wfn.org | WCC AGENDA: June 2005

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

World Council of Churches - Agenda
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 20/05/2005

JUNE 2005

> Critical moment interreligious conference
> WCC general secretary meets Pope Benedict XVI
> Samuel Kobia visits Russian Orthodox Church
> Joint Consultative Group of the WCC and Pentecostal churches
> Indigenous Peoples on interreligious dialogue and globalization

> Critical moment interreligious conference
> 7-9 June, Geneva, Switzerland

The WCC's "Critical moment in interreligious dialogue" conference will
bring together religious scholars, human rights activists, humanitarian
workers, journalists and people experienced in working across religious
traditions. They will review experiences of interreligious collaboration
and dialogue over recent decades and together envisage the future.
Among more than 100 participants of diverse faiths will be such prominent
voices in interfaith dialogue as Swami Agnivesh, a Brahmin Hindu leader
and activist, Tariq Ramadan, who is reflecting on a new kind of European
Islam that bridges Islamic values and Western culture, Dr Wande Abimbola,
a chief of African religion from Nigeria, and Naamah Kelman, the first
woman to be ordained as a rabbi in Israel.

http://www.oikoumene.org/interreligious.html

> WCC general secretary meets Pope Benedict XVI
> 13-16 June, Rome, Italy

On 16 June Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will have an audience with Pope Benedict
XVI. This will be Kobia's first meeting with the head of the Roman
Catholic Church since he became WCC general secretary in 2004. Earlier
plans had to be postponed, and in April, Kobia came to Rome for the
funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Before visiting the Vatican the general secretary will meet in Rome with
WCC member churches, including the Evangelical Baptist Union, the
Evangelical Methodist Church of Italy and the Waldensian Church, and with
the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy.

http://www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/pr-05-14.html

> Samuel Kobia visits Russian Orthodox Church
> 18-24 June, Moscow, Russia

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will visit the Russian Orthodox
Church for the first time since taking up his post at the head of the
Council. Meetings with church leaders and laity are scheduled, as well as
with representatives of the Russian parliament and the government. Kobia's
programme includes a visit to St Tikhon's Orthodox University to meet with
staff and students, and a visit to an orphanage.

> Joint Consultative Group of the WCC and Pentecostal churches
> 20-27 June, Cairo, Egypt

The Joint Consultative Group of the WCC and Pentecostal churches, that has
met annually since 2000, is a forum "to discuss mutual challenges with the
hope of moving beyond them". Pentecostal representatives raise concerns
about the WCC such as its emphasis on a social agenda at the apparent
expense of evangelism. For their part, WCC representatives seek to
understand the theme of unity in light of the dramatic growth of Pentecostalism, sometimes at the expense of more traditional churches.
The meeting in Cairo, hosted by the Coptic Orthodox Church, will work on
recommendations for the 9th WCC Assembly in February 2006. Pentecostal
members of the group come from churches in the USA as well as the Czech
Republic, Zambia, South Africa, India and Japan.

http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/ecumenical/index-e.html#pea
http://www.pctii.org/wcc/

> Indigenous Peoples on interreligious dialogue and globalization
> 26-29 of June, Guatemala City, Guatemala

How can different communities of faith relate to each other? And how can
the role of spiritual values be strengthened in public and development
processes? About 30 indigenous leaders from Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia - representing such Mesoamerican
religion expressions as the Garifunas, the Quichuas and Aymaras from the
Andes - will meet for an exchange on "Indigenous people and interreligious
dialogue within the globalization processes".
Organised by WCC the meeting will allow participants to share and reflect
on the role of their spiritual expressions and religions in globalization
processes in their regions.

http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/indig.html

> Major WCC events coming up:

International Day of Prayer for Peace
21 September, worldwide

Conference on "Living the interreligious experience together"
12-14 November, Geneva, Switzerland

WCC 9th Assembly (2006)
14-23 February 2006, Porto Alegre, Brazil

For further information, visit the WCC media calendar at:
http://www2.wcc-coe.org/wcccalendar.nsf

Unless noted otherwise, events are by invitation only and not open to the
press or general public. The information above may change without notice.

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 347, 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.