Ökumenischer Rat der Kirchen - Nachrichten Kontakt: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

Zur Veröffentlichung frei: 13. Dezember 2007

Be "leaders in peace", WCC invites churches

Can churches be peacemakers in a world racked by violence? This is the question to be addressed by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia at the Washington National Cathedral, Washington DC, on Sunday, 16 December 2007.

"For too long the church has been a willing participant in the violence of the world", Kobia said in an interview recently. "Christ has called the church to be a peacemaker and a reconciler. This is not just a message for the season, but one the church must take to heart if it is going to truly minister to the world. The church must be a leader in peace."

Kobia will be the guest at the Cathedral "Sunday Forum", a 50-minute discussion hosted by Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III and open to questions from the public. Addressing "critical issues in the light of faith", the forum takes place every Sunday in the nave at 10 am, prior to the 11:15 am service, and is webcast live on the Cathedral website (see below).

Kobia is visiting the US from 12-18 December. His schedule in Washington DC includes a two-day retreat with heads of churches; an encounter with young ecumenical leaders (15 December); and preaching at Bethesda Baptist Church (16 December, 11:30).

On 18 December in New York, Kobia will be guest of a Pan-Orthodox gathering hosted by Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, of the Armenian Orthodox Church of America, a member of the WCC executive committee and the president of the US National Council of Churches.

An outstanding expression of WCC's commitment to peace-making is the Council's Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) 2001-2010. A global church movement that strengthens existing efforts and networks for overcoming violence, and inspires the creation of new ones, the DOV is to achieve its culmination at an International Ecumenical Peace Convocation to be held in May 2011.

In the three years prior to the convocation, international ecumenical teams called Living Letters are visiting churches around the world exploring how they are addressing peace making in their context. This past September a Living Letters team visited several locations in the US, while in August another team visited Sri Lanka. Some forty additional visits around the world by Living Letters teams are to take place over the next three years.


Media contact in the US:
Deborah DeWinter: [+1] 212-870-3260

Website of Washington National Cathedral:
http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/centennial/SF071216.shtml

Decade to Overcome Violence:
http://www.overcomingviolence.org

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

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Der Ökumenische Rat der Kirchen fördert die Einheit der Christen im Glauben, Zeugnis und Dienst für eine gerechte und friedliche Welt. 1948 als ökumenische Gemeinschaft von Kirchen gegründet, gehören dem ÖRK heute mehr als 349 protestantische, orthodoxe, anglikanische und andere Kirchen an, die zusammen über 560 Millionen Christen in mehr als 110 Ländern repräsentieren. Es gibt eine enge Zusammenarbeit mit der römisch-katholischen Kirche. Der Generalsekretär des ÖRK ist Pfarrer Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, von der (lutherischen) Kirche von Norwegen. Hauptsitz: Genf, Schweiz.