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Cf Press Release PR-03-13, 19 March 2003

The message delivered by Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, World Council of Churches general secretary, during an ecumenical prayer service for peace that was held today, Thursday 20 March, at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, as well as the worship order used on this occasion, are available at:

Cf. WCC Press Update, Up-03-06 of 28 February 2003

The Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will discuss the situation in Iraq, Cyprus and Sri Lanka at its forthcoming regular meeting from 18 to 21 February. Also on its agenda will be the search for candidates for the post of general secretary, preparations for the WCC's next assembly, and the follow-up to the work of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC.  The Committee will also have to decide on this year's focus for the Decade to Overcome Violence.

For the World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation taking part in the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, 23-28 January, the emphasis will be on a spirituality directed towards resistance.

The long-awaited revised and expanded second edition of the "Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement" has just been published. Produced by the World Council of Churches (WCC), this volume is an essential tool for study and research on the movement and for passing the ecumenical memory on to a new generation.

Chiara Lubich, the founder and president of the Focolare movement for spiritual and social renewal, will visit Geneva, 25-28 October 2002. Lubich's message of "spirituality for unity" in all areas of life and humanity is of great interest to the organizations hosting her visit: the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Protestant Church of Geneva, and the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey.

By Mirjam Schubert

Questions on the future shape of the ecumenical movement and of the World Council of Churches (WCC) dominated this year's WCC Central Committee meeting in Geneva. The meeting adjourned on Tuesday, 3 September. Â

It took some arguing, some assurances and some wise words, but in the end the final report of the Special Commission on Orthodox Relations in the World Council of Churches (WCC) was accepted by a consensus of the Central Committee.Â

The rhetoric was impassioned at times, but the 32-page final report of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the World Council of Churches (WCC) invoked few new questions from Central Committee members.

"We must have the courage to admit that the market and globalization have failed more than two-thirds of the world population who live in poverty," says Dr Molefe Tsele, general secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC). "The evidence, which is impossible to hide any longer, is that we are now living with the legacy of unparalleled inequality between North and South, impoverishment, and deprivation of the barest necessities of life and dignity."

cf. WCC Press Release, PR-02-21, of 31 July 2002

Bob Scott

The Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the World Council of Churches (WCC) will shortly hold its final plenary meeting. The Commission will meet 27 May - 2 June in Järvenpää, Finland, not far from Helsinki. The results of three years of work will be presented by the Special Commission in a final report to the WCC Central Committee, which meets this year 26 August - 3 September in Geneva, Switzerland.

The first meeting of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC), held in Lausanne on 3 August 1927, had very high hopes. Participants believed that the goal of visible unity of the churches was really attainable.

cf. WCC Press Release, PR-01-49, of 21 December 2001