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Leadership from the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the World Council of Churches. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC

Leadership from the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the World Council of Churches. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC

The World Council of Churches (WCC) welcomed a wide variety of visitors during August and September, including leaders from the World Communion of Reformed Churches, an ecumenical pilgrimage from Austria, and representatives from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

In September, dialogue on peace building, diakonia, mission, spiritual life and interreligious dialogue was thriving between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the WCC. Leadership teams from both organizations talked about programme planning, the WCC 11th Assembly in 2021 in Karlsruhe, and the Green Village project.

Also in September, a pilgrimage team from Austria stayed at the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey and met with Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC acting general secretary, for the latest news on the work of the WCC. The pilgrims included thirty-five Reformed, Roman Catholics, Old Catholics, Lutherans and Orthodox representatives. They also visited the Einsiedeln Abbey, Zurich and the Cathedral of Bern. Among them were the Catholic archbishop of Salzburg, Franz Lackner; His Eminence Bishop Andrej of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese Austria-Switzerland; the Evangelical-Lutheran superintendent for Salzburg and Tyrol, Dr Olivier Dantine; and Dr Thomas Hennefeld, regional superintendent of the Evangelical Reformed Church in Austria.

In August, Archbishop Dr Tapio Luoma from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, accompanied by director Rev. Dr Kimmo Kääriäinen from their foreign office and Rev. Dr Juha Meriläinen, the theological advisor to the Archbishop met with Prof. Dr Fr Ioan Sauca, WCC acting general secretary; and Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director of Communication.

The WCC welcomes 3,000 visitors to the Ecumenical Centre annually. The Ecumenical Centre is also home to the Lutheran World Federation, ACT Alliance, and Ecumenical Church Loan Fund.


Visits to the Ecumenical Centre

Video – visit the Ecumenical Centre online