World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

For immediate release: 19 January 2005


Ecumenical presence at the World Social Forum: speaking with an authentic alternative voice


"Affirming life in dignity: enhancing justice and rights in a globalized world" is the overall theme for the World Council of Churches' (WCC) participation in the 5th World Social Forum taking place 26-31 January in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

WCC delegates will be responsible for a series of seminars that affirm the dignity of life in a world suffering from the consequences of economic globalization.
Amongst others, a panel on women's spirituality and dignity and their key role in resistance, a seminar dealing with peace and reconciliation, and a panel on ecological debt will be offered by the WCC.

The WCC representatives will be acting within the framework of a global ecumenical coalition. Among the coalition activities there will be the launch of a TV documentary on illegitimate debt prepared by WCC, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Norwegian Church Aid, along with a seminar on the same issue and a panel discussing the role of different religions in current conflicts.

A 23-26 January ecumenical youth pre-event being organized by the WCC, both the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), and the World Student Federation (WCSF), will bring together about 80 young people from all over the world for Bible studies, exposure visits and sessions introducing the World Social Forum's main issues.

Also preceding the World Social Forum, a World Forum of Theology and Liberation (21-25 January) organized by ecumenical partners in Latin America will reflect on "Theology for another possible world".

"Ecumenism has much that it can bring to the World Social Forum, including faith and cultural perspectives on the struggle for alternatives and the building of just societies," explains Dr Rogate Mshana, head of the WCC programme on economic justice. The ecumenical presence is "a way to show the common witness of Christians in the world that does not claim to be better, but to be an authentic alternative voice," he says.

The global ecumenical coalition includes the WCC, the LWF, Caritas Internationalis, International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE), YMCA, YWCA, WCSF, National Children's Alliance (NCA), Ecumenical Forum in Brazil, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), the Association of World Council of Churches-related Development Organisations in Europe (APRODEV) and other world-wide ecumenical organizations.


More information about the WCC's presence at the World Social Forum is available at: http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/wsf-2005-e.html

Media contact in Porto Alegre:
Susanne Buchweitz, subuc@terra.com.br , +55 (0) 51 3342 2627; +55 (0) 51 3225 90 66

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland..