Bishop Farrell: Unity ‘essential’ for the Church

(Vatican Radio) The 10^th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) opens in Busan, South Korea, on Tuesday. About 4,000 delegates from nearly 350 member churches will participate in discussions around the theme, “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.

Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, is leading a 20-member delegation from the Catholic Church. Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Council, is bringing a message from Pope Francis.

The Catholic Church is not a full member of the WCC, but participates in the assembly, which meets every seven years.

Vatican Radio’s Philippa Hitchen is in Busan, covering the assembly. She interviewed Bishop Farrell prior to her departure.

He said the theme of the meeting is a “reflection on the kind of activity and work” of the WCC’s member churches, which are at the “service of life”.

The assembly, which runs until 8 November, will consist of a series of plenary discussions and “ecumenical conversations”.

Bishop Farrell also commented on the significance of holding the assembly on the Korean peninsula: “The political situation of division… of a country, which has affected the life, the families, I would almost say, the psychology of the people who have lived with this burden for so long, being a symbol or an expression also of the division between the churches. So that we will be there to bear witness, if you wish, to show that we are committed to overcoming the divisions among Christians. Even though this is not an easy goal… Nevertheless, we wish to show in spite of our differences, we want to show that we can come together and work together. And hopefully, this will also serve as encouragement for people in the country.”

He continued: “Our first purpose in all of these major events… is to keep the passion for the unity of Christians before everybody and to remind everybody that this is essential. It’s not something we do because we like to do it. It is an essential part of the life and the well-being of the Church.”

Listen to the full interview: