The Italian Episcopal Conference has announced the First Symposium of the Christian Churches, in which Italian Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant delegates will discuss the “Italian way of dialogue.”
The announcement describes ecumenism as “a grammar of peace, a gift for public space, care for spirituality and wisdom of differences.” The two-day symposium will begin in Bari on January 23.
“Our time, marked by strong conflict and violence, asks Christians for a renewed commitment to promote a culture of peace,” said Bishop Derio Olivero of Pinerolo, president of the Italian bishops’ Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue. “This is a responsibility that we cannot shirk … Differences are not an obstacle, but a heritage to be valued for the good of the Churches and of a society that is more than ever in need of communion and reconciliation.”