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Huibert van Beek © WCC

Huibert van Beek © WCC

Mr Huibert van Beek, until recently the WCC staff person responsible for the organisation's relationships with member churches, received a high Dutch distinction in honour of the Queen's birthday on 27 April 2006. Van Beek was named Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau. He received the distinction because of his "exceptional meritorious service to the (world church) community".

The Dutch ambassador in Bern, Mr Edo Hofland, presented the distinction to Mr Van Beek in the presence of Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, the WCC general secretary, who qualified Mr Van Beek as "a real bridge between people, a promoter of dialogue, a builder of relations, an agent of reconciliation". He added that "his country, the Netherlands, and his church can be proud of him, as a person who honoured and promoted their values in the inter-ecclesial, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-national setting of the ecumenical movement."