To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of Chiara Lubich's passing, the Focolare movement and the WCC want to reflect on their common path and work for unity.

Programme:

2 - 3:30 pm CET (W.A. Visser ’t Hooft Hall, live streamed): Panel discussion with Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary; and Fr Jesús Morán Cepedano, co-president of the Focolare movement;  moderated by Ms Semegnish Asfaw, WCC programme executive for international affairs.

3:30 - 4 pm CET: tea break

4 - 5 pm CET (W.A. Visser ’t Hooft Hall, live streamed): Panel with testimonies by Ms Teny Pirri-Simonian, WCC Central Committee member, Armenian Apostolic Church (Holy See of Cilicia); Prof. Dr Fr Ioan Sauca, WCC deputy general secretary; Rev. Callan Slipper, Focolare member, Church of England;  and Ms Luzia Wehrle, Focolare member and former WCC staff member; moderated by Archbishop Job of Telmessos, Permanent Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the WCC.

5 - 5:30 pm (chapel): A moment of prayer and song led by the Focolare group of Montet, Switzerland.

Venue: Ecumenical Centre, 150 route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Click here for map.

Panel interventions will be in Italian (Fr Jesús Morán Cepedano) and English (other speakers), with interpretation into English, French and Italian. The video live stream at www.oikoumene.org/live will be in the original language.

The 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches in 2018 is an opportunity to mark the achievements of the past 70 years in working for Christian unity and action, and to look to the challenges ahead as a fellowship of churches responding to God’s call for unity, mission, justice and peace. This event is part of a series of anniversary celebrations taking place in various locations throughout the year.