Schirrmacher was accompanied by Prof. Dr. Thomas K. Johnson, Special Envoy of WEA to the Vatican, who also contributed to the yearly report about WEA.
Report by the Armenian Orthodox Church: “The Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions held its yearly meeting virtually from October 12th to the 14th, 2021. The ecumenical officers of each respective church family and communion shared their reports and updates. The executive session of the conference elected its new chair for the upcoming term, and finalized the details of the in-person meeting that will be held in 2022 in Vancouver, Canada.“(quoted from https://www.armenianorthodoxchurch.org/en/archives/41424)
Report by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Churches: „The Annual Conference of Secretaries of World Christian Communions met online on 12-14 October 2021 due to the pandemic of COVID-19. The annual Conference of Secretaries of World Christian Communions brings together representatives from diverse Christian traditions to exchange information and to discuss their work and fellowship together. Secretaries heard reports from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Orthodox Church of Russia, Armenian Apostolic Church, Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity of the Roman Catholic Church, World Council of Churches, Anglican Communion, Lutheran World Federation, International Old Catholic Bishops’ Conference, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Global Christian Forum, Baptist World Alliance, Global Pentecostalism, Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council, Mennonite World Conference, Moravian Church Worldwide Unity Board, Organization of African Independent Churches, World Convention of the Churches of Christ, World Evangelical Alliance, World Methodist Council, Salvation Army, Friends World Committee for Consultation, and the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists. Besides discussing the state of bilateral dialogues and contemporary topics related to the ecumenical movement, the secretaries also reflected on how the Churches have been challenged during coronavirus pandemic. This informal ecumenical forum, dating back to 1957, sees itself as “communions of churches belonging to the same tradition and held together by this common heritage, conscious of living in the same universal fellowship and giving to this consciousness at least some structured visible expression.”“
https://www.ecupatria.org/2021/10/15/the-annual-conference-of-secretaries-of-world-christian-communions-met-online-2/
Report by the Vatican: “More than thirty participants attended the annual Conference of the Secretaries of Christian World Communions (CS/CWCs) that took place online from 12–14 October 2021. The Catholic Church was represented by Bishop Brian Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, assisted by Reverend Andrzej Choromanski, staff member responsible for multilateral relations. The meeting was chaired by Reverend Gretchen Castle (Friends World Committee for Consultation), with Reverend Dr Ganoune Diop (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists) acting as secretary. Each day opened with a prayer led by one of the participants. Time was allocated daily to the presentation of the reports from various communions. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the life of churches and ecumenical relations was the most discussed topic. The participants reflected on how anti-COVID-19 measures had created an unprecedented challenge for Christian communions worldwide, limiting the access of the faithful to regular pastoral care and necessitating the use of modern technologies, with churches developing new forms of pastoral ministry and ecumenical life. With the help of the vaccine churches are seeking to return to their usual pastoral activities but due to unequal access to this remedy the situation varies significantly following geographical regions. Christian World Communions is the term commonly used to describe the globally organized churches or families of churches with common theological and historical roots, confessions, or structure. Since 1957, with a few exceptions, the Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions has met annually. The Conference is not an organisation with programmatic aims but a forum that gathers the general secretaries of these bodies as well as representatives of some global ecumenical organisations for exchange of information, mutual learning and fostering of fraternal relationships among their churches. During the executive session Reverend César García from the Colombian Mennonite Church was elected as the new chairman for the term of two years.“ (Quote from http://www.christianunity.va/content/unitacristiani/en/news/2021/2021-10-18-secretaries-christian-world-communions.html)
