wfn.org | Figures Show Harare Assembly Was Biggest in History of WCC

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

27-August-1999 
99283 
 
    Figures Show Harare Assembly Was Biggest 
    in History of WCC 
 
    by Stephen Brown 
    Ecumenical News Service 
 
GENEVA - The World Council of Churches eighth assembly, which took place in 
Harare in December last year, was the biggest assembly ever in the 50-year 
history of the organization, with almost 5000 registered participants, 
according to statistics released today. 
 
    According to figures presented today to the WCC's central committee in 
an evaluation of the December gathering, the assembly had at least 4855 
registered participants - 965 delegates, 31 representatives of associate 
member churches, 287 delegated representatives, delegated observers and 
observers; 60 retiring central committee members and presidents; 114 
advisers; 182 stewards; 114 volunteers; 485 "Padare" (forum) presenters; 
141 staff; 252 co-opted staff; 341 media; 183 service people; and more than 
1700 accredited visitors. In addition there was an "unknown" number of 
local visitors to the assembly, probably up to several hundred on certain 
days. 
 
    The WCC assembly, held every seven or eight years, is one of the most 
important dates in the ecumenical calendar, bringing together 
representatives of the WCC's more than 330 member churches as well as many 
other participants. 
 
    But preparations for the Zimbabwe assembly were dogged by numerous 
obstacles, including several changes of dates, and difficulties with the 
authorities of the University of Zimbabwe, where the assembly was held. 
There was also controversy over whether or not a homosexual group should be 
permitted to participate in a special program where many different aspects 
of church life were discussed. 
 
    In the run-up to the assembly, Harare, capital of Zimbabwe, experienced 
civil unrest, including riots and looting, because of big increases in food 
prices. There were also clashes between students and police on the 
university campus prior to the assembly. 
 
    According to the evaluation, Harare "was affirmed by a large number of 
participants as an ideal choice for the assembly, notwithstanding the 
painful economic, social and political questions which at times during the 
preparatory period had generated uncertainty in some minds about actually 
being able to hold the event." 
 
    The evaluation praises the efforts of WCC staff and local organizers, 
but places most of the blame for the organizational problems on the 
University of Zimbabwe. Despite a "clear directive" from Zimbabwe's 
president, Dr. Robert Mugabe, who is also the university's chancellor, that 
the assembly was to be a success, "it was not possible to overcome - at the 
very heart of the dealings with the university - a significant force which 
worked actively to counter and disrupt the assembly." 
 
    A few weeks before the assembly began, the university authorities had 
trenches dug on the university site in order to install cables for a new 
computer network. The trenches, according to the report, "ruined the beauty 
of the campus, and made walking in the rain and dark hazardous."  More than 
30 participants suffered injuries - some with long-term effects - which 
were serious enough to need medical attention. 
 
    The "inability of the university to live up to its contractual 
arrangements" in providing accommodation and catering "threatened the very 
viability of the assembly itself" in the days immediately before the 
assembly began, the report states. 
 
    In his report to the central committee, the WCC's general secretary, 
Dr. Konrad Raiser, said on 26 August that "on the whole, the assessment [by 
participants] of the assembly has been very positive." 
 
    Some participants had praised the assembly's response to the African 
context and its statements on human rights, globalization and debt, Dr. 
Raiser said. But others felt that the assembly had "remained too general in 
its statements and avoided speaking clearly about the pressing problems of 
justice and human rights." 
 
    (During the Harare assembly, some Zimbabwean groups called on the WCC 
to protest against local human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, but WCC leaders 
said that the organization did not criticize a country in which a major WCC 
meeting was taking place.) 
 
    Archbishop Anastasios, head of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of 
Albania, told today's meeting: "We are very critical against dictators when 
we [the WCC's governing bodies] are in Geneva, and very polite and gentle 
when we are in specific countries." On previous occasions, the WCC "had the 
boldness to speak the truth face to face," he said. 
 
    Some central committee members also pointed out that few Zimbabwean 
churches had taken part in a service during the assembly at a sports 
stadium near Harare, intended to celebrate the links between the WCC and 
the host churches. 
 
    Donnalie Edwards, an Anglican from Antigua, of the Church in the 
Province of the West Indies, said that there should have been an 
opportunity for the "genuine participation" of Zimbabweans in the "official 
process of the assembly." 
 
    Bishop Barry Rogerson, of the Church of England, who described the 
assembly as a "quiet success" reflected the views of many speakers, in 
praising the efforts of WCC staff at Harare. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  This note sent by Office of News Services, 
  Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
  to the World Faith News list <wfn-news@wfn.org>.
  For additional information about this news story,
  call 502-569-5493 or send e-mail to PCUSA.News@pcusa.org

  On the web:  http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/

  If you have a question about this mailing list, 
  send queries to wfn@wfn.org