The Centre’s Director, Archbishop Ian Ernest, will discuss the Church and the future of Christian unity with Fr Etienne Veto, a Catholic priest of the Chemin Neuf community who is also a professor at the Gregorian University in Rome and director of the university’s Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies. They will also focus on priorities for the ecumenical movement in the twenty first century.

 

Chemin Neuf is a community of lay and religious people from many Christian denominations, including Roman Catholic, Anglican, Reformed Churches and Orthodox. It began in France in the 1970s and its founders were strongly influenced by the charismatic renewal movement and the Ignatian spirituality of the Jesuits. It took its name from the place in France where it began but the words Chemin Neuf ( meaning new way in French) also seemed appropriate.

 

It grew particularly strong in the Roman Catholic diocese of Lyon but has spread throughout France and has been invited to lead liturgical offices such as vespers in cathedrals in Chartres and Lyon. It has also take over the abbey of Hautecombe in the Savoie region where it hosts large gatherings focused on unity and reconciliation. It has since spread to other countries across the world and is particularly known for its courses for young people and for married couples.

 

In 2014 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, invited members of Chemin Neuf to found the Community of St Anselm to live and pray at his London home, Lambeth Palace, for a year, but the project was so successful that they remain there. In the past six years, the community has included Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans from many different countries including France, England, Germany, Holland, Poland, Australia and Mauritius. The community prays daily at Lambeth for divisions between churches to be healed and its presence here is a sign of  Archbishop Welby’s commitment to Christian unity.

 

The Chemin Neuf community say this prayer for Christian unity every weekday morning at Lambeth Palace:

 

Lord Jesus, who prayed that we might all be one,
we pray to you for the unity of Christians,
according to your will,
according to your means.
May your Spirit enable us
to experience the suffering caused by division,
to see our sin
and to hope beyond all hope.
Amen.

 

To book your place for the September 24 seminar, please email [email protected]

PLEASE NOTE THE TIME 6PM IS ROME TIME SO CHECK THE EQUIVALENT TIME IN YOUR OWN TIME ZONE.

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