wfn.org | Bishop Bjorn Bue

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World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
15 April 1997

BISHOP BJORN BUE

Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of
Churches (WCC), has paid tribute to the Rt Rev. Bjorn Bue, Bishop
of Stavanger, Norway, who died on Sunday, 13 April 1997.  

Bishop Bue suffered a heart attack whilst taking an Easter
service.  It is reported he died in hospital without recovering
consciousness.

Bishop Bue had been a member of the WCC Central Committee since
1991.  Dr Raiser's tribute was made in a 15 April letter to Per
Frick Hoydal, Dean of Stavanger and Acting Bishop of the
Stavanger Diocese.  The text of letter follows:

"Though we were prepared for it, the news of the passing away of
Bishop Bjorn Bue has deeply moved and saddened us in the World
Council of Churches.  On behalf of the officers and staff of the
Council I want to express to you, to the diocese of Stavanger and
to the whole Church of Norway our sincere sympathies at this
great loss.  At our weekly service in the Ecumenical Centre in
Geneva yesterday we offered our intercession for his family and
the entire community he served, praying that the Easter message
which he last proclaimed may uphold all of you as you commend him
into the hands of God.

Bishop Bue was held in high esteem as a dedicated and committed
member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.
 His sincerity and pastoral concern will long be remembered by
all who had the privilege to work with him.  We are grateful to
God for his life and witness, especially for his contributions to
strengthening relationships with evangelical and African parts of
the ecumenical family.  We have lost a good friend and brother in
Christ and a gifted leader in the ecumenical movement.

May I ask you to convey our sympathies to his family and to the
Christian community in the diocese of Stavanger.  We shall be
united with you in prayer on the day of his funeral."

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now
332, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually
all Christian traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a
member church but works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest
governing body is the Assembly, which meets approximately every
seven years.  The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.
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