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World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 21/02/2005

WCC CENTRAL COMMITTEE EXPRESSES CONCERN, RECOMMENDS ACTION ON SELECTED
PUBLIC ISSUES

Free photos available, see below

In a series of public statements and recommendations approved one day
before the end of its 15-22 February meeting in Geneva, the World Council
of Churches (WCC) central committee covered a wide range of issues.

> New forms of migration and the Gospel imperative of hospitality

Churches and Christians are called to "insist as a matter of principle,
that undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers are detained only in
exceptional circumstances", "for only a limited time", with access to
"judicial review" and never in worse conditions than "convicted criminals".
This is one of the 17 recommendations of a substantial memorandum from the
WCC central committee on "uprooted people" which gives account of two of
the last decade's "disturbing developments" in this field: the new
patterns of migration as a result of globalization, and the effects of
September 11.

"Analyzing global patterns of migration reveals an enormous gap between
the gospel imperative to practise hospitality towards strangers and the
actual policies and practice of governments to close borders".

> Call to declare 2006 UN International Year of Indigenous Languages

According to UNESCO, one of the world's languages is lost every two weeks
on average, and 90% of the world's 6,700 languages will become extinct by
the end of the century. Faced with this eventuality, "the need to
revitalize the world's indigenous languages", which "carry a storehouse of
indigenous knowledge accrued and refined over millennia", becomes all the
more urgent.

Expressing its concern, the WCC central committee statement urged "the
establishment of a UN International Year of Indigenous Languages in 2006
or a subsequent year", as well as the signature of the UN Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

> "Living letters" delegation to Tsunami countries

The Council's governing body encouraged in a statement the proposal
presented in his report by the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
of sending a "living letters" delegation to churches and countries
affected by the tsunami.

With profound sadness and deep anguish because of the massive loss of
lives, but also encouraged by the spontaneous and unprecedented response
to the crisis by all sectors, the central committee emphasized "the
importance of keeping the local people at the centre of the initiatives
for relief and rehabilitation". It also highlighted "the need for
constructive cooperation amongst different faith communities" and for
"long-term spiritual accompaniment and trauma counselling".

> United Kingdom government initiatives for African development

UK government initiatives to provide deeper and wider debt relief for
poorer countries, particularly those in Africa, including the proposed
International Finance Facility and the recently created Commission for
Africa, were welcomed by the Public Issues committee of the WCC central
committee.

"Given the colonial history of the UK and the country's difficulties to
meet the UN aid target of 0.7 per cent of GNP, this is indeed a welcome
and encouraging development", the Public Issues committee stated. It also
called on the WCC central committee to ask the general secretary "to
continue to be engaged with the British government and monitor how this
and other initiatives will affect African countries".

> April 24, 2005 - Commemoration of 90th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide

The Public Issues committee of the WCC central committee recommended to
the organization's general secretary "to propose to all member churches to
make Sunday April 24 a day of memory of the Armenian Genocide and to
consider further appropriate actions". That day is the 90th anniversary of
the tragic massacre of one-and-a-half-million Armenians in Turkey and the
deportation of another million from their homeland.

"From the Christian perspective, the path towards justice and reconciliation requires the recognition of the crime committed as a sine qua non
condition for the healing of memories and the possibility of forgiveness",
stated the Public Issues committee.

> The situation in Vojvodina (Serbia-Montenegro)

The Public Issues committee recommended to the WCC Commission of Churches
on International Affairs (CCIA), in contact with the Conference of
European Churches, to follow the development of the situation in Vojvodina
(Serbia-Montenegro) and consider appropriate actions.

For the WCC, "it is a priority to support the respect for human rights for
all people and the unity between the different member churches in the
region", the Public Issues committee affirmed.

The full text of the WCC central committee statements and recommendations
are available at:
www.oikoumene.org > Central Committee

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.