A new initiative titled Ecumenical Institute for the Middle East is “promising and inspiring” in its attempt to train young Christians in ecumenical thought and history, according to Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC.
After bombings on 21 May in the northern Nigerian city of Jos, in which more than one-hundred people have been killed, “heart-felt sorrow and condolences” have been expressed in a joint statement by the WCC general secretary and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan.
Christians in the Arab world “do not consider themselves as minorities, but rather want to understand themselves as full citizens of their nations, with all that this status entails in terms of duties, responsibilities and full rights.”
While condemning all use of chemical weapons in Syria, the WCC general secretary said that “we must do everything possible to starve the fire of war rather than feeding it with further deadly armaments.”
“We do not live in the mentality of the ghetto, nor in the mentality of a minority complex, nor do we live as dhimmi (dependent) people,” said Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan. “We have always been, as Arab Christians, building our societies, loyal to our countries and nationalities, bringing hope in hopeless situations.”