Pope Leo XIV. receives one of the first copies
(Bonn, 10.07.2026) Archbishop Thomas Schirrmacher presented Pope Leo XIV with one of the first printed copies of ‘That the World May Know’, the official report marking the 25th anniversary of the Global Christian Forum and documenting its Fourth Global Gathering in Accra, Ghana.
The Fourth Global Gathering of the Global Christian Forum (GCF) was held in Accra, Ghana, in April 2024. Edited by Rev. Dr. Casely Baiden Essamuah, Secretary of the Global Christian Forum, the volume has been published by Culture and Science Publishers (Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft), Bonn, as Volume 6 of the series The Churches of the World.
Today, the Global Christian Forum is widely recognized as the broadest global platform for encounter among Christian churches and traditions. Unlike traditional ecumenical organizations, it has no formal membership but serves as an open space where churches build trust, deepen mutual understanding, and strengthen their common Christian witness. Its principal partners include the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity of the Vatican, the World Council of Churches (WCC), the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), and the Pentecostal World Fellowship (PWF). Orthodox, Anglican, African Instituted Churches, migrant churches, megachurches, and many other Christian communities also participate. No other international forum brings together such a wide spectrum of world Christianity.
The Accra gathering also marked the 25th anniversary of the Global Christian Forum. Around 230 delegates from 60 countries represented virtually every major stream of global Christianity. One of the most moving moments was the joint pilgrimage to Cape Coast Castle, one of the principal memorials of the transatlantic slave trade, where participants combined remembrance, repentance, lament, and a renewed commitment to reconciliation, human dignity, and justice.
The new publication continues what has become the authoritative documentation series of the Global Christian Forum. In 2016, Culture and Science Publishers published the official report of the international consultation Discrimination, Persecution, Martyrdom: Following Christ Together (Tirana, Albania, 2015), the first global ecumenical consultation devoted to the persecution of Christians. This was followed by Let Mutual Love Continue, documenting the Third Global Gathering in Bogotá, Colombia (2018). That the World May Know now completes the documentation of the Fourth Global Gathering in Accra.
The volume includes all keynote addresses, sermons, Bible studies, greetings, prayers, the final message, and an extensive photographic record of the gathering. Among the contributions are messages from Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the World Council of Churches, the World Evangelical Alliance, the Pentecostal World Fellowship, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and numerous other international churches and Christian organizations.
The introduction by Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, former President of the Global Christian Forum Foundation, describes the Forum as a “testimonial, relational, and missional initiative.” He argues that Christian unity is fostered not primarily through institutional structures or theological negotiations but through personal faith-sharing, mutual trust, and common witness. He also reflects on the historic shift of Christianity’s center of gravity from the Global North to the Global South and the implications this has for ecumenical cooperation.
For editor Rev. Dr. Casely Baiden Essamuah, the gathering embodies the very purpose of the Global Christian Forum. In his Preface he writes:
“The Gathering was designed as a humble space of hope where healing and reconciliation within the global Body of Christ could be discovered and shared.”
The volume also includes an address by Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, then departing Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance, who participated in the Global Gathering for the third time. His contribution highlights the unique role of the Global Christian Forum as a place where Christians from widely different traditions bear common witness to Jesus Christ and build relationships of trust despite continuing theological differences.
Bibliographical Information
- Casely Baiden Essamuah (Ed.). That the World May Know. Report of the Fourth Global Gathering. Accra, Ghana, 15–19 April 2024. Introduction by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson. The Churches of the World, Volume 6. Culture and Science Publishers (Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft), Bonn, 2026.
264 pages, numerous colour photographs. ISBN 978-3-86269-338-2.
Book series: The Churches of the World
- Volume 0 – Gero P. Weishaupt: Papal Turning Points: Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and the Accompanying Letter to the Bishops. A Canon Law Commentary.
- Volume 1 – Discrimination, Persecution, Martyrdom: Following Christ Together. Report of the International Consultation, Tirana, Albania, 2–4 November 2015.
- Volume 2 – Let Mutual Love Continue. Report of the Third Global Gathering, Bogotá, Colombia, 24–27 April 2018.
- Volume 3 – Christianity – Fundamental Teachings. German Edition. Joint Commission of Churches in Turkey.
- Volume 4 – Christianity – Fundamental Teachings. European Edition. Joint Commission of Churches in Turkey.
- Volume 5 – Christianity – Fundamental Teachings. Special Heartbeat Edition. Joint Commission of Churches in Turkey.
- Volume 6 – That the World May Know. Report of the Fourth Global Gathering. Accra, Ghana, 15–19 April 2024.
Downloads and Links
- Photo 1 and photo 2: Archbishop Schirrmacher handing the GCF book to Pope Leo XIV © IIRF/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 3: The Lord’s Prayer © IIRF/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 4: Archbishop Schirrmacher handing the GCF book to Pope Leo XIV – from the public sreen © IIRF/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 5: First speech by Archbishop Schirrmacher in the audiece hall after handing over the GCF book © IIRF/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 6: Second speech by Archbishop Schirrmacher in the audiece hall after handing over the GCF book © IIRF/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 7: The bishops delegation of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal greeting Pope Leo XIV © IIRF/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 8: The bishops delegation of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal lining up to Pope Leo XIV © IIRF/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 9 and photo 10: The bishops delegation of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal waiting for Pope Leo XIV © IIRF/Martin Warnecke
- Download of the book: https://thomasschirrmacher.net/?p=25754
- Official reports of all three major Global Christian Forum international gatherings—Tirana 2015, Bogotá 2018, and Accra 2024: https://thomasschirrmacher.net/?p=22678
