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Indigenous Peoples, men and women, are the voice of the land, the voice of the water, the voice of the air. We are the hope of the future. Indeed our hope is renewed to be meeting in what is now called South America where Indigenous peoples are reasserting their identity and making their voices heard.

"When Christian solidarity is broken" : This pastoral and educational response to sexual harassment was prepared for use within the WCC community, including its staff and participants at ecumenical gatherings.

"Alternative globalization addressing people and earth - A call to love and action" : Prepared by the WCC commission for Justice, Peace and Creation, this call "to love and action" invites the churches to act together for transformation of economic injustice and to continue analyzing and reflecting on challenges of economic globalization and the link between wealth and poverty.

Within the pages of this Programme Book are several key texts and documents for delegates and other participants attending the Ninth Assembly of the WCC in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 14 to 23 February 2006.

The Eighth Report of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches outlines the activities of the JWG between 1999-2005, and includes three completed study documents as well as some themes pursued and issues addressed.

"From Harare to Porto Alegre" is the report of the activities and dialogue undertaken between the WCC's eighth assembly in December 1998 in Zimbabwe and the final stages of preparation for the Ninth Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil in February 2006. In telling the story of the Council, it also reflects the life and faith of member churches, partner agencies and individual believers.

This text is the outcome of more than eight years of study and consultation on the "common understanding and vision of the World Council of Churches", mandated by the WCC Central Committee at its meeting in 1989. Between the Seventh Assembly of the WCC in 1991 and the Eighth Assembly in 1998, this subject was continuously on the agenda of the WCC central committee; in addition, it was extensively discussed in meetings of WCC commissions, advisory bodies and staff. Insights were sought and received from WCC member churches, other churches and a broad range of ecumenical partners, as well as many individual participants in and students of the ecumenical movement.

"Final report of the Special Commission on Orthodox participation in the WCC" : The 60-member Special Commission was created by the WCC's eighth assembly in 1998 in response to mainly Orthodox concerns about participation in the Council. Composed of an equal number of representatives from Orthodox churches and from the other churches belonging to the WCC, the Commission submitted its final report to the central committee in September 2002.

The WCC's eighth Assembly in 1998 discussed a proposal for a forum of Christian churches and ecumenical organizations that would bring together churches participating in the ecumenical movement, e.g. WCC member churches, the Catholic church, other churches, and Evangelical, Pentecostal and Independent churches, as well as ecumenical and para-church organizations.

These guidelines - covering the roles of moderators, delegates and participants; setting the agenda; making decisions by consensus and by formal vote; election process; language and other elements - apply to the Assembly and to meetings of all bodies of the WCC.

A joint consultative group between the WCC and Pentecostal churches was created in response to the mandate of the 1998 WCC Assembly in Zimbabwe. Excerpts from a report on their work from 2000-2005.