wfn.org | World Council of Churches General Secretary Report, 26 August 1999

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World Council of Churches
Press Release

For Immediate Use
26 August 1999

CENTRAL COMMITTEE No. 02

CHURCHES SHOULD FOCUS ON OVERCOMING *CULTURE OF VIOLENCE,* SAYS WORLD 
COUNCIL OF CHURCHES GENERAL SECRETARY
Churches around the world should consider spending the first decade of the 
next century working to overcome the world*s *generalized culture of 
violence,* and acknowledge that their own theological traditions have 
helped shape the world*s current attitudes, said World Council of Churches 
(WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser.

Dr Raiser, in a report to the WCC*s Central Committee here August 26, said 
*the commitment to overcome violence and build a culture of peace may 
indeed be the prophetic witness which the churches have to render at a time 
when the struggles for power and resources, identity or sheer survival* 
result in conflict between various groups, including communities of faith.

When the WCC held its assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, last December, a 
proposal suggested that the international church organisation proclaim the 
years 2001-2010 *An Ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence.*
*Violence in the homes and on the streets, between ethnic and religious 
groups, within and between nations and societies, is the most powerful 
force destroying human community life,* said the German theologian who has 
headed the WCC since 1992.

The concern is not a new one for the WCC, Raiser said. Since the WCC*s 
response in 1968 to Dr Martin Luther King*s call for non-violence in the 
search for social justice, and in its own Programme to Combat Racism of the 
1970s, the organization of Protestant and Orthodox churches has been 
dealing with the issue.
Dr Raiser cited a resolution from the WCC*s 1993 assembly in Vancouver, 
Canada, which noted that *peace is not just the absence of war*. Peace 
cannot be built upon the foundations of injustice, the Vancouver statement 
said, but must be based on *justice for and within all the nations, and 
respect for the God-given humanity and dignity of every person.*

Dealing with the issue of violence may require new times of moral and 
ethical reflection, Raiser said. *We are still deeply conditioned by 
thinking in the categories of the cold war, based on the clear 
identification of an enemy and the confrontation of absolute good and 
evil,* he said. Today*s violence, he added, *cannot be overcome by imposing 
superior power and enforcing obedience and submission, since violence is 
itself an expression of the war logic of power.*

In noting that the churches themselves may have contributed to the climate 
of violence, Raiser said the WCC*s previous Decade of Churches in 
Solidarity with Women brought the churches some *painful insights* about 
their own attitudes towards women. If there is serious reflection on 
violence in the world, Raiser said, churches will be obliged to *enter into 
a self-critical assessment of those theological, ecclesiological or 
cultural traditions which tend to justify violence in the name of defending 
order and enforcing obedience.*

*It is my hope and prayer,* Raiser concluded, *that as an ecumenical 
community we will be able, through this decade, to render a faithful 
witness to the One who is our peace and who has broken down the dividing 
wall of hostility.*

The WCC leader also said that the churches* concern for violence in the 
first decade of the next century would parallel other efforts in government 
and the wider society.

Evaluating the WCC*s assembly in Zimbabwe last December, the general 
secretary told the Central Committee that the overall assessment of the 
international meeting was *quite positive*. Some, he said, felt that issues 
were dodged, or that the Assembly focussed too much on internal 
organization. Referring to the document *Common Understanding and Vision,* 
Raiser said the WCC was affirmed as a *fellowship of churches*, but that 
intense discussion continued on the meaning of ecumenical endeavour.

The discussions might mean, Raiser said, that the traditional assemblies of 
the 50-year-old WCC * held every seven years * might some day be replaced 
with a *new form of expressing and fostering the bonds of ecumenical 
fellowship.*

The WCC Central Committee meeting continues here until September 3. *
Contact: Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer
Tel: (+41.22) 791.61.53 Mobile: (+41) 79. 284. 52.12

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of 336 churches, 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.

World Council of Churches
Media Relations Office
Tel: (41.22) 791.61.53 / 791.64.21
Fax: (41.22) 798.13.46
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