One hundred years after the historic Stockholm conference of 1925, representatives of churches worldwide gathered once again in the Swedish capital for the Ecumenical Week, held on August, 18–24, 2025.
Hosted by the Christian Council of Sweden, the anniversary celebration brought together thousands of participants, including global and national church leaders, scholars, and decision-makers. Over 70 seminars, prayer services, and cultural programs were held under the theme "Time for God's Peace."
After the event, Rev. Dr. Sofia Camnerin, general secretary of the Christian Council of Sweden, spoke with China Christian Daily about the preparations, her experiences during the week, and her reflection on the theme, as well as the involvement of young people.
For the preparation of the week, the Christian Council of Sweden invested much time, with at least 100 people working in different groups, such as those preparing the worship service, the festive service, and the youth conference. "The most effort was to invite all church leaders, archbishops, patriarchs, and get them to come," said Camnerin.
"We gathered again as churches," this is the contribution she believes Swedish churches made. This year commemorates the centennial of the 1925 Stockholm Life and Work Conference. In 1925, more than 600 church leaders from 37 countries gathered in the aftermath of the First World War. "The theme for the whole week is, unfortunately, as relevant as it was 100 years ago," Camnerin noted.
The theme "Time for God's peace" had been chosen four years earlier, partly inspired by Nathan Söderblom, the Swedish archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. At that time, they did not realize how relevant the theme would become. Camnerin believes that peace begins from within and from below. "What the world most needs is peace with God, which leads to other peace," she said.
Pope Leo XIV greeted the gathering with a similar message. "It is both a promise and a task," Camnerin explained. "Peace comes from shalom in the Old Testament, so it is about peace with God, peace between people, peace between countries, peace with creation… it is very close to unity, so peace and unity also come together."
She explained that, due to migration, Sweden now has almost all church traditions represented. The Christian Council of Sweden consists of four families: the Lutheran family, the Orthodox family, the Free Church family, and the Catholic family. In the Free Church family, there are Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, and other denominations. "When we invited our own churches, in a way, we could also remind ourselves again that we as churches in the world need to work together."
For at least two years, Camnerin had been involved in preparing different parts of the program, trying to ensure quality in every aspect. During the week, as the official representative, she participated in several events.
On Tuesday night, Camnerin gave a keynote speech. The message she most wanted to convey was that "unity is the answer to the deep need of the world." She explained: "Ecumenism isn't something that we just do for fun, or that it is just about cooperation between churches. It is our deep calling to unite as Jesus prayed that we should unite, because then the world will be saved."
Camnerin further pointed out that many of the world's pressing problems—starvation, climate change, wars, trafficking—are rooted in division, polarization, isolation, nationalism, and the mentality of "us versus them." She said, "All of these are the opposite of unity: relation, community, peace with God and with each other."
On Thursday night, she hosted the event "Coming Together for Peace – An Interfaith Gathering." She emphasized that interfaith dialogue is not the same as ecumenical work, since the goal of ecumenism is for Christians to be one, while interfaith dialogue is about mutual respect and friendship.
"As Jesus respected the Samaritan woman, we are also called to live in peace with people of other faiths," Camnerin reflected. In Sweden, the Christian Council is also a member of the Interfaith Council of Sweden. Although challenges remain, she stressed the need to work together in pursuing peace with other religious communities.
Among all the events, the Friday evening worship service, prepared largely by young people, moved her the most. A cardinal and a young female Lutheran theologian preached, while the Pentecostal worship team led in praise and a Syrian Orthodox choir sang. "It was very encouraging and inspiring that so many—including young people—came and that we could celebrate together."
Camnerin highlighted especially the engagement of young people in the ecumenical movement. As early as 2018, when preparations for the ecumenical week began, young people were already included. A group was formed with young representatives from all the church families in Sweden. From then on, they organized major events for young people leading up to 2025, including a pilgrimage to Rome with a large gathering in 2020, a pilgrimage to the World Council of Churches General Assembly in 2022, as well as activities earlier in 2025. The weekend during the Ecumenical Week in August was not the final but the largest of these events.
The Ecumenical Week in Stockholm was part of the celebration of the Ecumenical Year 2025. At Pentecost, the Christian Council of Sweden encouraged local churches and ecumenical councils to arrange events together to celebrate the birthday of the church. "We succeeded in a way that many people all around Sweden know what the theme is for this year," Camnerin said, "and I think small steps have been taken toward closer collaboration and working together in local churches."
Looking back, she expressed hope that the week would serve as a reminder of the church's common calling. "I hope that we inspired and encouraged each other to work together for peace and unity in a broken and beautiful world."
She also stressed the importance of global solidarity, including with churches in Asia. "It is extremely important that we build relations all over the world, and that people in your giant country, China, also feel that we work together across countries, and that we stay together as churches, encouraging and supporting each other in unity and peace work for the world's sake."
"Ecumenism is at the core of our ecclesiology. We are called to respond together to the needs of the world," she concluded.
