Brief papal meeting with head of World Council of Churches
December 06, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI met on December 4 with Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), for a discussion of ecumenical affairs.
Although the meeting lasted only 15 minutes, Rev. Tveit reported that he and the Pontiff had a “very open and friendly conversation” about prospects for cooperative work, especially in protecting the Christian presence in the Middle East.
The head of the WCC—who was meeting the Pope for the first time since assuming his current post in January—expressed a keen desire to involve the Vatican in collaborative efforts, saying that “there is a strong commitment in many of our churches for revitalizing the ecumenical agenda.” The Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC, which represents 349 other Christian bodies, but occasionally joins forces with the WCC on particular projects.
Rev. Tveit discloses that he had renewed a standing invitation—issued earlier both to Pope Benedict and to his predecessor John Paul II—to visit WCC headquarters in Switzerland.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
- Working for an ecumenical springtime (Vatican Radio)
- Leader of the World Council of Churches gets 15 minutes with Pope Benedict (Spero)
- WCC leader plans frank talk with Pope on ecumenical difficulties (CWN, 12/3)
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
