National news

 — Sept. 30, 200530 sept. 2005

A “Women Doing Theology” event was held in Montreal 9-12 June on the theme, “Creating Justice, Recognizing Differences”. This bilingual, feminist, womanist and interspiritual gathering was sponsored by the Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada. The aims were to celebrate and collectively experience feminist inter-spirituality; resolve inequalities through solidarity and concrete actions for change; transform relations and create racial justice. (WICC)

On 21 June, Anglican dioceses and parishes across Canada celebrated the gifts of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples as they observed the National Aboriginal Day of Prayer 2005 instituted in 1971 by a General Synod resolution. Following a 1995 national gathering of aboriginal and non-aboriginal people — the Sacred Assembly — in Hull, Quebec to recognize the contributions of aboriginal peoples to Canada, in 1996 the federal government declared 21 June as National Aboriginal Day. June 21 also marks the summer solstice, a sacred day for aboriginals around the world, who see it as a time for renewal and for celebrating their culture and heritage. (www.anglican.ca)

Orthodox and Roman Catholics need to speak with one voice on issues where they agree, said Bishop Seraphim of the Orthodox Church in America, Diocese of Canada, at a five-day legislative council meeting in Toronto in mid-July. The bishop noted that the two churches should take advantage of their agreement on moral issues to speak publicly in concert with one another on contentious issues, including same-sex marriage. Ecumenism and evangelism were major themes for the meeting, although the bishop avoids the word “ecumenism” because it evokes such strong negative reactions among some Orthodox. He prefers the use of “inter-Christian dialogue” or “conversation”. Seraphim found that the temptations of secularism within churches and within our culture get in the way of church unity. Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky, who heads up external affairs and interchurch relations for the OCA, said that Roman Catholics are closer to the Orthodox than any of the other churches. “The great meeting point for the two churches is that they share a similar concern with tradition,” Kishkovsky said. (The Catholic Reporter)

Posted: Sept. 30, 2005 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=164
Categories: CCEIn this article: Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme
Transmis : 30 sept. 2005 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=164
Catégorie : CCEDans cet article : Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme


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