World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org For immediate release - 19/12/2006 02:34:43 PM
WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY 2007:
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA CALL CHURCHES TO "BREAK THE SILENCE"
He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak (Mk 7:37) - the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2007 calls Christians to express their growing unity both by "breaking the silence" and by joining together in responding to human suffering.
Jointly prepared since 1968 by Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Roman Catholic Church, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is traditionally celebrated from 18-25 January or, in the Southern hemisphere, at other dates (for example around Pentecost).
This year's Week of Prayer has its origins in the experience of Christian communities in the South African region of Umlazi, near Durban, a region deeply affected by unemployment and poverty but most of all by HIV/AIDS (it is estimated that 50% of the residents of Umlazi are infected with the virus).
The theme of "breaking the silence" challenges cultural norms wherever matters relating to sexuality are "not to be spoken about". In Zulu, the term ubunqunu, literally "nakedness", indicates that these matters are taboo - and this reluctance to break the silence is costing lives.For the churches in Umlazi carrying out their ministry under these circumstances, the "visible unity of all Christians" is far more than a theological concept. The churches can be and do become agents of healing only when they themselves are healed, when they are truly the one body of Christ.
The human suffering caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other dehumanizing forces threatens to overwhelm the divided churches. Christians and churches can, however, break the silence, speaking out with a single voice and reaching out as a single body, acting with compassion and in unity.
Week of Prayer resources include an introduction to the theme; a suggested ecumenical worship service which local churches are encouraged to adapt for their own particular liturgical, social and cultural contexts; biblical reflections and prayers for the "eight days"; and additional prayers from, and an overview of, the ecumenical situation in the particular country which has prepared the material - in this case, South-Africa.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2007 resources are available on the WCC website at: http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/wop-index.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 promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.