KO01572.1423 December 11, 2006 62 EM-lines (656 words)
KOREA Ecumenical Dialogue A Priority For New Secretary Of Protestant Churches' Council
SEOUL (UCAN) -- The new secretary general of a Korean Orthodox and Protestant Church council wants to make stronger ecumenical cooperation a priority, and a Catholic official agrees it is time to move "beyond friendship-level dialogue to doctrine-oriented dialogue."
Reverend Kwon Oh-sung, 53, told UCA News on Dec. 5 that interfaith cooperation, especially with the Catholic Church, and internal reform are his top priorities. The Presbyterian Church leader was elected on Nov. 20 to a four-year term as secretary general of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK).
Calling the Catholic Church a "brother Church," the new secretary promised that the dialogue with the Catholic Church would be strengthened. "The coming ecumenical pilgrimage is a good start," he added.
According to Reverend Kwon, officials of the NCCK and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea (CBCK) will visit the World Council of Churches' headquarters in Geneva, the Vatican and Istanbul Dec. 9-17, to "deepen mutual understanding and strengthen Christian unity." Istanbul is the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, entrusted with a ministry of unity among the Orthodox Churches around the world.
Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant leaders were inspired to organize the pilgrimage after the July visit of Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, according to a lay staff member of the CBCK. The Vatican cardinal came to Seoul and addressed the World Methodist Conference, at which the World Methodist Council on July 23 signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with representatives of the Catholic and Lutheran Churches, which forged the agreement.
Father Peter Pai Young-ho, secretary general of the CBCK, spoke with UCA News on Dec. 5 and congratulated Reverend Kwon on his election. "We should go beyond friendship-level dialogue to a doctrine-oriented one" in line with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, he said.
The declaration, which the Catholic and Lutheran Churches signed in 1999, bridges a disagreement that divided the Catholic and Protestant Churches from the 16th century. It affirms that human salvation is possible with God's grace, while God's grace asks people to do good deeds
Father John Bosco Hong Chang-jin, secretary of the CBCK Committee for Promoting Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue, told UCA News that the NCCK has contributed much to the country's democratization and has regularly run joint programs with the local Catholic Church. Among them he cited the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, organized since 1986, the Ecumenical Forum since 2000 and exchange meetings of theologians and seminarians since 2001.
However, dialogues or meetings "must involve not only religious leaders but also the grassroots faithful in the very near future," he suggested, hoping the new NCCK secretary would support that initiative.
Meanwhile, Reverend Kwon also said he would reorganize the NCCK committees to give them more independence, in which process "the number of the committees would be decreased to 10." According to the NCCK website (http:\\www.kncc.or.kr), the council has 15 committees.
The new secretary general observed a tendency in the past for many Protestant denominations to splinter into subgroups. For example, there are numerous Presbyterian denominations.
Keeping that in mind, he stressed that the NCCK would continue to work for unification between the NCCK and the Christian Council of Korea (CCK), a representative body of Protestant Churches that do not belong to the NCCK.
Noting that the two councils have cooperated to hold joint events such as Easter services, he suggested expanding cooperation for gradual unification. It could be "cooperation among the two bodies' committees on a project basis such as aid to North Korea," he explained.
The NCCK general assembly also elected Salvation Army Commissioner Chun Kwang-pyo as its new president for a four-year term.
The NCCK was established in 1924 under Japanese colonial rule. It lists eight current members: Anglican Church, Assemblies of God Full Gospel, Evangelical Church, Methodist Church, Orthodox Church, two Presbyterian Churches and the Salvation Army, according to the NCCK.
END
Fonte - UCAN
Nota DDP:
Ao que parece o oriente também empunhará a bandeira do ecumenismo. Mais aqui.
