Meetings to continue dialogue

The annual meeting between the officials of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID) and the staff of the Office for Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation (IRDC) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) took place 3-4 February 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland. Appropriately this was during Interfaith Harmony Week.

The meeting included reflection, prayer and the sharing of information regarding activities which had been carried out during 2015, as well as the discussion of plans for 2016. The staff of the two offices have collaborated in a variety of ways during recent years, either through joint initiatives, such as the publication of the document Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct (2011), or by each other’s supportive participation in events or projects organized by their respective offices.

2015 had marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate which is recognized by the World Council of Churches, to have been a seminal moment in the history of Christian relationships with other religions. The meeting in 2016 offered the opportunity to reflect on future partnerships between the two institutions, in the light of their mutual desire to build further on the impetus given by the celebration of this important document.