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The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has given thanks for the life of Samuel Isaac, whom he said made contributions in the “search for unity” and in the churches’ “determination to respond to the needs of people”. Isaac, who served as deputy director of the WCC’s former Commission on Inter-Church Aid, Refugee and World Service (CICARWS), passed away on 20 August in Chennai, India at the age 72.

Remembering Isaac’s work at the WCC from 1980 to 1996, Tveit said that Isaac’s “critical thinking and managerial skills were crucial as the churches worked together in proclaiming the Good News while alleviating poverty, violence and suffering.”

“We owe a great debt to Samuel Isaac for his unrelenting honesty in analysing where both churches and societies went wrong in their actions and activities, especially in his outspoken critique of the churches’ and government’s role in the tragedy of Rwanda during the 1990s,” Tveit said in a condolence letter, issued on 21 August.

Full text of the WCC general secretary’s letter of condolence

WCC member churches in India