Cytûn General Secretary to Meet Pope Leo in Rome for Signing of Revised Charta Oecumenica
From the 5–6 November 2025 Dr Cynan Llwyd, General Secretary of Cytûn: Churches Together in Wales, will visit the Vatican next week for an audience with Pope Leo. The visit marks the official signing and launch of the revised Charta Oecumenica, a landmark declaration of commitment to Christian unity across Europe, developed in partnership with the Conference of European Churches (CEC).
The Charta Oecumenica outlines the shared calling of Europe’s Christian communities to walk together in faith, service, and reconciliation. Dr Llwyd will represent the churches of Wales at the ceremony, joining leaders from across the continent to reaffirm their dedication to dialogue, peace, and mutual understanding among the diverse Christian traditions.
A Journey of Faith and Reconciliation
For Cynan, this moment carries deep personal and historical significance. His forefathers were Huguenots, French Protestants who fled persecution by the Catholic Church in the 17th century and settled in London.
Dr Cynan Llwyd siad,
“Standing before the Pope as a descendant of those who once fled religious persecution is profoundly humbling,” said Dr Llwyd. “It is a testament to how far we have come — that reconciliation, once unthinkable, has become a living reality within the body of Christ. Christian unity is not uniformity, but an outward expression of God’s love and the shared mission of the Church in today’s world.
“Cytûn has long worked to foster understanding and partnership among Wales’s diverse Christian denominations,”
A Sign of Christian Unity in Action
The revised Charta Oecumenica reaffirms the commitment of European churches to collaboration in areas such as social justice, peacebuilding, ecological responsibility, and interfaith dialogue. For the churches of Wales, it represents both continuity with their rich ecumenical tradition and a renewed sense of purpose within the European Christian community.
Cynan concluded;
“The visit to Rome underlines that this vision of unity extends far beyond our borders — it is part of a shared European and global calling.”