“All things are yours…you belong to Christ…and Christ, the unique foundation, belongs to God.”

(I Corinthians 3:1-23) is this year’s theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

November 21, 2004
“40th” Anniversary of the Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism

Dear Clergy, Religious and Lay Friends,

This year I get to write two letters to you on the same day! The first you’ve already received, as the cover letter to the Ecumenical Commission’s newly issued document. “Rooted in Faith II” (extra copies of which are available from our office: 453-6660)

This letter is my usual one to accompany the enclosed leaflet from Graymoor, with its “Ecumenical Celebration of the Word”, which can be used during Church Unity Octave (1/18-25) or during the Pentecost Novena (9 days between Ascension & Pentecost) or other appropriate times during the year.

I am pleased to announce that the Commission for Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs now has a web page on the diocesan web site: Go to the home page of the web site of the Albany R.C. Diocese – www.rcda.org and click on “Offices”; scroll down until you see “Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Commission. Click on that and you’ll be there! There you will find news of any upcoming events, news about the various dialogues that are part of the Commission, the monthly “Our Neighbors’ Faith” column from The Evangelist. Also from there you can access the Vatican & U.S.C.C.B. ecumenical/interfaith web sites as well. Thanks to Geralyn Fox, David Amico and those others who assisted in getting us “on-line”. By the way, the Commission/Office e-mail address is: ecumenical@rcda.org.

While I’m in a thanking mood, this letter gives me the opportunity to express gratitude to the members of the diocesan Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and to our Office support staff: Penny Meade & Carole Romanini. Deacon Ray Sullivan has been appointed Associate Director of the Office.

The Apostleship of Prayer’s General Intention for October 2004 was: “That Christians, firm in their faith, may be eager to dialogue with those who belong to other religious traditions.” What an excellent petition/plan as we prepare for the 40th anniversary of the Vatican II Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (10/28/65). In the same vein, our Holy Father said earlier this year: “As we now approach the 40th anniversary of this historic document, there is regrettably a great need to repeat our utter condemnation of racism & anti-Semitism.

In speaking at an ecumenical gathering for the 40th of the Decree on Ecumenism, Walter Cardinal Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said: “The only effective antidote to the tensions, disappointment and fatigue being experienced in the ecumenical movement is to give the Holy Spirit more room to work.”

“What unites us is much greater than what divides us.”
“Whenever I see a wall between Christians, I try to pull out a brick.”
-Bl. Pope John XXII

“We all need each other.” – 5-word definition of ecumenism
-Rev. Dr. Robert Lamar (Chairman- Capital Region Ecumenical Organization)

“Try to understand others even as you would be understood by them.” – Golden Rule of Ecumenism
-Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon (keynote speaker at our 40th celebration – 11/21/04)