wfn.org | Georgian churches/WCC rapprochement

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches 
 For immediate release pr-04-15
30/06/2004

Georgian Orthodox leader willing to resume collaboration with WCC

 The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church has expressed his willingness to
 resume collaboration with the World Council of Churches (WCC) following
 the first meeting of senior staff of the ecumenical body with the
 leadership of the church since its withdrawal from WCC in 1997.

 Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II confirmed his church's interest in comments
 made following a meeting with a WCC staff delegation headed by WCC deputy
 general secretary Georges Lemopoulos in Tbilisi, Georgia. Accompanying
 Lemopoulos on the 27-29 June 2004 visit to Georgia were WCC staff members
 Sylvia Raulo and Tamara Grdzelidze. Among other issues, the church leaders
 expressed their interest in collaborating in the areas of social witness
 and service of the churches, as well as in response to the challenges of
 globalization and European integration.

 The three-million member Georgian Orthodox Church withdrew from membership
 in the WCC and other ecumenical organizations in 1997 after criticism of
 WCC  orientations, and citing internal opposition to ecumenical relations.
 In 1998, the WCC set up a Special Commission on Orthodox participation in
 the WCC which sought to address some of the concerns articulated by
 Orthodox member churches. The report of the Special Commission was the
 main focus of discussion during a meeting with members of the Georgian
 Orthodox Theological Commission and with members of the Holy Synod.

 According to Lemopoulos, the meeting with the patriarch could be
 characterized as "promising" for future relationships between the WCC and
 the Georgian Orthodox Church. "The meeting confirmed that there is a
 mutual willingness to renew dialogue and cooperation, without ignoring the
 significant differences that persist," he said. Some sections of the
 Georgian Orthodox Church continue to express their opposition to
 ecumenical contacts.

 The WCC delegation also met with government officials, notably the deputy
 minister of foreign affairs, Mr Kote Kavtaradze, and the chairman of the
 foreign relations committee, Mr Kote Gabashvili. Both leaders emphasized
 that the Georgian Church could play a significant role in the new
 situation in Georgia following the November 2003 "rose revolution", and
 encouraged the revival of international church relationships.

 The Georgian Orthodox Church joined the WCC in 1961, and
 Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II served as one of the presidents of WCC
 between 1983 and 1991.

 More information is available on our website:

 - WCC press release of 6 June 2003 entitled "Orthodox participation in
 ecumenical movement: "There is no alternative to dialogue":
 http://www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/pu-03-27.html 

 - Letter from participants in an international symposium on "Orthodox
 theology and the future of ecumenical dialogue: perspectives and
 problems", Thessaloniki, Greece, 1-3 June 2003, to H.B. Patriarch Maximos
 of Bulgaria and H.B. Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia:
 http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/thess-let.html 

 - Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC:
 http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/special-01-e.html 

 - Georgia country profile:
 http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/europe/profile-georgia.html 

For more information contact:
	 Media Relations Office: tel: (+41 22) 791 64 21 /  61 53
	 e-mail:media@wcc-coe.org - http://www.wcc-coe.org 

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more
than 120 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 Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.