WCC News: WCC and partners to host seminar in Assisi on Feast of Creation

The World Council of Churches (WCC), with the Laudato Si’ Movement and other partners, will cohost a seminar in Assisi, Italy, on 15-16 March. Entitled "The Feast of Creation and the Mystery of Creation: Ecumenism, Theology, Liturgy, and Signs of the Times in Dialogue,” the event aims to deepen the collective understanding and appreciation of the Feast of Creation, observed on 1 September. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 21 February 2024 Rooted in the Orthodox Church's ancient tradition and embraced by communities worldwide, the Feast of Creation symbolises the shared reverence for the divine act of creation and the human role in its stewardship. Through dialogue and reflection, the seminar aims to explore the ecumenical progress in celebrating this feast and consider its significance for inclusion in western churches' liturgical calendars. “There is an inseparable connection between our faith in God as creator and our relationship to non-human nature as our co-creation,” said WCC moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm. “Being ecumenically united in our faith in God as the creator is therefore also the seed for decisive common ecumenical action towards ecological justice in our world. This is why I am looking very much forward to this conference.” Bedford-Strohm will be joined by Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, WCC programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation; Dr Andrej Jeftić, director of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order; Rev. Henrik Grape, WCC senior advisor for Care for Creation, Sustainability, and Climate Justice; and Dr Louk Andrianos, consultant for Care for Creation, Sustainability, and Climate Justice. For more information, please visit the Laudato Si’ Action Platform Event Page. See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland