Present at the meeting were representatives of the ecumenical movement organizations, churches, faith-based organizations and ecumenical cooperation agencies that constitute FEACT
Dreams, bridges, affection, communion, diversity, memory, pathways, care, love and commitment were some of the words that marked the National Meeting of the ACT (Brazil) Ecumenical Forum (Fórum Ecumênico ACT Brasil: FEACT), which took place between 28 and 30 November in the Federal District of Brasilia.
Present at the meeting were representatives of the ecumenical movement organizations, churches, faith-based organizations and ecumenical cooperation agencies that constitute FEACT: Ana Gualberto, Marilia Schüller and Rafael Oliveira/KOINONIA; Cibele Kuss and Renate Gierus/Lutheran Foundation of Diakonia (Fundação Luterana de Diaconia: FLD); Edoarda Sopelsa Scherer/ Region South 3 of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil: CNBB Sul 3)/Roman Apostolic Catholic Church (Igreja Católica Apostólica Romana: ICAR); Sonia Gomes Mota and Bianca Dáebs/Ecumenical Coordination of Service (Coordenadoria Ecumênica de Serviço: CESE); Angelica Tostes/Ecumenical Centre for Services to Evangelization and Popular Education (Centro Ecumênico de Serviços à Evangelização e Educação Popular: CESEEP); José Carlos Dionízio /Community Training and Education Programme (Programa de Formação e Educação Comunitária: PROFEC); Cristiane Capeliti Pereira/Latin American Council of Churches, BRAZIL (Conselho Latino-Americano de Igrejas: CLAI BRASIL); Bob Luiz Botelho/Universal Federation of Christian Student Movements in Latin America and the Caribbean (Federação Universal de Movimentos Estudantis Cristãos da América Latina e Caribe: FUMEC); Romi Bencke/ National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil (Conselho Nacional de Igrejas Cristãs do Brasil: CONIC); Tatiana Ribeiro /Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil: IEAB); Mauro Souza/Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (Igreja Evangélica de Confissão Luterana no Brasil: IECLB) (on-line); Daniel Gonçalves do Amaral Filho/United Presbyterian Church (Igreja Presbiteriana Unida: IPU); Waneska Bonfim/DIACONIA and Vicente Puhl/HEKS – EPER Brazil.
‘It was so great to meet everyone again, to remember achievements, to reconnect struggles and revive dreams” declared Edoarda Scherer /ICAR. Left to right: Edoarda Scherer/ICAR, Ana Gualberto/KOINONIA and Tatiana Ribeiro /IEAB
Mysticism and Memory: What has marked our lives in the ecumenical movement? Who has left their legacy and witness with justice, dignity and diversity?
The night of the 28 November was marked by memories and gratitude for those who were dear to us, whose lives were lost in the pandemic, and who contributed such a lot to FEACT. It was also a moment for the collective to meet again, since, for the two last years, the event has not been held in-person.
Where have we come from? Where are we? Where do we want to go? What challenges will we face in the near future?
On 29 November, the collective analysed the repercussions FEACT’s activities have had over the last three years in their churches and organizations and revisited certain challenges and possible practices that emerged in the online seminar held in March: “Churches and ecumenism: human rights in the context of hate and love.” Challenges: to make ecumenism a political project of the national church with regional agendas; ecumenism as an constitutional element of the Christian faith; valuing unifying leaders to overcome hate; recognizing the plurality and diversity of our churches and the correlation between Ecumenism, Human Rights and Land Rights. Possible Practices: providing visibility to centres of resistance (policies to overcome racism), rethinking the communications model with the churches, ensuring the presence of women, influencing leaders, ongoing and self-critical training, overcoming Christian-centrism/Eurocentrism, ecclesiocentrism, and the ongoing re-reading of biblical texts.
The graphic facilitation recorded by communicator Monica Santana in March, was revisited by the collective
Based on the broadest challenges and the practices available to the forum, 2 strands of work were defined to guide initiatives over the following period: defending democracy and confronting fundamentalism.
Vicente Puhl/HEKS EPER
“To assert diversity, to deconstruct a little of what is mine. To open my heart to the diverse, to all expressions of faith. To create strategies to do this is a challenge.”
“As a collective we need to think of intervention strategies, to join those in the resistance, in the direction of change. Ecumenism is the struggle for faith, for life, for land. We need to think about ways and methodologies to embrace, with affection.” Rafael Oliveira/Koinonia.
Rafael Oliveira/KOINONIA
“It’s important to enhance the presence of women in the churches’ grassroots, in faith-based organizations, valuing their historical contributions to the ecumenical movement.” Renate Gierus/FLD
Renate Gierus/FLD presented the FEACT’s project activities for 2023
“FEACT encourages dialogue as construction. How do we promote dialogue after the meetings? How do we recognize differences, how do we dialogue with differences, which approach, which language? How far do we go, how far is our practice recognized?” Waneska Bonfim/DIACONIA.
“Collective construction isn’t easy, but the Ecumenical Forum is a safe space, which welcomes diversity, which strengthens our struggle,” Tatiana Ribeiro/IEAB.
“We need to break down barriers. Dialogue is a strategy for survival, a construction that requires time, we need to confront fake news, to foster partnerships and strengthen collectives,” Angelica Tostes/CESEEP.
The winds brought in by the WCC Assembly
Above, a hybrid moment during the meeting
Below Cibele Kuss /FLD, Waneska Bonfim/DIACONIA and Sonia Gomes Mota/CESE
Another notable feature was the hybrid plenary, with online participation from Mauro Souza/IECLB and the in-person presence of Marilia Schüller/KOINONIA, on the theme “The winds brought in by the WCC Assembly”. Mauro and Marilia participated in the World Council of Churches Assembly, which took place in July, in Karlsruhe, Germany. Both gave their impressions of themes such as de-colonialism, racism, women’s participation, young people, climate justice, fundamentalism and so forth.
According to Mauro, the WCC Assembly provides a broad platform for theological and ecumenical training, an arena for dialogue and listening, by the churches and the partners of the churches, a space for communion, for the defence of ethics, of the gospel. An important space for historically silenced voices to be heard, in the pursuit of unity with respect for diversity: “In the committees I attended the most sensible voices were those of the woman. There is the potential for more participation by young people. In times of war, droughts, fires and floods around the world, themes such as peace and climate, environmental, economic, social and racial justice were widely discussed” he confirmed
Marilia Schüller/KOINONIA
“One of the conversations was about the network of black women, which brings together African women from different parts of the world. We were about 70 women at the assembly and we had the opportunity to take part in ecumenical conversation arenas. The WCC recognizes that racism is a global crisis. The churches need to pressurize public policy-makers to criminalize racism and xenophobia. The WCC confirmed that it is working to do so within its own structure and system,” Marilia Schüller noted.
Regarding FEACT, Marilia noted that “Our faith is incompatible with racism. I really value ecumenical and inter-religious spaces which fight for the lives of women, against racism, and which denounce intolerance.”
Pacts and agreements for 2023
The group agreed on certain collective agendas for 2023: Continuity of the FEACT Project: Mobilizing support for gender justice when confronting fundamentalism, through several training activities in December 2022 and over the next year; holding an activity on 21 January National Day to Combat Religious Intolerance; Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which will take place between 22 and 29 May and will address racism; Ubuntu Day on 15 September, a day to embrace African-origin worship houses and those of other spiritualties and the Ecumenical Journey, which will take place from 12 to 16 October in the Federal District of Brasilia. In dialogue with the organizations and churches, FEACT’s coordinating team will meet to coordinate working groups to carry out these activities.
The group closed the meeting with a mystical ceremony, a great embrace highlighting words of faith and hope. “We are ecumenical, peripheral and we have been here since 1997, vigilant and in resistance. We will go forward together, strengthening ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue, democracy and the defence of rights,” declared Sonia Gomes Mota/CESE.