wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Korea: churches prophetic role in unity and peace

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

>>> WCC Media <media@wcc-coe.org> 08/27/04 03:23PM >>>
World Council of Churches - Update
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org 
For immediate release - 27/08/2004

WCC LEADER RECOGNIZES "PROPHETIC ROLE" 
OF CHURCHES IN KOREAN UNITY AND PEACE

	       Full text of the statements and photos available, see below.

"Churches are called to play a prophetic role in the promotion of justice,
peace and reconciliation in both North and South at this critical point in
Korean history," stated WCC central committee moderator Catholicos Aram I
of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Cilicia) in Seoul, as the WCC executive
committee adopted a declaration focusing on Korean reunification.

In a public statement on Korea, the executive committee recognized the risk
of conflict on the Korean peninsula, and urged the churches and the
international community to find ways of consolidating efforts for a
peaceful reunification of North and South Korea.

It called on churches to "mobilize support" for actions which reinforced
stability, dialogue and exchange in the region, and urged the lifting of
sanctions and the provision of aid to North Korea. Earlier in the week, the
WCC leadership met with South Korean president Roh Moo-hyu and officials at
the South Korean Ministry of Unification.

The statement was issued as the WCC executive committee completed its
meeting in Seoul, the first to be held in an Asian country, 24-27 August
2004. The meeting, which also reviewed WCC programmatic activity and
administrative issues, was hosted by the National Council of Churches in
Korea (NCCK) and visits were made during the week to the WCC member
churches in the country.

Somalia, Zimbabwe, Sudan

Commenting on other issues of international concern, the committee
encouraged WCC to work with other civil society groups in support of the
renewed peace initiative in Somalia. The moderator of the WCC Commission of
Churches on International Affairs, Ambassador Betheul Kiplagat, is leading
the peace negotiations in the country.

In a minute on Zimbabwe, the executive urged the Zimbabwean churches to
support efforts towards democratic reform, and agreed to send an
international ecumenical team to the churches there as a sign of
encouragement and solidarity. The country faces serious social upheaval and
politically-motivated violence.

In a statement on the situation in Sudan, the WCC executive committee
deplored the ongoing humanitarian disaster and forced displacement of
civilians in the Darfur region, and urged the African Union and the United
Nations to provide for an international peace-keeping force, the
investigation of war crimes, and the full deployment of independent
observers to monitor the cease-fire and human rights in the region.

A step towards consensus

The WCC executive committee marked a significant step forward in the
introduction of a consensus model of decision-making in the WCC by
authorizing the necessary changes to WCC rules for the next central
committee. According to Catholicos Aram I, "much more than a change of
procedures, a consensus approach will enable all programmes and actions of
the WCC to be perceived as building fellowship and understanding."

The move to consensus was decided after some member churches, especially
the Orthodox churches, expressed disagreement with the current style of WCC
decision-making.

Religions as a source of peace

The committee voiced support for a major international inter-religious
conference to be sponsored by the WCC in June 2005. According to WCC
general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, "the Council seeks to uphold how
religion can be used as a source of peace and justice around the world, and
avoid situations when religion can be a source of conflict."

The next meeting of the WCC central committee will be held in Geneva in
February 2005, one year before WCC the ninth assembly in Porto Alegre,
Brazil. During the week, the Korean churches reiterated their hope that a
future WCC assembly will be held in their country.

The full texts of WCC executive committee statements are available at
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/index-e.html 

Photos of the WCC visit to Korea are available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/exco2004.html 

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153  +41 79 507 6363
	 media@wcc-coe.org 

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 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.