its work on a <i>Practical Guide</i> that accompanies the WCC's updated statement on mission approved by the Central Committee in Greece in 2012 under the title <i>Together towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Three presentations were made whose purpose was to focus attention on the new contexts within which mission and evangelism now take place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Fr. Stephen Bevans, a Divine Word missionary, painted a picture of the contexts of mission today. In his dynamic presentation he underscored the role of the Spirit in mission and the implications it has for mission work in different contexts.</span><br />
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Rev. Cecilia Castillo Nanjarí, a Penecostal Pastor from Chile, spoke on "New Ways of doing Evangelism" in the contemporary context of the world. She emphasized the fact that the churches are responsible for paying little or no attention to the major problems of women and indigenous populations at risk. She addressed new concrete ways of witnessing to the Gospel of Life in secular, post-modern contexts.</div>
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Bishop Dr. Geevarghese Mor Corillos, who is moderator of the CWME, speaking on the concepts of mission, including “mission from the margins”, derived from the new affirmations of the mission statement. In his presentation he made mention of the Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis who has set an example by calling for a church of the poor who minister to the poor. This is the great challenge today for any kind of missionary work. He presented four points that he felt are essential for revitalizing mission today. First it must be Trinitarian orientated, namely reflecting the inter-relationships of the Divine Trinity of love and respect for all of creation. Secondo, it must be Spirit inspired and Spirit driven that will compel all toward the God of Creation. Third it must be respectful of the contexts of the people and finally it must be mission to the margins. Only in this way will missionary activities bear lasting fruit.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Baptism document: front and center!</b></span></div>
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One of the Madang Worshops today was the presentation of the recently published Faith and Order Commission text <i>One Baptism: Towards Mutual Recognition</i>.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Following the BEM report of 1982, the Faith and Order Commission continued the study on baptism. When the Churches responded to BEM a number of questions came to the surface. One question in particukar was concerning the mutual recognition of baptism and what this means practically for the churches. The text picks up where BEM left off. One of the rich results from this 10 year study was the fact that the churches talk about baptism as part of a wider process of conversion which is life long. Questions about the mutual recognition of baptism and ecclesial recognition are considered in this text as well as the consequences of putting mutual recognition fully into practice. A lively discussion pursued after brief introductory remarks by some of the people who worked on the text or have been involved in Faith and Order projects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><b>Ecumenical conversations</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: left;">The conversations continued. I have been following the ecclesiological statement conversation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: left;">We continued exploring the implications of this statement. This time with input from two women: one from China and the other from Latin America. Their perspectives were based on how their churches might receive this text. One was a pastor in a Pentecostal church and the other in a "post-denominational" church. Difficulty was expressed in having access to some of the language of the text since it was not the type of vocabulary that their churches were used to. However, they found the text beneficial in allowing them to pose questions to their own churches. Both spoke about the new realities of non-denominational or new charismatic churches that are being born and the issues that these will pose to the understanding and discussion of the text.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ms Cecelia Castillo Nanjari and Rev. Manhong Lin</td></tr>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--iN9yFAkXtM/Une0VkxR0OI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/MJdXYMZ8VCI/s1600/DSC09839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--iN9yFAkXtM/Une0VkxR0OI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/MJdXYMZ8VCI/s200/DSC09839.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><b>Always new discoveries in Korean cuisine</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: left;"> The Catholic delegation has been eating in one of the restaurants in the convention center. Its name is Party & Play. Almost every night there is something new or curious to be discovered and tried. Tonight it was a new fruit that we discovered. It is soft and sweet on the inside. I understand it grows pretty much in the Philippines. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: left;">Here is what it looks like:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: left;">Here is the reaction to a first encounter:</span></div>
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So from me to you:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: left;">Peace and all good!</span></div>
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at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-79318371556974229922013-11-03T11:56:00.000+01:002013-11-03T11:56:01.528+01:00Eucharist in the Busan Cathedral<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>A day of rest and praise</b><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Catholic delegation joined with the local church at the Cathedral of St. Kim for the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist. I saw some other delegates from the WCC present including the wife of the Secretary General, Mrs Tveit.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two of the stewarts at the Assembly</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The cathedral is very modern and beautiful in its simplicity. A lot of natural light streaming in through beautiful stained glass floods the body of the church with a warmth and welcoming atmosphere.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jKwLlI1_GtI/UnYnN3KOGoI/AAAAAAAAAb4/UBtkIq3HKkA/s1600/Day+05+Cathedral+St+Kim+9706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jKwLlI1_GtI/UnYnN3KOGoI/AAAAAAAAAb4/UBtkIq3HKkA/s320/Day+05+Cathedral+St+Kim+9706.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The doors to the cathedral has an etched scene of the mountains with Christ the Good Shepherd and his sheep.<br />
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The interior is made of simple stone and the wood furnishings add a warmth to the worship space. Just as in Seoul, the Cathedral was packed and the people were very active in their participation. The Cathedral choir led the congregation in hymns and the liturgical parts of the mass.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Archbishop Kim presided with the Bishop members of the delegation while the presbyters concelebrated.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In his Archbishop Kim’s homily, he said that “the ecumenical movement is not a choice, but a supreme order of our Lord to be carried out”. In addition it is not a matter of human intimacy between Protestants and Catholics but rather a faithfulness to the teaching of the Gospel and to the Spirit in concrete action together.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Following the service all the delegates from WCC who attended were invited to a lunch offered by Archbishop Paul who was unable to be with us because of confirmation. The President of the parish council was present to greet us as well as the pastor of the cathedral parish, Fr. Lee.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fr. Lee, Pastor of the Cathedral</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The rest of the afternoon was quiet.<br />
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In the evening we were invited to join the Benedictine sisters for sung vespers in their chapel. The day ended with a simple evening meal prepared by the sisters. So the day was restful as we recuperated our forces for Monday’s work at the Assembly.<br />
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Peace and all good!<br />
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at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-22232586535751501792013-11-03T09:08:00.001+01:002013-11-03T09:08:33.026+01:00Pilgrimage with Korean Churches<b>A pilgrim prayer</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Today the Assembly encounters the local churches in Korea and makes pilgrimage to the DMZ to pray for peace, reconciliation and unity for Korea. The participants remembered all those countries who are divided and suffer civil war and the countless victims of violence. We were sent forth with the words: <i>Let justice spring forth from our earth, and let the fruits of love flourish.</i><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>From my previous blogs you all know that the Catholic delegation spent the week before the Assembly encountering the various churches in Seoul so we had the opportunity to do some historical and cultural tourism.<br />
It has become a group joke that we are always ready to line up for a group picture. But here is one that we all sat for!<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As we journeyed from Busan out into the countryside we saw the rice fields harvested or being readied for harvesting. Since rice is a principal element of the Korean diet we saw fields and fields of rice paddies.<br />
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It was a warm and sunny day not at all like one would expect in November. We were very fortunate since the colors of the changing leaves were reaching their peak and the various places that we visited today were a real spectacle of color and harmony. <br />
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We were on our way from the Benedictine Sisters’ retreat house where we are staying to the ancient site of the Silla dynasty in Gyeongju.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benedictine Sisters' Retreat House</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At the National Museum we were greeted by the mayor of the city according to traditional customs with flowers and gifts. This was the ancient capital of Silla where the museum has been moved since its opening in 1945. It is one of the largest and most prestigious museums in Korea. Since it was a weekend there were lots of Korean tourist. I think sometimes we were objects of their curiosity!<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In this region are located some of Korea’s major historical attractions and we will visit them today. These include the archeological museum and the art hall, Daereungwon Park, Donnunge (Eastern Palace) and Wolji (Moon Pond) as well as Bulguksa Temple. So let’s begin.<br />
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<b>Gyeongju National Museum</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Upon entering the Museum park we perceived at a distance the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok. The bell is the largest and second oldest in Korea completed in 771. Its purpose is to wake all of creation to attentive prayer. Unlike Western bells this bell has no clapper. It is rung by hitting the bell with a large wooden or metal rod. The tones of the bell last for 24 seconds with its vibrations emanating outward to call all souls to pray and to relieve the souls that are suffering pain. Even though its last range cannot be heard the sound wave continues deep into creation.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FX9Qil3T1ic/UnXqH-NbkQI/AAAAAAAAAT0/N8-ttkmfzoE/s1600/Day+04+Gyeongju+National+Museum+bell+of+King+Seongdeok+9518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FX9Qil3T1ic/UnXqH-NbkQI/AAAAAAAAAT0/N8-ttkmfzoE/s200/Day+04+Gyeongju+National+Museum+bell+of+King+Seongdeok+9518.JPG" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The bell contains descending angels on it as well as inscriptions in Chinese explaining that this bell was completed after its first failed attempt by the son of the King. Decorations have lotus blossoms as well as the angels on its sides.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lotus blossom on sleeve of tradition dress</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Next was the three story stone pagoda from the Goseonsa Temple site. The pagoda is believed to be the place where the ashes of Buddha are kept and so they find a central place in the temple presincts. The animals on the edge protect it from anyone approaching this sacred spot.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Inside the museum there were many statutes of Buddha and lesser gods and goddesses. Three remarkable ancient golden crowns were discovered in the ruins of the site of the palace. In fact many of the artifacts were preserved in a wooden coffin because they were in the mud under the drained pond. Almost all of the items in the museum are from the Silla dynasty period.<br />
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<b>Donggun and Wolji in Gyeongju</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>From the National Museum we traveled a short distance to the Eastern Palace and Moon Pond. Again we were greeted by wonderful colors on the trees.<br />
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The whole site was a beautiful harmonious setting for the royal palace and surroundings. These buildings come from the unified Silla period and included the palace and adjoining buildings attached to the palace and a garden. In 674, Silla King Munmu constructed a lake as well as an artificial hill to grow rare flowers. It is here that the last King of the Silla dynasty, Gyeongsunwang, hosted a festive banquet for Goryeo Taejo, the founder of the Goryeo dynasty. Its natural beautiful setting must have been something in the golden period of the Silla dynasty.<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7aqJizqxDJo/UnXvEhbvqVI/AAAAAAAAAVk/KKqZxZtRqYw/s1600/Day+04+Gyeongju+Donggung+Palace++9547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7aqJizqxDJo/UnXvEhbvqVI/AAAAAAAAAVk/KKqZxZtRqYw/s200/Day+04+Gyeongju+Donggung+Palace++9547.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ka9QD-HhhqY/UnXvE0rg9vI/AAAAAAAAAVo/R9-X2p4BxQ0/s1600/Day+04+Gyeongju+Donggung+Palace+Wolji+(Moon+pond)+9565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ka9QD-HhhqY/UnXvE0rg9vI/AAAAAAAAAVo/R9-X2p4BxQ0/s200/Day+04+Gyeongju+Donggung+Palace+Wolji+(Moon+pond)+9565.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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And yes we took a group picture!</div>
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<b>Cheomseongdae Observatory in Gyeongju</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ancient tombs with mountain in the background</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Another short ride took us to the archeological park and forest in Gyeonhju. This was a central part of the Silla capital and contains numerous historical sites. Besides the tomb of King Naemul (356-402, the 17th ruler of the Silla Kingdom) we found perfectly preserved ancient tombs. From reconstructions we can see traditional homes and features of ancient Silla. King Naemul was famous for tricking Japanese pirates with scarecrows on the slope of Mt. Toham (seen in the distance). He fended off several invasion attempts by the Japanese and promoted trade with China.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In the center of the site we saw the Cheomseongdae Observatory that was build in the reign of Queen Seondeok (632-347) and is the oldest astronomical observatory in East Asia. Obviously there were no telescopes at this time but people ascended to the top and from a dark interior gazed at the constellations in the night sky. Its form is also uniquely made of stone that gives a sense of balance, harmonizing straight lines with curves.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Surrounding the site is the Gyerim Forest, once again dressed in beautiful autumn colors. Located at the edge of the forest are some traditional houses and crossing the river is a wooden bridge that is being reconstructed.<br />
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It is here that we had a very traditional meal. You can see the elegant place setting with many small dishes.<br />
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These were only the starters or “antipasto”. </div>
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It seemed that the food would never end so you have to be careful about not taking too much in the beginning. Yes, that’s right, we were all seated on the floor in a lotus position (if you care to believe that!). Some of us had a little help with small seats that allowed us to stretch our legs out under the table since the old knees wouldn’t take the stress. <br />
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In any event we made it through this wonderful meal. We even had rice wine. The meal was served by women in traditional garb.<br />
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It went from small salads of vegetables or sea food, to a type of omelette, raw fish, fried fish, some beef and sweet and sour pork, cow’s tail, seaweed, lotus roots, several seafood soups, Korean pear, ginger, and lots of hot spices. A wonderful array of flavors. Oh, yes I forgot a bowl of rice!<br />
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After a leisurely walk back to our bus we were off to our next site.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Korean children enjoying a Saturday visit to the country side</td></tr>
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<b>Bulguksa Temple</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To enter a Buddhist sacred area you pass through three gates: the open gate, the protector’s gate and the gate to paradise. The Bulguska Temple is harmoniously situated, like all temples, in a natural setting of beauty. We lucked out again with the fall colors of yellows, oranges and reds mixed with the evergreen of pines.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At the second gate we met the four guardians who protect the temple, north, south, east and west. They are fearsome looking characters to ward off anyone with evil intentions.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As we approached the main hall we found that there are several ways to ascend. The central set of stairs (called bridges) known as the blue cloud bridge (Chengungyo) and the white cloud bridge (Baekungyo) are intended for royalty to ascend to paradise where Buddha resides. The rest of us have the arduous way of climbing the long way around to approach the central chamber where Buddha resides and paradise is to be found. These are all metaphors for how each one ascends through meditation and disciple to the paradise of Buddha. By the way, our guide let us take the short cut!<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Entering by the back door we see the view of Dabotap with the Seokgatap Pagoda. Immediately on the left were the instruments used to call to worship, the large fish, the dragons, the drum and cymbal. The intricate designs and colors are typical of all Buddhist temples. <br />
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The temple itself is very elaborate and beautiful on the outside. No pictures were allowed of the main hall of the temple. However, I did manage to take one of a smaller temple next to the main one where pictures were permitted. This is the Daewongiun seated golden bronze Vairocana Buddha. We were told that even though some Buddha statues appear to be feminine there is no sex to Buddha.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Daewongiun which contained the sitting Buddha had some particulars that were pointed out to us. There was a golden pig constructed immediately behind the writing over the main entrance to the hall. This pig was latter constructed out of gold and placed in the courtyard so that worshipers could touch it and have good luck. Even I group had a go at it. Now we will see if their wish comes true.<br />
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Also on the side of the temple hall a swastika was pointed out. This was an ancient religious symbol for the sun and did not have later connotations.<br />
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As we begin our exit from the temple, we passed by Banyayeonji or the pond of wisdom with the hope that our wisdom increased because of our cultural pilgrimage. <br />
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Taking one last look around as we left, we admired God's creation in all of its colors.</div>
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<b>Modern Busan</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Returning to the retreat house we had glimpses of modern Busan. It is amazing how the second city in Korea with its 15 million inhabitants live in these super modern but small apartmenst.<br />
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You can see how tall they are and how many of them are spread throughout the city area. Where once the simple had longed to move into one of these modern lodgings now they desire to return to more traditional homes with a little land for a garden and their own space.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Well that was our enriching day of cultural tourism. Tomorrow we are off to the cathedral of Busan to celebrate the Eucharist and meet some of the local people. I am sure we will have another traditional meal hosted by Archbishop Kim.<br />
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Peace and all good!</div>
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at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-84774509432355038412013-11-02T16:14:00.001+01:002013-11-02T16:14:13.552+01:00It’s down to work at the Assembly<b>Day three begins with the beat of the drum</b><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The drum is the symbol for worship today. For many indigenous cultures the rhythm of the drum is in beat with the heartbeat of life linking people to one another and to the earth. In the context of Asian religions the drum is an instrument of praise. Our praise arising from the heart builds a clear expression of hope.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The refrain for the prayer was: <i>Let justice roll down like waters</i>. The reading for the day comes from the prophet Amos 5:14-24 where the prophet invites the people to seek good and avoid evil. Since Israel does not heed the prophet, Amos pronounces a hard word that threatens darkness and death. Again through the mouth of the prophet God declares the sacrifices and assemblies of the people unacceptable since their lives are not conformed to seeking good.. The reading ends: “<i>...I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like the waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.</i>”<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KOvyKiSclYs/UnUDvxSKKUI/AAAAAAAAAQc/ogCdCKEY9wE/s1600/Day+03+Worship+9480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KOvyKiSclYs/UnUDvxSKKUI/AAAAAAAAAQc/ogCdCKEY9wE/s320/Day+03+Worship+9480.JPG" width="240" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This reading was developed throughout the day to the beat of the drum. Evening worship ended with the plea to the Lord to come: <b>Maranatha!</b> In spite of the sufferings of the Asian peoples due to domination and because of wars and natural calamities hope remains firm. The prayer ended with a remembrance of the victims of the 2004 Tsunami and these words:<br />
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<b>Stay with us Lord, in the uncertain moments.</b></div>
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<b>With you Holy Spirit raise us from our hopelessness,</b></div>
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<b>wipe away our disbelief and strengthen our faith,</b></div>
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<b>so that our hearts will burn to proclaim your resurrection,</b></div>
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<b>the water of life springing forth and bringing hope.</b></div>
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<b>Bible studies</b><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98z-WYNCZM8/UnUFZiwaZVI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/NIeR-N976tI/s1600/Day+03+Bible+study+9469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98z-WYNCZM8/UnUFZiwaZVI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/NIeR-N976tI/s200/Day+03+Bible+study+9469.JPG" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Very interestingly the study today had a guest to be interviewed – the prophet Amos himself! The interview was crafted very cleverly allowing us to get to know what made this prophet tick and what was his problem with the situation of people <b>today</b>.<br />
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The process of contextualization that was used yesterday served the gathering by allowing us to understand the situation then and how it impacts on the situation now. <br />
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We talked in our small groups about who were prophets today and what were the issues that had to be denounced and actions to be taken. A whole series of issues were named from unjust treatment of the poor to ecological issues that impact the whole earth. There were many Pacific islanders in our group who feared that their islands were sinking because of the rise of the ocean. In the Asian context the constant fear of being overrun by dominating political forces or being used because of cheap labor costs and having its people sold as sex slaves or cheap laborers were identified. What Amos called for was justice. Justice is the framework that gives form and substance to the social life of the religious community. The ethical quality of right relationships with each other in our daily living is what justice looks like when it “rolls down”. Consistency between our words and our deeds is what is demanded of us.<br />
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<b>Asian Plenary</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Today’s plenary was very interesting with the highlight being a presentation by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on "Christianity and peace building amidst conflicts over religious freedom". He had three points to make:<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>● The theology of reconciliation means that the gospel of Jesus Christ is reconciliation. Reconciliation is not an aspect of the gospel, it is the gospel. Reconciliation has at its heart the welcome of Christ, expressed by people taking time to welcome the other. Reconciliation has at its heart transformation, not conformity.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>● Christian peace building seeks the continuation of difference without violence, not the suppression of diversity. It looks for a path that enables relationships to grow, not agreements to rule by law. It is a gift of grace, not the imposition of conflict resolution. Its essence is based in the Trinity, relational and not rule-bound.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>● It is fundamental to the Christian calling to permit the Spirit of God to renew in us the love of Christ for our enemies. This is especially true today, when the greatest challenge for Christian churches in terms of conflict is religious, especially when relating to Islam. Christian peace building leads to inter-faith reconciliation and co-habitation, but not resolution. It is not syncretistic but holds difference in love.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archbishop Welby photo: Peter Williams/WCC</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The remainder of the session dealt with the Asian context, its problems and its hopes. The different parts of Asia presented some of the concerns that it had as it sought to move into the 21st century. These issues revolved around the problems of women in trying to feed a family, attempting to better themselves through education and better health care, and teaching the values of the human person. One moving story was about an Indian woman who had twin girls who were joined at the chest. Since they were girls they already had a mark against them and a second mark was because they were ill. The elders forced the mother and her family to reject the children and left them to the hospital to care for. Eventually these girls were separated and became beautiful children. Finally the mother, when she saw the love and care taken by the hospital staff and many other people that saved her children, she too wanted them back. Unfortunately one of the twins died but the other was returned to the mother. It was stories of solidarity such as this one that gives rise to hope and illustrates the need for justice in the social fabric to move people to act with coherence.<br />
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The program concluded with a contemporary ballet of young artists expressing in danse and song the plight and the hopes of the Asian continent.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This session dealt with the unity statement of the assembly and the nomination process. The Russian Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Vvolokolamsk addressed the assembly with a rather substantial paper. This paper provoked some reactions from the meeting. He presented the position of the Russian Orthodox church on sexual morality, the disintegration of the family with same sex unions, the adoption of children by partners in these unions, religious fundamentalism by some Muslim groups, and the persecution and plight of the Christians in the Middle East.<br />
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While no debate or rebuttal was allowed several delegates rose to speak against some of the his positions and some in support of the statements he made. Since it was a listening session the moderator asked that any positions taken by delegates needed to be sent by e mail to the unity committee who would take them under advisement. Following this discussion the meeting resumed with looking at the nomination process.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Concerning the plight of Christians, I had the chance to speak to a Friar Minor who lives and works in Istanbul. He speaks about what the Franciscans are trying to do in Istanbul and how interreligious dialogue takes shape in a country where the Christians are a minority.<br />
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<b>Ecumenical conversations</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Since I am following the conversation on the church I cannot say much about the other conversations except what I hear from other delegates. Here is what happened in the ecclesiology conversation:<br />
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<b>Confessional meetings</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The day ended with an opportunity for all the Catholics who were at the Assembly to meet together and talk about various issues. Card. Koch presented the Catholic delegated observers and then spoke about the activities of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. This presentation was followed by a presentation of the Korean Catholics, there history, their ministry and their involvement in Christian unity and interreligious relations. Similar meetings were held for the Reformed, the Anglicans, the Lutherns, the Orthodox and the Free churches.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Since we have the weekend off I will be doing some tourism with the Catholic delegations and then celebrating the Eucharist at the cathedral of Busan on Sunday. Our Korean hosts promise some more traditional food – this should be interesting!<br />
Peace and all good!<br />
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at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-48409663913944347312013-11-01T14:55:00.004+01:002013-11-01T15:48:33.414+01:00A day in the life of the Assembly<b>What does an ordinary day at the Assembly look like?</b><br />
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The rhythm of the Assembly is punctuated by two moments of prayer. After we arrive the delegates go to the worship space where we have a morning prayer. Each day has a theme that takes some aspect of the work of the day.<br />
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Based on the psalm 139: “You trace my journeys and my resting-places and you are acquainted with all my ways”. This psalm gives the setting of the prayer experiences. The Assembly is seen as a journey or pilgrimage that is expressed in the theme <b>“lead us”</b> to justice and peace. All of the prayer experiences are designed as one more concrete step together toward the realization of our prayer to God for justice and peace.<br />
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Pilgrimage is an ancient activity of all religions. We can think of that first great pilgrimage where God called Abraham out of his home land to a new land. The Old Testament is filled with the stories of how God was leading and forming a new people with a purpose to be carried out in God’s creation. In the New Testament, Jesus is the great pilgrim leader, leading us as the Good Shepherd back home to the heart of God. In fact he is, as John says in his Gospel, “the way, the truth, and the life”.<br />
Each day will use some symbol of this journey together.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Today the symbol was the<b> tree of life</b>. This symbol may be understood from several different aspects. In the creation story trees were made to sustain life-for clean air, to rest under the shade of their leaves and to eat of their fruit. They also provide beauty as seen in these autumn days where colors abound and amaze the eye and uplift the spirit. Nevertheless the tree is also a symbol from the first pages of Genesis. It was placed in the center of the garden and called the <b>tree of knowledge</b>. Perhaps the harvest of its fruit was done without wisdom from the<b> tree of life</b>. In the New Testament the cross of Jesus was identified by the apostles as the<b> tree of life</b> (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29).<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">I can’t but think of good friends of mine who have made their life’s pilgrimage collecting examples of the</span><i style="text-align: start;"> tree of life</i><span style="text-align: start;"> in art, literature and song.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> We sang this refrain today: <i>The righteous are like tress planted by living streams.</i> Today’s evening worship ended with this prayer:<br />
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Creator of all life,</div>
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you brought into being all that is, and pronounced it good.</div>
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We are careless with your gifts.</div>
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You invite us to be stewards of your creation.</div>
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We take much and return little.</div>
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You want us to live in unity,</div>
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yet we build boundaries between people and nations.</div>
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Heal our divisive, miserly ways.</div>
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Forgive out greed.</div>
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Create in us hearts of generosity and humility.</div>
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Amen.<br />
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<b>Bible studies</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>After the worship, the assembly breaks into bible studies by language. This is a very imporatnt aspect of the gathering since it will break open the word of God around the theme of the Assembly.<br />
Listen to the description of the studies from Fr. Lawrence.<br />
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Today’s study comes from the book of Genesis, the creation account. It is a reflection on the nature of life and how to celebrate, sustain and affirm it in relation to the theme of the assembly. We used a contextual interpretation of the text where we heard the text in its context, and then tried to identify how our various cultures hears the text and how the text interprets us. The group then shared how each identified with some aspect of the text and the group was enlightened by listening to how various cultures heard the text. This process produced a very rich result.<br />
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<b>Theme Plenary</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The plenary session sets the tone for the conversations and programs of the WCC assembly for each day. In the plenary sessions the whole assembly gathers to hear reports or messages from various leaders or programs that have been sponsored by the churches in various parts of the world.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>For example, Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, encouraged the churches to “protect the vulnerable”.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Duleep de Chickera, Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, spoke on the concept of “victim theology”. He noted that a theology disconnected from victims or in support of war in a violent world robbed of justice and peace amounts to the mutilation of the heart and mind of Jesus.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Dr Wedad Abbas Tawfik from the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in Egypt shared how the Egyptian people have born “witness to the God of life” by facing up to turbulences in their country. She called the WCC theme a universal prayer, directly relevant to the Egyptian Christians who, following events of the “Arab Spring”, have worked with their fellow Muslim citizens in pursuit of dignity, peace and social justice for their country.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>These presentations were followed by a conversation in which the young theologian Mélisande Schifter put some hard questions that youth ask to the presenters. What young people want to see is action and not more discourses. So the question put to the Assembly at the beginning is what will we concretely do about the issues.<br />
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<b>Business Plenary</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>After lunch we are all back for the business meeting. Here the delegates deal with the various programs, policies and structure. Since this Assembly has adopted a politic of consensus there is no real “voting” going to take place on issues. Instead the delegates will try to find a common solution or consensus. They have two cards to raise: orange for favorable and blue for unfavorable. <br />
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Delegates do have the possibility to speak to issues. This first day everyone was on their good behavior and there were no real “hot” issues brought to the floor. During these sessions there may also be a major input given which can be up to three minutes. Delegates are eager to hear one of these tomorrow with Bishop Hilarion scheduled to speak.<br />
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<b>Ecumenical conversations</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ecumenical conversations engage assembly participants in sustained, in-depth dialogue on critical issues that affect the unity, mission and witness of the church today – issues that require a response by the churches together.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There are 21 ecumenical conversations. Some examples of these include:<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Called to be one – new ecumenical landscapes<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• The Church: toward a common vision<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Transformed by renewal: biblical sources and ecumenical perspectives<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Moral discernment for life, justice and peace<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>•We must pray together if we are to stay together<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Developing effective leadership: contextual ecumenical formation and theological education<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Together towards Life: mission in changing contexts<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Evangelism today: new ways for authentic discipleship<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Exploring Christian self- identity in a world of many faiths<br />
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<b>Regional groups or confessional meetings</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In these meetings there is an opportunity for the delegates to gather as churches in the same region or by confessional identity.<br />
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Even in Korea there are protests, There are some Christians who are not happy with the WCC and so they had the right to protest outside of the convention center. They were very respectful and for the most part silent.<br />
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<b>Prayer</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The long day ends with prayer. These prayers pick up the theme of the day again but are more simple than the opening worship. By the end of the day most of us are pretty tired. Curious as it may be even in Korea do they celebrate Halloween. This is the restaurant where we are eating!<br />
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So I will wish you all:<br />
Happy Halloween<br />
Peace and all good!<br />
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at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-40654763912393653662013-10-31T14:23:00.000+01:002013-10-31T14:23:41.470+01:00What is a General Assembly?<b>What is a General Assembly?</b><br />
Well today was the opening of the tenth General Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), <b><i>God of life, lead us to justice and peace</i></b>. But many of you may ask what is a General Assembly? An assembly of the WCC is a gathering of the member churches to reaffirm their fellowship and to take counsel with one another.<br />
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The first Assembly took place in Amsterdam in 1948 just after the war. This assembly is known as the ‘founding assembly’ since it was at this meeting when the WCC officially came into being. Since then every seven years there is a coming together to do the work of the council The last one was held in Porto Alegre in Brazil in 2006.<br />
The way the assembly works is that Council’s member churches sent delegates as their official representatives. These would be the voting members of the assembly. However, other invited delegates come as well and participate in the sessions but do not take part in the voting decisions that are held.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cardinal Kurt Koch delivers Pope Francis' message</td></tr>
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Every assembly has three main functions:<br />
• the assembly is an occasion to celebrate and reaffirm the mutual commitment that member churches and ecumenical partners have made through the WCC. It is a celebrative moment to reaffirm their confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and to express the visible unity of the church.<br />
• it is the time to render an account of what has been done since the last assembly. Many reports are given both in oral and written form to the delegates in the business plenary sessions.<br />
• since the assembly is the highest decision making body of the WCC, decisions and policies must be taken and made. In addition it needs to select 150 members of the central committee which assumes the responsibility for guiding the work of the Council for the next seven years. These are elected from a slate of nominated persons from the churches.<br />
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<b>The beginning</b><br />
Each assembly is different and Busan is no exception. The gathering of so many people (5,000) and the re-connecting with old friends and the making of new lasting relationships is one of the joyful aspects of the Assembly. The colors and traditions of the Korean church added a lot to the opening ceremony.<br />
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Since the theme of the assembly touches on the questions of peace and justice, the opening worship brought in the ideas of seeking forgiveness against nature and the against the rights of people. At the beginning of the worship the Assembly asked for forgiveness in a dramatic way.<br />
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In addition we experienced the history of the Protestant churches in Korea in the opening plenary session. It was a spectacular of drama, music and history.<br />
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Tomorrow the Assembly will go into full swing with a very full day. The real work will begin tomorrow with the various committees starting their work. By the way the meeting is being held in the very modern Conference Center in Busan.<br />
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at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-21616183403521177012013-10-30T15:16:00.000+01:002013-10-30T15:16:04.017+01:00Anglicanism and Orthodoxy in Korea Today is our last day in Seoul since we will head down to Busan for the Assembly this afternoon. However, before doing so we had two stops left: the Anglican Church and the Orthodox Church.<br />
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<b>Anglicanism in Korea</b><br />
Anglicanism came to Korea in 1889 when Bishop Charles John Corfe was ordained and the first diocese of Joseon was founded. As was the practice of many of the mission societies, the Anglican church established a number of educational institutions, medical facilities and social work in various centers throughout the country (both in the North as well as in the South). The Anglican church sought ways for the church to be integrated into Korean culture. For this reason many of the buildings may be found in the traditional Korean style such as the Bishop’s residence in Seoul.<br />
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The first native Bishop, Lee Cheon Hwan, was ordained in1965 and only died in 2010. Three dioceses were established and social institutions continued to be opened. The Anglican cathedral in Seoul is named Sts. Mary and Nicholas and was built in 1922 in the Romanesque style. The actual community is not very large but is active with many projects.<br />
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Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity joined us in our last visits and will travel with us to the Assembly.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Card. Koch receives gift from Anglican Bishop Paul K. Kim</td></tr>
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<b>The Orthodox church in Korean</b><br />
<b> </b>Orthodoxy came to Korea via Russia in 1900. For various political reasons such as the Sino Japanese war and the Bolsheviks revolution, caused great difficulties in continuing orthodoxy. The care of the church was transferred to the Archbishop of Tokyo. Then came the horrors of the Second World War and the Korean Orthodox church found itself cut off once again. Finally in 1950, the Korean War followed. This was <br />
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disastrous for the church since the only Korean priest was captures and never seen again. It was under the care of the Archimandrite Andreas Halkiopoulas that the church found new live in the Ecumenical Patriarchy. Even though it is not a large community is it once which cares for its people and is open ecumenically.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Card. Koch & Metropolitan Ambrosios of Korea</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>After a quick lunch in the train station we were off to Busan leaving at 2:15 PM and arriving at 4:58 PM. Now its down to business with the opening of the 10th General Assembly.at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-44540365918487849642013-10-30T14:03:00.000+01:002013-10-30T14:03:04.442+01:00Buddhism and ecumenism in Korea continued<b>Pilgrimage to the shrine of martyrs</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The second part of our day was highlighted by a pilgrimage to the place of martyrdom, the Jeoldusan Martyrs’ Shrine. There were several waves of persecutions of Catholics since the first in 1791. This was the site of the beheading of Catholics who were suspected of helping the French invade the Joseon coast in 1866. <br />
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This event sparked the fifth major persecution of Catholics and led to the execution of many. Why was this site chosen? It was on a high hill overlooking the transportation, trade, and business on the Han river between China, Japan and Western powers. Since the Catholics were considered to be the culprits enabling the French invasion, only their blood could wash away the filth of the invasion. This is why after beheading their heads were washed in the river.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Today this is the resting place for the relics of 27 of the martyrs who lost their lives defending their faith. The most famous one was Andrew Kim Tae-gon, the first Korean priest who received the palm of martyrdom on September 16, 1846. A very large bronze statute of St. Andrew Kim wearing traditional garb was erected on the site.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Catholic delegation celebrated the Eucharist in the chapel after praying in the crypt that contains the relics of some of the martyrs. May the blood of these witnesses of faith inspire all the delegates at the WCC Assembly to seek the unity of all those who believe in Christ and witness to him with lively faith and especially for the unity of this divided Korea.<br />
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<b>Gyeongbokgung Royal Palace</b><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Next we went to explore some more of Korean history and culture by visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace (which translates: Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven). This Palace was built in 1695 three years after the founding of the Joseon dynasty. It was a beautiful autumn late afternoon with the sun beginning to set when we arrived at the site of the palace.<br />
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At the apex of the Joseon dynasty this complex had over 500 buildings. Most of these were destroyed during the Japanese invasion in 1592 since it was the symbolic location of the royal power, politics, economy and culture of the dynasty. After the Japanese occupation, the palace was partially rebuilt and has been restored since 1990 to his past splendor. It is an extremely beautiful complex especially with the fall colors and the play of the light of the setting sun on the buildings and reflection in the water. <br />
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We were fortunate to have a guided tour the complex which now consists of only 125 of the original buildings.<br />
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The last rays of the setting sun accompanied us to our last stop of our second day.<br />
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<b>Representatives of the National Council of Churches</b><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Rev. Kim Young-ju, General Secretary, met us and hosted another traditional Korean meal with its many dishes and surprises. It was 130 years since Protestantism arrived in Korea. The Korean National Christian Council was founded in 1924 which were the beginnings of the Council of Churches in Korea.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We learned that Protestantism established itself first by missionary work in the founding of women’s hospitals and schools for the education of girls. Then came Bible schools. While the Catholic mission was orientated toward the establishment of the hierarchy and a sacramental structure, the Protestant Methodist and then Presbyterians began with the education of women and the establishment of schools. Of course, this is not to say that Catholics didn’t do so as well but it was important to establish the faith in a new cultural setting. <br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The various mission societies decided that instead of competing for believers they divided the peninsula into mission territories, each being assigned a geographical area. This is how Protestants arrived mainly form the united Stated and Great Britain to evangelize the country.<br />
As I said earlier we had some new dishes to try before calling it a night.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buon appetito!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It was a long day. Tomorrow, our last in Seoul we will visit the Anglican and Orthodox churches and then make our way to Busan and the beginning of the Assembly.<br />
Peace and all good!<br />
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at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-78311474764076259302013-10-28T17:20:00.000+01:002013-10-28T17:20:17.919+01:00Buddhism and ecumenism in Korea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Wow what a day! It will be impossible to tell all that I did today but let's at least get a start.</div>
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It was another beautiful, crisp Fall day as we started out from the Bishops' Conference after breakfast. We traveled across Seoul to the <b>Hwagye Temple</b> at Suyu-ri dating from the late Joseon Period in the 1600's. The temple and monastery are highly regarded for the formation of monks from all over the world who come to the international school. The characteristics of this temple and monks is thier prayer for inner peace and especially for the unity of Korea. They have excellent relations with the Catholic parish near by.</div>
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We were welcomed by traditional ceremonies of greeting and then given a tour of the beautiful old buildings set in a harmonous setting of nature.</div>
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The monks explained the way of contemplation and prayer that they follow each day and that many people come seeking their advice and inner peace. The piety of the people is not much different than that one would find practiced by many Christians. For example, in a few weeks entrance exams for university will take place. The monks said that many students will come to ask enlightenment so they can pass their exams and enter university.</div>
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Our delegation had a special meeting with the head teacher who explained their way of life and traditions. We began by removing our shoes out of respect (a typical oriental custom when entering anyone's house). Then we were all seated on the floor in a typical Eastern fashion, and served a type of juice made from herbs and rice along with fresh melon, oriental pear, and several types of rice cakes. We had the opportunity to talk about similar customs of meditation and prayer as well as the desire to seek peace and arrive at a deeper state of contemplative love and respect for all of creation. It was explained that the buddhist temples and meeting rooms are all built with a sense of flow from inside to outside and to be situated in settings of nature. We stayed for the better part of an hour. However, our Western bodies are not used to sitting in certain positions! Inspite of the creeking of bones and setting down on the floor, we all made it up (with the help of a monk or one of our own).</div>
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Before moving on to our next stop we took (another) group picture. It seems that the media is really covering this event with video cameras, several photographers and journalists.</div>
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You can easily see the beauty of the gardens and the harmony that exists in this setting especially with the autumn colors coming to peak just as we arrived in Korea.</div>
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Next stop: <b>Hanshin University</b></div>
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After leaving the Temple we traveled a ways down the road to the very modern university, Hanshin University. It was founded in 1940 as a more liberal university with the intention of forming "intellectuals in action". The University has several sites and the one we visited was the graduate school of theology. We arrived just s a special program called "envisioning ecumenism" was beginning. Severasl hundred students from around the world came for this special seminar which will accompany the WCC General Assembly. You will remember that the theme of the 10th Assembly is <b style="font-style: italic;">God of life, lead us to justice and peace. </b></div>
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Our delegation entered the auditorium just as the introductory session was ending. Bishop Braian Farrell and Archbishop Kim were asked to say a word about our delegation and here is what they had to say:</div>
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Following the conclusion of their remarks the students headed off to go to their seminars. They will be following each on the themes that will be discussed at Busan during the Assembly and do their research papers in Busan as invited guests. In a certain manner this is the preparation of the next generation of ecumenists, getting their feet wet in a "full immersion" fashion. Many will remember that the ecumenical movement was formed by many young students in the post war period in Europe.<br />
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Our program continued with a meeting with the dean, Rev. Kang, Sung-Young and some of the faculty. We had a very special presentation by Young-oak Kim considered to be the leading intellectual in Korea. He is a Buddhist monk and expert on Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. He spoke about the origins of the Hanshin University, founded by Dae-hyun Kim as Chosun Theological Institute. The origins were in the Seungdong Church (Presbyterian). From its inception intellectual excellence was inspired.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Young-oak Kim</span></i></div>
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The delegation was given a tour of the ultra-modern facilities. Once again we ended up having another group picture, this time in the ecumenical chapel.</div>
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After the visit we were treated to a very special Korean traditional meal which as you can see below had many dishes and we didn't even have the main dish yet!<br />
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As I said at the beginning of today's blog it was a day filled with many events (and as you will see later, group pictures). It is getting late and I want to publish this so I will say: "Peace and all good" until tomorrow when I will talk about the moving experience of the pilgrimage to the shrine of the Korean martyrs.at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-16455417091427619932013-10-27T16:01:00.002+01:002013-10-27T16:01:32.572+01:00Meeting the local Church Today was a day spent in getting to know the local church in Seoul, its history and vitality as well as issues facing Catholics in Korea. Most people do not know that catholicism in Korea entered by means of the laity. Some Korean scholars of Confucianism learned about catholicism through reading catholic books brought in from China. Their enthusiasm encouraged them to send a man by the name of Yi Seung-hun (1756-1801) to Beijing to acquire new books on catholicism such as prayer books and objects such as rosaries and icons. While in China he and his father were baptised by the Jesuit missionary, Fr. Grammont, sj. When he was baptized in February 1784 he took the name of Peter. Returning to Korea near Seoul, the intellectuals of the Joseon dynasty incouraged others to study and accept the faith so that in October of the same year Yi Seung-hun Peter baptized two others which established the first Catholic community in Korea. The reality of Christianty began among intellectuals and the well to do but quickly passed to the middle class and began to spread rapidly. A hierarchy for Korea was only established in 1831.<br />
Today Catholics number a little over 10.3 % of the population and is growing rapidly. During the day we visited the cathedral of Seoul and Archbishop Yeom Soon-jung gracious received us and spoke about the persecutions of the Catholics but more about that later. We celebated the Eucharist in the cathedral with Archbishop Kim presiding. The Cathedral was packed. The liturgy was celebrated with great singing of traditional music and lively participation.<br />
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After the celebration we enjoyed some Korean traditional food and then went on to the seminary to meet the retired Cardinal Cheong Jinsuk. There we learned more about the persecutions of Catholics. The primary cause seems to be that Catholics broke with the traditional practices of ancestry worship. According to Confucianism every family should practice an ancestor rite honoring them for four generations. Because of the disputes in China between 1643 and 1742 among missionaries with the church, especially with Matteo Ricci, sj and the Mendicant orders, Rome finally spoke in 1715 with a letter (<i>Ex illa die</i>) from Pope Clement XI that condemed the use of ancestor rites which were understood to be idolatrous worship. This provked a serious crisis for the believers in Joseon when they were prohibited from this practice in 1790. Some abandoned the faith while others stayed and had to face the consequences of clinging to their beliefs.While the practice in China was the object of Papal condemnatin there was a difference between the practice of ancestor rites in China and those in Korea. The point of contention in China was whether God's name could be used in a ceremony which worshipped Confucius and whether these rites were purely religious or just civil ceremonies. In Korea, the question was whether the ancestor was enshrined in the tables used during the rites and if God was indeed the focus of these ceremonies. The persecutions went on in waves from 1791 to 1886.<br />
We had an interesting discussion with the emeritus Cardinal about the issues of inculturation and the persecutions that led to the first martyrs of the faith recognized by the Church. <br />
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It was actually the first ordained Korean native priest Andrew Kim Tae-gon (1945) who suffered martyrdom in 1846 who would eventually be canonized along with 103 Korean martyrs in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. The remains of these martyrs are venerated in the crypt of the cathedral and in the seminary in Seoul.<br />
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Today the seminary in Seoul has 280 seminarians. We ended our day by visiting the seminary and meeting some of the seminarians. We learned that they were only a small number of the 1,200 seminarians in the whole country.<br />
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Even though the day was long, we learned a lot about this growing church and its relationships with other Christians and with "neighboring" religions which is the way that the interreligious dialogue in Korea speaks of other religions.<br />
My last picture today is of the whole delegation at the Cathedral. Tomorrow I will be off to visit a major temple and to the Martyrs' shrine. It became obvious for me in listening to the Korean Catholics that the blood of the martyrs has indeed born much fruit.<br />
Peace and all good!<br />
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<br />at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-11118253046476874022013-10-27T00:20:00.000+02:002013-10-27T14:06:46.736+01:00Welcome to KoreaWell here I am in Korea!<br />
The flight was direct from Rome to Incheon International Airport which is on an island. It is one of the most modern and beautifully conceived airports in the world. The flight KE 928 Korean Airlines was a 747 with not an empty seat. Most of the Vatican delegation was on this flight. We departed Rome at 23.00 and the flight took just over 11 hours and was conducted with oriental elegance even though we were in coach. I was in the row with four along with Bishop Brian Farrell from the Pontifical Council. I was able to sleep but poor Brian didn't close his eyes.<br />
After arriving at 1700, we went through imigration formality very radiply and as we picked up our luggage we were greated by the nuncio in Korea, Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla and by Archbishop Yeom Soon-jung of Seoul. We had a quick meal in the airport and then went by bus to the Korean Bishops' Conference where we are staying until going to Busan for the Assembly. <b>What a bus ride! </b>I said before that the airport is on an Island so we had to cross a long bridge into the city of Seoul. It was now 2200 and it was as if it were day-time with bumper to bumper traffic. We didn't arrive at the residence until 2300.<br />
Tomorrow it is off to the cathedral for the Eucharist and then visit to the Emeritus Archbishop, Cardinal Cheong Jinsuk. Our day will end with a visit to the Catholic University of Seoul and meal with the seminarians.<br />
Peace and all good!<br />
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<br />at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491408654904853920.post-45282402085700186022013-10-25T15:39:00.000+02:002013-10-25T22:08:21.469+02:00Going to Korea!I am at the Friary in Rome and getting ready to leave and go to the airport to begin my journey to Korea as member of the official delegation of the Vatican to the WCC General Assembly in Busan. Before leaving, this past week, we have had as our guests Fr. Bruce Ruddock and his wife Vivien, Anglicans from the cathedral of Peterbourgh in England. They are good friends from the time that Bruce was Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. They are on vacation. I spoke to Bruce about the Assembly and he mentioned that his cathedral is linked to the Anglican diocese of Seoul. I asked him to speak about this relationship and the Assembly. See the video with his comments. Arriverderci a Busan!<br />
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<br />at-one-menthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957578625483875796noreply@blogger.com0