Catholic-Protestant Inter-Communion Now!
World Council of Churches desires common Lord's Supper
"As soon as possible"
The World Council of Churches was founded 75 years ago. Its central committee chairman Bedford-Strohm looks at the relationship with the Moscow Patriarchate, the relationship with Catholics and the quest for a common Lord's Supper.
DOMRADIO.DE: You have been President of the World Council of Churches since last year. Was that an adjustment for you, thinking about ecumenism a bit more broadly now?
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm (President of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches / WCC): No, this was not an adjustment for me, because I have been involved in the World Council of Churches for decades. But in Germany, too, ecumenism has always been much more to me than Protestant-Catholic ecumenism. That's why I like to say "World Council of Churches" instead of "World Council of Churches", because the worldwide dimension is the special thing here, that there are 352 churches from all continents of the earth.
That is why not only the denominational question plays a role, but also what is so important right now in this so divided world. How can this world find unity? How can we as churches be a sign of unity also for the world? That's why this is a dimension of ecumenism that, for me at least, always belongs to the core.
DOMRADIO.DE: What do you consider to be groups, directions, or approaches to ecumenism that we are perhaps not aware of at first glance?
Bedford-Strohm: First of all, the great traditions such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Protestant churches, and the Orthodox Church are of central importance, and they have very different forms in the various churches around the world.
We have a lot in common with the Roman Catholic Church. It is a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. However, it is not a full member of the World Council of Churches. But we are in close exchange. There are always guests from the Roman Catholic Church.
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
"We have a lot in common with the Roman Catholic Church."
We experience that Pentecostal church groups are increasing in the world. We have now begun to overcome old boundaries. Those among the Pentecostal churches who do not go by good-evil schemes or simple answers, but are theologically based and come into conversation with us, they are also approaching the World Council of Churches more and more. We are having some very exciting discussions.
In this respect, it is also evident that there is a shift from the north to the south in the World Council of Churches. That is very important for us, that we as churches in Europe also perceive more clearly this worldwide dimension of Christianity, which is growing.
Our problem that secularization also leads to fewer people being members of the church sometimes makes us think that this is also the case worldwide. The opposite is the case.
DOMRADIO.DE: The World Council of Churches was founded in Amsterdam 75 years ago. It was shortly after the end of the Second World War. The basic idea was that churches worldwide should work for peace instead of war. Has the WCC failed to achieve its goal? After all, the world is not really peaceful.
Bedford-Strohm: That is an ongoing task, now especially painful because of the war in Ukraine. The Central Committee has just met in Geneva with 150 delegates from all continents. When we are together there, it also becomes very clear that the narrowing of the question of war and peace to Europe and also to Ukraine cannot be supported in this way by people from all over the world. It is much more a question of overcoming violence everywhere.
When we talk about the military costs of the war in Ukraine, we always hear about what this means for people in other parts of the world. The price of grain is rising as a result of the conflict, and of course vast sums are being spent on the military that would actually be urgently needed for development.
Nevertheless, the World Council of Churches said in all clarity: The Russian invasion is an illegal and an immoral war, without the Russian Orthodox delegates blocking that. That was a weighty sign.
From this basis, also because of the global responsibility, we are trying to start peace initiatives that can perhaps open the door at least a little bit, so that finally the military logic is overcome and we can think about ways out of violence.
DOMRADIO.DE: The Moscow Patriarchate with Patriarch Kyrill, who actively supports Vladimir Putin's war of aggression in Ukraine, is a member of the World Council of Churches. There was even a request for exclusion from the World Council of Churches, which was then rejected. How do you deal with such a case?
Bedford-Strohm: I think it would be wrong to exclude the Russian Orthodox Church now. Exactly the opposite must be the case, that in all social groups where there are connections to Russia, we are just starting to talk. This is of course particularly the case for us as the World Council of Churches.
We have to see that we can also counter Putin's propaganda with something, that other information gets into Russia, that we try to use the civil society possibilities to finally get out of this terrible violence.
Secretary General Jerry Pillay and I have therefore undertaken a trip to Kiev with a small delegation in order to enter into talks with the two Ukrainian Orthodox churches, which are rivals and in conflict with each other, and to organize a round table, in which the Russian Orthodox Church will then also participate. We plan to do this in the last week of October.
We don't know yet whether it will succeed, but in principle the churches have declared their openness, so that we, especially as the World Council of Churches, who come from outside to some extent but are connected with the churches, may have a special opportunity to overcome the entrenched ideological and theologically often justified antagonisms.
We are united by our commitment to Jesus Christ. And in the end, that must be stronger than all these antagonisms.
DOMRADIO.DE: You do not represent the Catholic Church. There has been a joint body since 1965. Catholic representatives also work in various bodies of the WCC. What will the cooperation between the World Council of Churches and the Catholic world church look like in 2023?
Bedford-Strohm: This is a very friendly interaction. I also visited Pope Francis as one of my first inaugural visits, together with Secretary General Jerry Pillay. We presented our peace initiative in Ukraine to him. He was very supportive of it. After all, he has also launched an initiative himself.
We don't want to try to do this against each other, but with each other and in parallel, and perhaps also to bring it together at some point. That is absolutely a joint endeavor.
Refugee policy is also something that connects me very personally with Pope Francis in the impulses that we give to the public. There are many friendly ties. The Pope gave an important sermon at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva on the 70th anniversary of the WCC. Patriarch Bartholomew, the honorary head of world Orthodoxy, preached at the Central Committee meeting in June, when we celebrated the 75th anniversary, so that there is a very strong bond among the leaders of the great confessions.
Our program slogan for the next eight years, during which I will be chairman of the World Council of Churches, is "ecumenism of the heart". This means that we are closely united inwardly in our hearts, in our common confession of Jesus Christ. From that point of view, however, we also want to come closer together institutionally as churches.
DOMRADIO.DE: Would you like to see the Catholic Church become a member of the World Council of Churches in another 75 years, or perhaps even earlier?
Bedford-Strohm: Of course, I would like to see all institutional boundaries that still exist between the denominations overcome. But in particular also that a commonality in the reception of the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, becomes possible. I hope that this will become possible as soon as possible.
Not that the different traditions are simply stirred into one sauce. That is a great richness of our confessional traditions. But they all lead towards the one Lord Jesus Christ, and they must never put themselves first, but must always be understood as doors towards the way to Jesus Christ.
Of course, this also means that there must no longer be any opposition to one another, but that we must all bear witness to this Lord Jesus Christ together.
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