Ecumenical researchers discuss ways to overcome polarization in church and society

Ecumenical researchers discuss ways to overcome polarization in church and society

iku

Mon, 08/31/2026 - 17:43

Ecumenical scholars and researchers from throughout Europe gathered in the Netherlands around the theme “ Churches in the Midst of Polarization.”

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A statue of Saint Willibrord, the Anglo-Saxon missionary and first bishop of Utrecht, at Janskerkhof in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Photo: Societas Oecumenica

Speakers at the 23rd academic consultation of Societas Oecumenica, the European Society for Ecumenical Research, meeting in Utrecht from 21–25 August addressed the role of churches and ecumenical organisations in the context of the contemporary phenomenon of polarization.

In an opening address, the Societas Oecumenica president, Rev. Prof. Dr Simone Sinn, discussed what could be learned from the experiences of the ecumenical movement, and referred in particular to the “ theology of companionship,” developed in the framework of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

This offered perspectives of transformation, emancipation, and decolonization, said Sinn, now…