Anne-Cathy Graber, a consecrated sister of the Chemin Neuf Community and Mennonite pastor, took part in the meeting between representatives of various Christian churches held in Istanbul and shares her experience with us.
‘When church leaders choose to share and bear one another’s burdens…’: this could be the title of the annual meetings that have been held since 1950 between leaders of various World Communions (Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions), the entire Protestant, Evangelical and Pentecostal spectrum, the Dicastery for Christian Unity, and several Orthodox patriarchates.
Four days where there is nothing to negotiate! No final declaration, no ecumenical text… very few photos, no (or almost no) official reports… So why do leaders with busy schedules devote a week of their time to a meeting with no visibility, a kind of ‘closed-door’ meeting?
Perhaps because they know that after sharing the significant events of the past year and the plans of their Church, everyone will be invited to dare to speak about the vulnerabilities and tensions facing their ecclesial family, particularly with regard to questions of governance. Everyone will then be open to each other’s (very free) questions and prayers (spontaneous… which also shows mutual trust). This round table of twenty to thirty people allows for mutual listening that changes the way we view each other’s institutions… as well as our own, thanks to each other’s questions and encouragement.
This year, 2025, because of the anniversary of Nicaea, we were welcomed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Ecumenism plays a major role in these meetings, not only because we are together, but also because it is a favourable place to review this or that dialogue that has just been concluded. This is why some Churches come to this meeting with their head of ecumenical relations (hence my participation).
One of the central questions is how to discern the concrete consequences of ecumenical dialogue for the concrete life of the Churches. For example, those who have ratified the Joint Declaration on Justification meet to identify the consequences of these joint signatures. Or, this year, as we discussed the possibility of a common ‘feast of creation’ day, we were very much aware of the painful realities experienced in Ukraine and their ecclesial consequences…
These four days are also fertile ground for planning further dialogues and beginning to prepare the ground for them to take place. Nothing spectacular, then! A choice of discretion, of a certain silence, in order to listen to the questions posed to the churches.