From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org


Title: Brazilian Catholic Church offers wholehearted support


From "WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>
Date Fri, 16 May 2003 10:21:58 +0200

World Council of Churches
Update 03-23
For Immediate Use
16 May 2003

Brazilian Catholic Church offers wholehearted support for upcoming WCC
assembly

Cf. WCC Press Release PR-03-17, of 9 May 2003
Cf. WCC Press Update UP-03-22, of 13 May 2003

The Brazilian Roman Catholic Church is not a member of the World Council of
Churches (WCC). But it has pledged its full support for the WCC's upcoming
ninth assembly, slated to take place in Porto Alegre in February 2006.

The pledge was made by Dom Sinisio Bohn, the Catholic bishop of the diocese
of Santa Cruz do Sul, at a meeting with WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad
Raiser. Raiser is currently in Brazil visiting the city where the assembly
will be held, and met with Bohn and representatives of WCC member churches.

Bohn was formerly responsible for ecumenism in the Brazilian Bishops'
Conference (CNBB) and represented it at the meeting. The Conference is a
member of the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil (CONIC), the
body that invited the WCC to hold its ninth assembly in the country.

At the meeting, Raiser said that one of the main reasons for choosing Brazil
was the excellent ecumenical relations in the country. 

The meeting took place at the Anglican Episcopalian Church headquarters.
Participants included Anglican bishop and host, Orlando Santos de Oliveira,
Pastor Walter Altmann, president of the Evangelical Church of Lutheran
Confession of Brazil, and Bishop Luis Vergmlio Batista da Rosa, of the
Methodist Church in Brazil.

The CONIC coordinator in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Anglican Bishop
Naudau Alves Gomez, and CONIC executive secretary, Pastor Ervino Schmidt also
participated in the meeting. The Brazilians once again expressed their
satisfaction that the upcoming assembly will be held in their country.

Accompanied by local church leaders, Raiser visited the events centre at the
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul where the assembly will
be held. The visitors were impressed with the facility; Raiser said he
thought the choice of site was the best that could have been made. 

The WCC general secretary also met with the governor of the state of Rio
Grande do Sul, Germano Rigotto. Raiser explained the role of the WCC and the
significance of an assembly of this magnitude; the governor offered the
state's logistical collaboration.

Raiser also met with members of the Catholic, Methodist, Anglican and
Lutheran communities in the city at an event held in the IECLB Church of the
Reconciliation, located in downtown Porto Alegre. He explained how the
ecumenical body works, the issues that will be debated, and key concerns for
the WCC. 

During the course of his visit to Porto Alegre, Raiser made several
references to the work carried out by the Latin American Council of Churches
(CLAI). The effort it has made to include Pentecostals in ecumenical dialogue
is one of the factors responsible for the unique nature of ecumenism in Latin
America, Raiser said. He also praised the work of CONIC in the search for the
common testimony of Christian churches in Brazil. 

The WCC assembly, held every seven years, brings together around 3,500
participants, including delegates from member churches, speakers, observers,
guests, visitors and journalists. Gathering Christians from all over the
world and from virtually every Christian tradition, its assemblies are major
events in the life of the Council.

In Brazil, WCC members include the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran
Confession, the Christian Reformed Church of Brazil, the Episcopal Anglican
Church of Brazil, the Methodist Church in Brazil and the United Presbyterian
Church of Brazil.

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 

PO Box 2100
1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland


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