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World Council of Churches
Press Release PR-03-10
For Immediate Use
14 February 2002

WCC Executive Committee meets in Geneva:
Iraq crisis on the agenda

The Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will discuss
the situation in Iraq, Cyprus and Sri Lanka at its forthcoming regular
meeting from 18 to 21 February. Also on its agenda will be the search for
candidates for the post of general secretary, preparations for the WCC's next
assembly, and the follow-up to the work of the Special Commission on Orthodox
Participation in the WCC.  The Committee will also have to decide on this
year's focus for the Decade to Overcome Violence.

At its meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, the Committee will examine various
possible scenarios for the Iraq crisis, and consider what might be the role
of the churches and the ecumenical movement in each case.  It will also focus
on the situation in Cyprus and in Sri Lanka - two places where local churches
are closely involved in current peace processes.

The Executive Committee will receive a report from a search committee set up
to identify candidates for the post of general secretary.  The search
committee will propose the name of one or more candidates to be voted on by
the Central Committee at its next meeting in September. Under the terms of
its mandate, the search committee is required to make a regular progress
report to the Executive Committee regarding an agreed timetable. But it is
not required to provide details on the substance of its work, for example, on
the number of nominees, their countries of origin, etc. 

Preparations for the next WCC assembly, to be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil,
in 2006, are also on the agenda. The Executive Committee will prepare
decisions that have to be taken by the next Central Committee. These concern
the Assembly theme, the number of delegates attending, the date and duration,
the subsidies policy and the appointment of the members of Planning and
Worship Committees.

The work of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC calls
for changes in some areas of the Council's life.  The Executive Committee
will follow up on two of these - the procedures implicit in the "consensus"
method of decision-making, and the nature and obligations of "member church"
status.  

A country with an ongoing peace process, where churches are actively involved
in promoting reconciliation and peace, will be proposed as the new focus of
the Decade to Overcome Violence. "Sudan, Africa - Healing and Reconciliation"
is the theme suggested for the coming year.  A special event will also mark
the end of last year's Decade focus: "End the illegal occupation of
Palestine: Support a just peace in the Middle East".

Other items on the Executive Committee's agenda are the general secretary's
report, reports on finance and budget, and on other WCC programmes.	  

For further information, please contact the Media Relations Office, 
tel: +41 (0)22 791 64 21 /61 53

**********

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: media@wcc-coe.org 
Web: www.wcc-coe.org 

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