Bishop Thomas Dowd of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie has been appointed Co-Moderator of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches until 2030, a news release states.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Monday the added responsibility for Dowd, who, as bishop, represents the southern portions of the districts of Thunder Bay, Algoma, Sudbury and Nipissing.
The appointment was made by Cardinal Kurt Koch, a senior Vatican official leading the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, the release added.
The World Council of Churches works to promote unity among various Christian churches. For more than 50 years, the member churches of the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church have worked together to foster unity, theological reflection, and solidarity in service, the release said.
“The work to promote the full and visible unity of all Christians has been a passion of mine since I was young,” said Dowd in a letter to the diocese. “Given that Jesus himself prayed to his Father ‘that all might be one’, I truly believe this is prophetic work. I am honoured to have been asked to contribute in this way.”
This appointment, which begins immediately, will see Dowd working in collaboration with representatives of Christian churches throughout the world.