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The online pre-assembly, hosted in collaboration with ACT Alliance, comes soon after the ACT General Assembly in 2021 and builds on some of its outcomes related to the climate crisis, power relations, discrimination, racism, fundamentalism and democracy.
In opening the pre-assembly, WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca said that the converging crises make dialogue even more crucial.
“This makes our conversation, whether about racism and discrimination, or about the climate crisis, or especially about the dangers of populism, even more important,” he said. “I am glad we are together.”
Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, general secretary of the ACT Alliance, reflected that the critical moment we are facing as humanity—and also as ecumenical movement—has not initiated now but was constructed over the decades. “However, the rapid and changing political, social, cultural and economic contexts are posing challenges, as never before, to people, families and societies to uphold values of inclusion, justice and solidarity,” he said. “We are seeing a more selfish world, a world that is built based on actions and realities that prioritize the individual existence rather than the collective one.”
The ecumenical movement is not spared of the challenges other institutions are facing due to the global situation, added de Faria. “For me, the first step is to reaffirm our conviction and principles of inclusion, equality, solidarity, and justice, making a critical reading on our positions on issues that intersect with the secular dimension of the problems we face nowadays,” he said. “That will give us clarity on how to articulate our beliefs with our actions towards solutions that do not undermine people’s lives, democracy, and human rights.”
Sauca agreed that we are living through an extraordinary time. “I am often asked what the WCC has learned during the pandemic,” he said. “My response has been to reflect on how we have more deeply encountered our shared vulnerability and shared fate as one humanity.”
The fragility of life should push us toward greater solidarity, Sauca said. “Our world needs love, reconciliation and unity more than ever,” he reflected. “I pray that as we journey to Karlsruhe and beyond the WCC 11th Assembly, our pilgrimage will continue as a response to God’s amazing love for all creation.”
