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Amidst the quiet vineyards overlooking Lake Geneva is a place that can seem an unlikely setting for the preparation of future church leaders. And yet the WCC's Ecumenical Institute at Bossey has been a unique international centre for Christian dialogue and learning for six decades, since its creation in 1946.

Now available in electronic and printed format, the WCC Annual Review 2005 is an illustrated account of WCC programmes and activities over the year. The Annual Review also contains key information on WCC member churches, governing bodies, finances, publications and other resources.

Over 100 theology students from Latin America and other regions of the world will participate in an international and ecumenical theological congress that will take place in parallel to the World Council of Churches' (WCC) 9th Assembly.

"I have learned to see everyone infected as a brother, a sister, a niece, a nephew - a close relative," said Samuel Kobia this afternoon in Bern. The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary was speaking at an ecumenical event for World AIDS Day held outside the Swiss parliament.

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"As custodians of an ancient spiritual heritage, Ethiopian Christianity has a unique contribution which is of central importance in Africa and to the ecumenical family world-wide," stated the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, during his first official visit to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, 24-30 September 2005.

Full text of WCC public statements available, see below

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by Friedrich Degenhardt (*)

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will meet Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, 16 June. The encounter, which includes a private audience, is the first meeting between the two since they took up their current positions. A press conference is scheduled at 12:30 the same day, after the meeting.

<span style="font-weight: bold; "» Critical moment interreligious conference

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<span style="font-weight: bold; "» Where is the ecumenical movement going in the 21st century?

Aboriginal representatives of Canadian churches, devastated by residential school scandals which have resulted in lawsuits against them totaling millions of dollars, told Rev. Dr Sam Kobia, WCC general secretary, that they must work together ecumenically if they are to bring hope and healing to the country’s First Nations, most of whom have had church connections for centuries.

Free photo available, see below.

Cf. Press Release PR-04-04 of 5 April 2004

In this issue:

Cf. WCC Press Release, PR-04-02, of 12 February 2004