From 24 to 28 October 2025, the Sixth World Conference of the Faith and Order Commission took place in the Egyptian valley of Wadi El Natrun. This became quite an extraordinary event, as the previous conference of this commission took place more than 30 years ago, in 1993. The current conference became one of the most notable international ecumenical events of 2025, bringing together about four hundred theologians, church leaders and young ecumenical researchers from around the world.
The theme chosen for this year’s conference, ‘Where now for visible unity?’, outlined the main focus of the discussions, emphasizing the need for a new understanding of the paths to Christian unity, especially in the context of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. The five-day programme included theological discussions, joint prayers, research presentations, thematic sections and an introduction to the monastic heritage of the region.
The conference was organized by the Faith and Order Commission, one of the oldest and most influential bodies of the global ecumenical theological movement, which brings together theologians from the Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal churches. It is noteworthy that since 2023, Serbian Orthodox theologian Dr. Andrej Jeftic has been the director of the Commission.
The solemn opening of the Sixth World Conference on 24 October set a spiritual and theological tone, bringing together church leaders, theologians and delegates from different denominations around a common goal. The central voice was that of Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church, who in his address emphasized the importance of the meeting as a space of truth, humility and openness, necessary for any movement towards visible unity.
The delegates’ introduction to Coptic monastic life was the most significant experience outside the plenary sessions. A visit on Sunday, 26 October, to the ancient monasteries of Wadi El Natrun, the cradle of Eastern monasticism, gave participants the opportunity to see how the spiritual heritage of the desert continues to shape Egypt’s Christian identity.
The plenary session ‘The Church in and for the World’ took place on Monday, 27 October. It focused on how the Church can remain faithful to its theological foundation while responding to the acute social and humanitarian challenges of today. Participants discussed how Christian communities can combine internal unity with responsibility to a society in which conflicts, inequality and cultural divisions are becoming increasingly acute.
A special place in the discussion had the report by Evangelos Thiani, who examined the interdependence of global church crises. Analysing the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on global Christianity, he showed that events in Ukraine have direct repercussions in Africa, where church divisions and geopolitical tensions are often exacerbated by external factors.
The plenary session ‘Unity – Living and Visible?’ held on Tuesday, 28 October, focused on the main question of the ecumenical movement: can unity be not only a spiritual reality, but also a concrete visible form of church life? Metropolitan Job (Getcha) set the important conceptual tone for the session, emphasising in his speech that the ecumenical movement today needs to return to its original goal: not to produce compromise formulas, but to promote the restoration of church unity, which originates in the Eucharistic nature of the Church and in the experience of the first millennium.
The reflections of a group of theologians from different regions and denominations around the world, which took place at the end of the conference under the title ‘Living Visible Unity’, became the culminating intellectual summary of the entire meeting. The conversation demonstrated the maturity of ecumenical dialogue: despite differences in theological emphases, the participants were united by a common conviction that visible unity in the 21st century should be conceived not as a return to uniformity, but as a response to new realities – from interfaith crises to geopolitical upheavals that directly affect the life of churches.
The message ‘Call to All Christians,’ adopted on the last day of the meeting, addresses the wider Christian community. It is not only a theological formula, but also a pastoral document that offers churches and believers a concrete answer to the question, ‘Where is visible unity now?’ It formulates a call to renew Christian life through common prayer, solidarity with those who suffer, and the practice of justice and reconciliation.
The conference concluded by emphasizing that visible unity is born not only in texts, but in the ‘practice of hope’ – in concrete solidarity with those who suffer, in mutual support between churches, and in the ability to speak with one voice in the face of global crises. For more detailed information about the conference materials and proceedings, please see the detailed description on our website – https://www.academic-initiative.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/konferentsia_Faith-and-order.pdf (in Ukrainian)
