News
Christian-Muslim dialogue and cooperation were themes of a two-day visit by the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), to the offices and college campus of the World Islamic Call Society (WICS) in Tripoli, Libya. On Sunday 9 January, Tveit and two WCC colleagues met with WICS leaders to discuss bilateral dialogue, exploring ways to follow up a November 2010 conference in Geneva on “Transforming Communities”.
On Monday 10 January, Tveit spoke on the theme “Who is my neighbour?” to an audience of more than 70 on the WICS college campus. He said in part, “The common Abrahamic roots that we have as Christians and Muslims, together with the Jews, mean we are able to share many of our values. The long history of coexistence of Christians and Muslims in different parts of the world is something we can all continue to learn from, both the difficult times and the experiences of being able to live well together.”
The group from the WCC had visited Cairo on Saturday 8 January to offer condolences to the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt following a lethal bomb attack on 1 January 2011 that targeted a Coptic congregation in the city of Alexandria.
Full text of the speech by the WCC general secretary
WCC press release of 9 January 2011: Pope Shenouda III receives condolences from WCC delegation
More information on the international Christian-Muslim consultation “Transforming Communities”
