WCC webinar: 'The Bishop of Rome and Christian Unity'

Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

The first of a series of webinars on Christian unity: 'The Bishop of Rome and Christian Unity,' will be offered on 18 March 2025.

Hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU), this webinar is part of a series occurring in the lead-up to the WCC Faith and Order World Conference under the theme 'Where Now for Visible Unity?'

The webinar will feature a presentation of the study document The Bishop of Rome. Primacy and Synodality in the Ecumenical Dialogues and in the Responses to the Encyclical Ut Unum Sint, and the process behind it, along with a series of responses, and then questions from the audience.

One of the longstanding issues dividing churches is the role of the Bishop of Rome in service to Christian unity. In 1995, St Pope John Paul II addressed this question in his encyclical Ut Unum Sint, calling on church leaders and theologians to discern together how the ministry of the Bishop of Rome could be exercised as a "service of love recognized by all concerned."

In 2020, the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity marked the 25th anniversary of Ut Unum Sint as an opportunity to resume and deepen this discussion considering responses to the Encyclical and theological dialogue documents. This process culminated in the publication of the study document being introduced in the webinar.

It is hoped that the webinar will promote the reception of the document in the churches and stimulate further theological dialogue on the ministry of the Bishop of Rome in service of Christian unity.

About the series

The WCC Commission on Faith and Order, in collaboration with Christian World Communions, is organizing the series to explore key theological, ecclesiological, and missional questions relevant to contemporary Christian unity. The webinars will serve as platforms for dialogue, reflection, and preparation for the discussions at the world conference.

The webinars will address themes that align with the overarching pillars of the conference-faith, mission, and unity-while also engaging with the legacy and theological significance of the Ecumenical Council at Nicaea 1,700 years ago.

Beyond fostering dialogue, these webinars will aim to generate theological and ecumenical resources for the world conference. The insights, presentations, and discussions from these events will help shape conference materials, inform panel discussions, and contribute to a broader understanding of the issues facing the global church today.

Click here to register for the first webinar