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The gathering of the new WCC central committee, the 55th session since the Council was established in 1948, represents a diverse and colourful cross-section of the Christian world. Young pastors and lay people sit alongside venerable archbishops and monks, all appointed to represent their churches and serve for the coming seven years on the WCC's main governing body.

A plea to "bring new life into the ecumenical movement" was issued by Rev. Dr Walter Altmann in his first report as World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee moderator. He also emphasized the Council's role as "the privileged instrument of the ecumenical movement" and rejected the possibility of "a minimalist agenda".

"Raise your chairs," was the Rev. Dr Walter Altmann's solution to the absence of indicator cards during opening actions of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee meeting in Geneva on August 30.

The newly-elected moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee speaks in this interview about the beauty of the ecumenical vision and the enthusiasm it engenders, the scandal of divisions between Christians, and his dream of churches which allow themselves to be renewed so as to experience the unity of the Christian family.

High-resolution photos available - see below

An exploration of changes in church and society since 1966 will be a central feature of the forthcoming meeting of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) central committee - the WCC's main governing body between assemblies.Â

Reconciliation is at the heart of the ecumenical vision, and can be a source of unity among churches and cultures, the WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, has affirmed at an international Methodist gathering in Korea.

By Manuel Quintero*

"Make me a Channel of Your Peace", the first line of the prayer of a peacemaker attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, is to be the theme for the Focus on Europe 2007 of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV).

New proposals to tighten US economic and humanitarian restrictions on Cuba will adversely effect vulnerable Cuban people, and a recommendation that would isolate the Cuban Council of Churches constitutes "a gross violation of religious freedom and a remarkably aggressive interference in religious matters," the WCC states in a letter addressed to President George W. Bush, issued on 10 July 2006.

The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Patriarch Abune Paulos, one of the presidents of the WCC, has spoken out forcefully in favour of peace and reconciliation in a region beset by conflicts.

At its first meeting, the WCC's newly-appointed Standing Commission on Faith and Order named six officers to oversee its work until the next WCC Assembly in 2013. Following an address by WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia, the Standing Commission also outlined major areas of study for the period.