Pope in Geneva on “ecumenical
pilgrimage”
Pope Francis is on an “ecumenical pilgrimage” to Geneva,
where he is celebrating the 70 years of the World Council of Churches.
By Robin Gomes
Pope Francis Thursday morning flew to Geneva to join the
celebration of the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), a
350 member-group that is present in more than 110 countries and territories,
making it the largest umbrella group of Christian denominations in the world.
The WCC represents over 500 million Christians and includes
most of world’s Orthodox Churches, a large number of Anglican, Baptist,
Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed Churches, as well as many United and Independent
Churches.
The Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC but the two
have maintained excellent relations.
The theme of Pope Francis' WCC visit is "Walking,
Praying and Working Together".
Prayer Service
The Pope’s June 21 visit to Geneva began with a private
meeting with Swiss President Alain Berset, after which he proceeded to the WCC
Ecumenical Centre for an ecumenical prayer service, during which he will
deliver a homily.
He will also meet a delegation of 8 Korean members of the
WCC, four from North Korea and four from South Korea.
Ecumenical Institute of Bossey
From the Geneva Ecumenical Centre, the Pope will be driven
some 18 kms to the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey, the international centre for
encounter, dialogue and formation of the WCC. After lunch with the WCC
leadership, the Holy father will also visit the institute’s chapel.
Ecumenical meeting
From the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey, the Pope will
return in the afternoon to WCC Ecumenical Centre where he will meet the
WCC’s top officials, civil authorities, the papal team and members of the
Central Committee which serves as WCC’s chief governing body. He
will deliver a talk there.
Mass
The next big papal event will be an evening Holy Mass for
the Catholic faithful of Switzerland at Geneva’s Palaexpo, an exhibition
centre. Some 40,000 are expected to attend the Mass, including from
nearby France.
After Mass the Pope will bid farewell to the Swiss bishops
and the pontifical representatives in Geneva and fly back to Rome.
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