Groupe des Dombes, the

Dombes The Dombes (; ) is an area in eastern France, once an independent municipality, formerly part of the provinces of France, province of Burgundy (region), Burgundy, and now a district comprised in the department of France, department of Ain, and b ...

Group, is a gathering of 20

Roman-Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and 20

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

theologians that has met regularly since 1937 in a small

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, the Abbey of Notre-Dame des Dombes near

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It was found by Paul Couturier (1881-1953), a French priest who worked in ecumenical circles. It is not just a mere theological gathering but a "spiritual" approach to

ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

. Aside from the discussion of doctrinal matters, it also includes common prayer and the "call to conversion" addressed to the churches. The Group's method in dealing with a topic is: # the study of a topic # the review of the Scriptural and historical development # the identification of the areas of agreement and disagreement # suggestions for convergence # a call to conversion for each church in the areas of attitudes, teachings, and practices. The group meets for a week in September. For many years, besides meeting at the Abbey of the Dombes, the group sometimes met at Taizé. Since 1998, the meetings have been held at the Abbey of Pradines, near to Roanne.

Publications

*Towards one eucharistic faith? (1971) *For the reconciliation of ministries (1972) *The Episcopal ministry (1976) *The Holy Spirit, the Church and the Sacraments (1979) *The ministry of communion in the universal Church (1985) *For the conversion of the Churches (1991) *Mary in the plan of God and the Communion of Saints (1997 & 1998)

External links

Official website

{{Authority control Catholic–Protestant ecumenism