Church of Bologna, by Andrea Caniato: The path that will lead to the establishment of an Ecumenical Council of Churches in Bologna has formally begun. At the vesper that concludes the week of prayer for the unity of Christians on Saturday, January 25, the “Bologne Charter” was signed, a document that defines the values shared by the communities that formalize their commitment to collaboration and sharing.
“They treated us with benevolence”: the shipwreck of the apostle Paul on the cliffs of the island of Malta, described in the last chapter of the Acts of the Apostles was the background to the celebration of Vesper that took place in the basilica of San Paolo Maggiore and on the day that in the Catholic and Anglican calendar is the feast of the conversion of the apostle.
At the celebration, presided over by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, representatives of the Christian churches present in the Bolognese territory were present: this year the Orthodox Bishop Ambrotie of Bogorodsk was also present for the first time, who a few days ago has located his cathedral and monastery in the Church of Santa Maria di Gesso, and to whom the Patriarchate of Moscow has entrusted the care of the Moldovan parishes in Italy.
With him were also present the priests of the various Orthodox jurisdictions, the priest of the Coptic-Alessandrine community, the pastors of the Adventist and Evangelical churches of Reconciliation and the presidents of the Valden church and the Anglican community.
The preaching, which we report in full in our YouTube channel, was held by Pastor Giovanni Caccamo of the Adventist Church who proposed a touching reflection on the episode of Acts, emphasizing the rare humanity shown by the Maltese to Paul, recalling the words of Jesus in the mountain speech: “If you do good only to those who do you good, what do you do extraordinary?”. The gesture of the Maltese recalls the extraordinary love of God towards humanity, as Paul recalls in his letters, inviting believers to become “imitators of God”.
After the celebration, the Archbishop again focused on the passage of Acts, updating in particular – citing the words of the Pope – the special attention to migrants, the fragile neighbor, who must be the recipient of love and special care.
Then the ecumenical representatives signed the Ecumenical Charter of Bologna, a document based on the European Ecumenical Charter and adapted to the local context, which sees many of the Christian churches of the city adhere to the shared values that will be the basis of a Council of Churches, whose erection will formalize a path that has been seeing communities reflect and engage together for years.
Our Comment:
It is shocking that Adventist leaders in Italy are prostituting themselves by connecting and promoting the ecumenical movement and by signing agreements with it.
Prophetic Link:
“Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 409