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The report results from seven years' work by a dedicated group drawn from the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. The character of the document is intentionally educational. The group believed that it would in this way best serve the interest of all who wish to know not only the Joint Working Group's agenda but the growing relationship of the WCC and the RCC within the broader perspective of the one ecumenical movement which the group has witnessed and in some measure assisted.

Letter to the WCC 8th Assembly from the women and men of the Decade Festival of the Churches in Solidarity with Women

The statement was adopted with 15 opposing votes and 17 abstentions. During the discussion by assembly delegates, several comments and concerns were voiced: the statement did not draw sufficient attention to the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and to concern for the security of the state of Israel; this issue is of great concern to churches around the world and of particular concern to churches in the Middle East; rather than calling for Jerusalem to be "a shared city", the sovereignty of Jerusalem should be protected for Israelis and Palestinians; Palestinians should be given the right of repatriation.

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.

Received by the Central Committee and commended to churches for study and action, it is a summary of the most recent debates on common witness and proselytism. Contains the references to the earlier studies on common witness

WCC Central Committee
Geneva, Switzerland, 14-22 September 1995
STATEMENT ON THE STATUS OF JERUSALEM

Rev. Fr Jean-Marie Tillard outlines with clarity and élan the history of, and the evolution of perspectives within, the Roman Catholic involvement in ecumenism.

In 1979 the WCC produced a document entitled "Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths" which sought to identify and discuss the major practical and theological issues in interfaith relations. While it addressed some of the overall aspects, it recognized the need for more specific "guidelines" or ecumenical considerations on Christian relations with each of the major faith communities in the world. This document results from the attempt to follow this up in the area of Christian-Muslim relations. It draws on the experience gained from the considerable work carried out over the years. All the meetings between Christians and Muslims organized by the sub-unit on Dialogue during the past twenty years have been documented in the WCC publication "Meeting in Faith". These meetings, however, are only a small part of a much richer history of relations and numerous dialogue encounters in many places. The document that follows is itself based on five regional meetings between Christians and Muslims organized in different parts of the world. These meetings helped to identify some of the important issues which Christians and Muslims need to reflect on and continue to consider together in the years ahead. Many qualified persons in the field of Christian-Muslim relations were consulted in the process.

Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network

Amsterdam Assembly 1948 Extracts from Report of Committee IV CONCERNS OF THE CHURCHES: 3.· THE CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO THE JEWS