Groupe des Dombes, the

Dombes The Dombes (; Arpitan: Domba) is an area in eastern France, once an independent municipality, formerly part of the province of Burgundy, and now a district comprised in the department of Ain, and bounded on the west by the Saône River, on th ...

Group, is a gathering of 20 Roman-Catholic and 20

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

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 monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

, the

Abbey of Notre-Dame des Dombes The Abbey of Notre-Dame des Dombes (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame-des-Dombes) is a former Trappist monastery located in Le Plantay in the Dombes region, in the Ain department of eastern France. It is now occupied by members of the Chemin Neuf movem ...

near

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It was found by

Paul Couturier Paul Irénée Couturier (29 July 1881 – 24 March 1953) was a French priest and a promoter of the concept of Christian unity. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Early life and career He was bo ...

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