wfn.org | WCC - Decade to Overcome Violence group starts work...

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release, PR-02-02
For Immediate Use
24 January 2002

Decade to Overcome Violence group starts work on a study
document for churches

A World Council of Churches (WCC) Decade to Overcome Violence
(DOV) working group meeting will bring 30 participants from
different parts of the world to Geneva from 25-27 January 2002.
The meeting will draft user guidelines for a study document for
the churches on overcoming violence.  

The document will focus on four major themes, identified as root
causes of violence by responses to a 2000-2001 survey among
churches. The four themes are: 

- the spirit and logic of violence 
- the use, abuse and misuse of power
- issues of justice
- religious identity and plurality.  

The guidelines will tease out some of the implications of these
themes for the churches. It is clear, however, that the features,
dynamics and interplay of these four phenomena will vary
according to a particular church's context. The themes therefore
need to be explored further in each church's specific
environment.  

"The themes have been set not just for academic study, but... as
the lens through which churches can become more aware of the
challenges ahead in overcoming violence and, thus, to assist them
to find lasting and self-building solutions," said DOV
coordinator Deenabandhu Manchala.  

Although the themes are crucial for understanding violence as
such, the group will be looking at their meaning and implications
from the point of view of the 
DOV emphasis on overcoming violence. Their analysis will be
shared with a broader church constituency and the wider
international community.  

Decade to Overcome Violence (2001-2010)

At the Eighth Assembly of the WCC in Harare, Zimbabwe, delegates
representing more than 300 WCC member churches brought the Decade
to Overcome Violence  (DOV) into being. The Assembly declared
that on issues of non-violence and reconciliation, the WCC should
"work strategically with the churches... to create a culture of
non-violence".  The Decade, which was launched world-wide in
February 2001, will build on already existing initiatives around
the world, and offer a forum for sharing experiences and
establishing relationships so as to learn from one another.

For further information, please contact:
Diana Mavunduse, DOV communicator,  tel.: (+41.22) 791.67.01   
or 
Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer, tel.: (+41.22)
791.61.53
mobile:  (+41) 79.284.52.12

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, 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, The 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 6153 / 791 6421
Fax: (41 22) 798 1346
E-mail: ka@wcc-coe.org 
Web: www.wcc-coe.org 

PO Box 2100
1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland