Seminar on ecumenism tackles Church response
to growing religious movements

Catholic Asian bishops and their collaborators started on Feb. 8 a seminar that explores the realities of ecumenical relations in Asian countries. Organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) of the Vatican, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the three-day Seminar for Asian Bishops will have Church experts in the field of ecumenism presenting lectures and expounding on the theme “The Search for Christian Unity: Where We Stand Today.”

The seminar is a way for the Vatican council to interact with Asian bishops on the work of ecumenism, and to develop with them a pastoral approach to changing ecumenical challenges.

Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of PCPCU led the speakers with two presentations on February 8 after the welcome ceremonies on the topic: “Ut Unum Sint and the Catholic Principles of Ecumenism: Implications for Churches in Asia” and on February 9 on “The Ecumenical Movement: Changing Situation and New Challenges.” Cardinal Kasper is one of the Church’s leading authorities on Ecumenism. He has been president of PCPCU since 2001. He was a member of the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission and was co-chairman of the Lutheran Catholic Commission. He also serves as the President of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.

Msgr. Juan Usma, a staff of PCPCU presents talks on evangelicals and Pentecostals on the second and third day. Msgr. Usma is an expert on the theology and evangelizing methodology of Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches, particularly in Latin America.

Other speakers include Fr. Thomas Michel, S.J., director of the Jesuit Secretariat for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome, Italy, and Ecumenical Secretary of the FABC; Imus Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle, who is a member of the International Theological Commission; and Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, member of the National Interfaith Consultative Commission.

Two cardinals are at the seminar: Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, which hosts the seminar, and Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu. Asian bishops include Auxiliary Bishop Thomas An-Zu Chung of Taipe, Bishop Wenceslas Padilla of Ulaanbatar, Mongolia, Bishop Anthony Selvanayagam of Penang, and Auxiliary Bishop Atanasius Schneider of Karaganda, Kazakhstan.##