News
Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, moderator of the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), on 15 December called the Church of Constantinople a "truly ecumenical church" whose ecumenism has been "tangibly manifested in her many historical initiatives".
Along with WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia and central committee vice-moderators Metropolitan Dr Gennadios of Sassima (Limouris) and Rev. Dr Margaretha Hendriks-Ririmasse, and other members of the WCC staff leadership group, Altmann was attending a 14-15 December meeting of the WCC officers at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Phanar, Istanbul.
In welcoming the WCC group to Phanar, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew underlined the Patriarchate's significant role in the ecumenical movement since the beginning of the 20th century - as a founding member of the WCC and a participant in several WCC commissions; the Church of Constantinople is "always ready to promote dialogue, not only between Christian churches, but also between Christianity and the other monotheistic religions," Bartholomew said.
Known for his ecological initiatives as the "green patriarch", Bartholomew "has personally become a leading figure of the contemporary ecumenical movement [ ] playing an active role in the fields of inter-religious dialogue and collaboration, reconciliation among peoples and cultures, and the protection of the natural environment," Altmann noted.
Expressing gratitude for the "permanent support of the Church of Constantinople to the WCC [ ] "We engage with passion in the struggle against poverty and injustice," Altmann declared. "We work for reconciliation and peace. There are, assuredly, many hindrances and obstacles along the path of our ecumenical journey. But, as the Apostle Paul says writing to the congregation in Corinth, 'we are perplexed, but not driven to despair' (2 Co 4:8)."
Biodata and photos of the WCC officers
Message of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the 9th Assembly