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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 - 16/09/2005

WCC EXECUTIVE URGES CHURCHES TO EXERCISE "UNIQUE POTENTIAL" FOR PEACE

Full text of WCC public statements available, see below

Churches must take responsibility to nurture healing in broken societies
and to promote peace, urged leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC)
in public statements on Haiti and small arms released today.

The 25-member WCC executive committee was meeting at the WCC's Bossey
Ecumenical Institute, near Geneva, 13-16 September 2005, in its last full
meeting prior to the WCC 9th Assembly in 2006.

> A public voice against gun violence

In a statement on small arms and light weapons, the WCC executive
committee urged churches to exercise their "unique potential" to curb
demand for guns and "to affirm God's vision of life in peace and fullness"
by "changing public attitudes, shaping community values and becoming a
public voice against gun violence."

Small arms are used in the vast majority of the estimated 350,000 of the
world's deaths by violence annually. In 2006, the WCC will lead an
ecumenical delegation at the United Nations Small Arms Review Conference.

> New social contract for Haiti

Referring to the critical situation in Haiti, the committee acknowledged
the "enormous challenges faced by the people and the witness of the
churches in the country". It also underlined its "concern for the current
unstable political situation", as well as the extreme poverty, violence
and human suffering experienced by the population.

The committee asked member churches to express solidarity and to support
churches in Haiti to develop a monitoring team during forthcoming
elections. Churches are called to "support processes towards genuine
popular participation and a new social contract" for the benefit of all,
the statement says.

The committee called on the churches in Haiti to "intensify ecumenical
initiatives" for justice, peace and reconciliation. The WCC has closely
followed developments in Haiti in recent years and has led ecumenical
efforts for mediation and healing in the divided society. The WCC general
secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia met with church and political authorities
in Haiti in August 2005.

> Hurricane Katrina: the vulnerability of power

In his report to the committee, Kobia commented on the consequences of
Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged the southern USA in early September. "The
disaster has provoked widespread expressions of compassion and solidarity
among churches worldwide," Kobia stated. "It also exposes profound
weakneses and wounds in American society, and pertinent questions of
racism, poverty and the impact of global warming, that need to be
addressed with urgency and determination. The disaster confronts us with
the vulnerability of power, and should challenge states to shift policies
and reconsider international relationships."

> WCC programme and Assembly matters

The committee reviewed the Council's programmatic work in 2005, and
evaluated major initiatives in the areas of mission and interreligious
dialogue. It also welcomed a continued stabilization in the financial
situation of the organization. Among key actions agreed by the executive
committee:

> WCC 9th Assembly

The executive committee finalized arrangements for the WCC 9th Assembly,
to be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil in February 2006. The committee
confirmed nominations made by member churches and reviewed plans for the
agenda, leadership and organization of the event, which is expected to
gather over 3,000 church and ecumenical representatives from all regions.

Alongside work on themes such as church unity, economic justice and
overcoming violence, the committee proposed that the Assembly delegates
also focus on international issues, including the responsibility to
protect, UN reform, Latin America, and nuclear non-proliferation.

> Membership

The executive committee recommended that the Lao Evangelical Church, the
first from this country, be accepted for membership by the WCC central
committee in 2006. Six other applications for membership will also be
processed after the Assembly.

The committee supported the application of a series of church agencies and
organizations to be recognized by the central committee as "specialized
ministries in working relationship with the WCC" under new rules taking
effect in 2006.

> Alliance for development

Plans for a new global ecumenical platform for development, involving the
WCC, were affirmed, and greater consultation and information-sharing
within the WCC constituency was encouraged.

Concluding the meeting of the executive committee, the general secretary
expressed his thanks to the officers and members of the committee, and
particularly to the moderator Catholicos Aram I, for his "wise counsel,
theological depth and grasp of global issues," which guided the Council
over the last seven years.

The full text of the statement on Small Arms and Light Weapons:
http://www.oikoumene.org/Statement.1250.0.html

The full text of the statement on Haiti:
http://www.oikoumene.org/Statement.1251.0.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 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.