Joint Communique: Annual Meeting of the PCID and the IRDC-WCC

24-25 March 2022

The annual meeting of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) and the Office of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation (IRDC) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) took place at the PCID Office on 24-25 March 2022. Two members from the Cooperation of Public Witness and Diakonia of the WCC also attended the meeting.

PCID and WCC have been in ecumenical collaborative dialogue since 1977, producing a number of important joint projects: Interreligious Prayer (1994); Reflection on Interreligious Marriage (1997), Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct (2011), Education for Peace in a Multi-Religious World: A Christian Perspective (2019), Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19 (2020).

This annual meeting was characterized by three features: i). An appraisal of the 45-year ecumenical journey in fostering interreligious dialogue through joint projects and collaboration and their reception and impact in local communities. ii). Brainstorming and mapping out a plan of action for future celebration of the 50th anniversary. iii). Prayer for peace in the world, particularly for Ukraine.

Expressing happiness over the increasing friendship and mutual collaboration between the two Offices over these 45 years, both delegations looked with anticipation to the 50th anniversary and reiterated their desire to continue common ecumenical engagement in the service of interreligious dialogue.