From Our Chairman's Desk

Dear Friends:

I am happy to welcome you to the web pages of the Bishops Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (BCEIA). As you can see on our first page, we have a broad mandate to build relationships with our fellow Christians and with representatives of other major religious traditions.

As part of my welcome, let me affirm the importance of building relationships. I was privileged to live in Jerusalem for nine years. During those years I worked with our fellow Christians, with the Jewish community and with our Muslim brothers and sisters. I became even more convinced that we must invest time in getting to know and trust one another. On this foundation, we can engage in fruitful dialogue.

“At the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church committed herself irrevocably to following the path of the ecumenical venture….” [Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint, #3].The BCEIA and the Secretariat support this vital commitment. In a dozen formal dialogues and in a host of less formal conversations, the BCEIA and the SEIA seek to fulfill this commitment. The commitment is intrinsic to Catholic identity.  We are committed to listen to and learn from our neighbors. We hope that in God’s time we will come to full communion with our Christian brothers and sisters. We hope that we will come to a deeper understanding with the members of other religious groups and together build a strong civil community.

 The results of these dialogues and conversations are available on this web site. They will inform you of the important progress of our work over the last several decades.

I pray that you too will hear the call to building relationships of love and peace with colleagues where you live.

Yours in Christ,

M. Rev. Denis Madden

Chairman