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By Maurice Malanes (*)

World Council of Churches (WCC) representatives will participate at the 16-18 July international interfaith conference convened in Madrid by the Muslim World League following an initiative by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.

"Islam cannot be studied like grammar," Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim) of the Greek Orthodox Church in Syria, told a delegation led by Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), who had come to Syria wishing to learn from the country's long experience of Christians and Muslims living peacefully together. "We have to see the real people and share with them. Muslims are sharing with you by living in your countries. Why do you ignore them?" the patriarch asked particularly the delegation members from Europe and the United States at the outset of their 19 to 22 April visit.

Appreciation for the good work done by churches in the Gulf region was expressed by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia at the end of a 17 to 19 April visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Krister Stendahl, eminent ecumenist, New Testament scholar, former bishop of Stockholm and dean of the Harvard Divinity School, died Tuesday in Boston at 86 years of age.

Several member churches of the Danish National Council of Churches (DNCC) recently sent a response to a 13 Oct. 2007 open letter from 138 prominent Muslim scholars and leaders to church leaders around the world. The Danish church response was published 10 Apr. in the Danish newspaper, the Christian Daily. The 16 member churches who were signatories to the response said the Muslim letter "represents an important step in the essential dialogue between adherents of the world's two largest religions."

The movie Fitna, recently released online by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders was criticized as "a clear case of Islamophobia" by Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana, director of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Programme on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation.

Love for one's neighbour is "an essential and integral part of faith in God and love of God" for both Islam and Christianity. How Christians and Muslims can engage in reflections of this love together is the central theme of a commentary issued by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on Thursday, 20 March. Compiled by Christian experts in Christian-Muslim relations, it addresses the churches and offers suggestions on responding to the widely noticed letter "A Common Word" by 138 Muslim leaders in October 2007.

"This letter is most welcome," said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, especially at a time when "all of humanity is looking to religious leaders for guidance as to how to respond to the situation of violence in the world". Kobia was commenting on the letter "A Common Word between Us and You," saying that it "gives a lot of hope".