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Ecumenical situation in Romania

Thanks to the great arc of the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube and the Black Sea, Romania is easy to find on any map. Culturally speaking it lies at the cross-roads between eastern and western Europe. Ninety-nine percent of its population of just over 22 million people call themselves Christian. As regards other communities of faith, there are 9,000 Jews and 56,000 Muslims. A few thousand people declare themselves to be atheists or of no faith.

Joint Working Group

Together on the Way: 2.2. Anamnesis

Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and All Albania, explored the implications of "anamnesis" - "remembrance" - for the church and the world, lifting up the importance of anamnesis for the ecumenical movement. Delegates were given some silent time to reflect on his words before turning their attention to the second presentation.

Assembly

Together on the Way: 2.3. Metanoia

Wanda Deifelt, vice-rector and professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, and a member of the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil, spoke about "metanoia" - "conversion" - naming the ways that Christians need to repent. Following her reflections selected delegates read, in different voices and in different languages, passages of scripture related to the "jubilee year" (Lev. 25:8-17, 39-43).

Assembly

Together on the Way: 2.4. Rejoice in Hope

The third meditation was given by Kosuke Koyama, recently retired professor of ecumenical studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York and a former missionary of the United Church of Christ in Japan. He addressed the second part of the assembly theme, reflecting on how we can rejoice in hope in the face of so much suffering and violence.

Assembly

The effects of globalization on culture in Africa in the eyes of an African woman

Economic growth without social and cultural justice cannot be our idea of development. It is imperative that development is measured in terms of the quality of human life, which can be reflected in, for example, better education, health and life expectancy for every single member of society. This is only possible if men and women are equally empowered, in theory and in practice. And the North has a crucial role to play in this process. Anything that falls short of restoring peoples' dignity, sense of identity, continuity and security should never be accepted. Africa needs to learn to respect the dissenting voice of its own people.

WCC Programmes