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Office of Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs
A Letter from the Director
Mission Statement
Dear Friends,
In each diocese there is an ecumenical officer, or director, to help foster ecumenical dialogue and inter-religious understanding.
- As one official document states, the director will serve as the animator of the diocesan ecumenical Commission and coordinate the Commission's activities.
- As a close collaborator of the Bishop and with suitable assistance, this person will encourage various initiatives in the diocese for prayer for Christian unity, will work to see that ecumenical attitudes influence the activities of the diocese, identify special needs and keep the diocese informed about these.
- This officer is also responsible for representing the Catholic community in its relations with the other Churches and ecclesial Communities and their leaders and will facilitate contacts between the latter and the local Bishop, clergy and laity on various levels.
- He will serve as counselor on ecumenical issues for the Bishop and other offices of the diocese and will facilitate the sharing of ecumenical experiences and initiatives with pastors and diocesan organizations.
- This officer will see to the maintenance of contacts with officers or commissions of other dioceses. (DAPNE, 41)
As of March 2003 I assumed this office and my name is Fr. Michael Demkovich.
My previous experiences in ecumenism have been very informal. In the late seventies I had the incredible opportunity to do my seminary studies in Dubuque, Iowa in a consortium of divinity schools (Wartburg Lutheran, Dubuque Presbyterian, and Aquinas Institute). It was with that ecumenically rich body of students that a lasting respect was born. Later when I studied for a semester at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, I was again enriched by the Christian fellowship of the faculty and students. It has left a lasting awareness that one great arena for true ecumenism is in the collaborative study of our common Christian heritage, its sense of the Scriptures, History, and Theology.
Since my new position is part time, I have turned to the Ecumenical Commission as a true collaborator in this mission. They are an amazing gift to the Church in New Mexico and foster the face of ecumenism and interreligiouis dialogue in vary diverse ways. We are developing the commission and its work in this ministry, as you can see from this webpage.
If you would like to know more about the Ecumenical and Interreligious Concerns Office please e-mail or call. Our office hours are usually 9:30-11:30 Monday through Friday.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. Dr. Michael Demkovich, O.P.
Mission Statement
Paragraph 44 of Pontificium Consilium Ad Christianorum Unitatem Fovendam (The Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism) lists the following as functions of the Ecumenical Commission, and indicate our mission to the Church:
- Put into practice the decisions of the diocesan Bishop for implementing the teaching and directives of the Second Vatican Council on ecumenism, as well as those of the post-conciliar documents emanating from the Holy See, Synods of Eastern Catholic Churches and Episcopal Conferences.
- Maintain relations with the territorial ecumenical commission, adapting the latter's recommendations and advice to local conditions. When circumstances suggest, information about experiences and their results as well as other useful information should be sent to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
- Foster spiritual ecumenism according to the principles given in the conciliar Decree on Ecumenism and in other sections of this Directory about public and private prayer for the unity of Christians.
- Offer help and encouragement by such means as workshops and seminars for the ecumenical formation of both clergy and laity, for the appropriate realization of an ecumenical dimension to all aspects of life, and giving special attention as to how seminary students are prepared for the ecumenical dimension of preaching, catechetics and other forms of teaching, and pastoral activity (e.g., pastoral care in mixed marriages) etc.
- Promote friendliness and charity between Catholics and other Christians with whom full ecclesial communion does not yet exist according to the suggestions and guidelines given below (especially nn. 205-218).
- Initiate and guide conversations and consultations with them, bearing in mind the adaptation to be observed in accordance with the diversity of the participants and subjects of dialogue.
- Propose experts to undertake dialogue on the diocesan level with other Churches and ecclesial Communities.
- Promote, in collaboration with other diocesan bodies and with other Christians joint witness to Christian faith, to the extent that this is possible, as well as cooperation in such areas as education, public and private morality, social justice, matters connected with culture, learning and the arts.
- Propose to the Bishops the exchange of observers and guests on the occasion of important conferences, synods, installation of religious leaders and other similar occasions.