WCC leader on Pope's commitment to ecumenical vision

(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict’s decision to resign has brought words of respect and appreciation from Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, secretary general of the Geneva based World Council of Churches. In a statement issued earlier this week, the head of the WCC, which represents almost 350 churches and Christian communities in countries around the globe, asks for prayers to bless Pope Benedict and to guide the Catholic Church in this very important time of transition.
Philippa Hitchen caught up with Rev Fykse Tveit by phone to hear his reactions to the surprise announcement on Monday……

Listen:

My reaction was that we have to fully respect that decision, a very human decision, for a human being that needs to take care of himself, but also a man with wisdom and the strength to make a decision like this. We fully respect what he has now decided himself and we also fully respect the work he has done in these very important, but also demanding and difficult years for the church.

Pope Benedict stressed right from the beginning that ecumenism was a priority for his pontificate – how would you evaluate his contribution to the promotion of Christian Unity?

I think we need some more time to analyse the impact of his work, but I can say that he has been sharing the ecumenical vision and the belief that through proper ecumenical dialogue it is possible to make improvements and come to a better understanding. But I think some of our member churches and some of the Christian world communions have been disappointed that he has not been able to bring the ecumenical dialogues further towards more common understanding of basic Christian doctrines.

In this sense then, what would be your message for his successor?

That the world needs our churches to be able to focus on what we have in common, our common call to serve in the world, to work together for justice and peace, but also that we have a common call to unity and we cannot give up that agenda and we cannot give up the agenda of trying to learn from one another and to proceed towards a common Christian witness

The Pope himself was a member of the WCC’s Faith and Order Commission in the late ‘60’s..

Certainly and he has been very well aware of all the theological issues that are implied in the ecumenical dialogues and in the particular in the work of the Faith and Order Commission. When we met, he referred to this work and also to how we can, on the basis of the biblical texts, bring the ecumenical dialogue further – this is a very important issue for all of us and also hopefully a big issue for the next pope

You met Pope Benedict here in the Vatican…

Yes it was a very nice conversation where we dealt with very important issues for the ecumenical movement and how the churches around the world face new challenges, both in their own contexts but also in the relationship between them.