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Can saints and martyrs - or for that matter, Christians who lived exemplary lives - help unite the churches into which they were born? An international group of experts will discuss this and other related questions at a symposium in an Italian monastery.

By Carmen Molitor (*)

Ideas for "bringing unity down to earth", "communicative action" and a "theology of the wilderness" were among the winning entries submitted for an essay contest on Prospects for Ecumenism in the 21st Century. The winners, two women and four men, come from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Challenges facing Christians today are too strong for a divided church, said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in Egypt recently as he called for church unity both locally and globally. Kobia was speaking during a 16-21 June visit to WCC member churches in the country.

Concerned about the integrity of elections, the World Council of Churches Central Committee stated recently that, "…in democratic systems, elections serve as a way for people to confer legitimacy on a participatory democratic political system. In order to ensure that an election truly reflects the will of the people, attention should be paid to pre- and post-electoral mechanisms."

Christian World Communions as well as the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches sent representatives to the Ninth Forum on Bilateral Dialogues in order to share information on recent bilateral consultations between churches and to discuss the vision of unity expressed in their ecumenical texts.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee closed its 13-20 February meeting after having chosen the venue for the 2011 International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, achieved progress towards a broader WCC Assembly, welcomed new member churches, appointed a search committee for a new general secretary and celebrated the Council's 60th anniversary. The WCC main governing body also put its stamp on a number of public statements, policy concerns and programme plans.

Among a series of recent ecumenical anniversaries--including the WCC's own 60th anniversary this year--is a significant milestone: 100 years of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, typically observed in mid-January. The Central Committee took some time to honor that centennial in Wednesday afternoon's session with a pair of testimonies. Rev. Canon Dr. John Saint Helier Gibaut, new director of the WCC's Commission on Faith and Order, noted that "peace and unity can never be separated from one another", while Ms. Hae-Sun Jung of the Korean Methodist Church shared plans for the Week's 2009 observance. Gibaut, a Canadian, said the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is the only contact many people in Canada have with the WCC. "It keeps the flame of the WCC alive in the hearts of people in my country", he said.

Celebrating a 60th birthday for some is a milestone marked by visions of retirement - celebrating achievements and dreaming of new endeavours. The WCC, however, on its 60th "birthday" in 2008 does not want to rest on past feats as it looks ahead to the challenges of the 21st century. The largest, most inclusive fellowship of churches in the world, and the pre-eminent face of 20th century ecumenism, is grappling with a very different world today - politically, economically, religiously - than the one it faced following the second world war.

Pope Benedict XVI and Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), along with high-level representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC, will meet in Rome on Friday, 25 January 2008, at the centennial of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.