World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org For immediate release - 30.12.2006 10:45:17
AT THE NEWS OF SADDAM HUSSEIN'S DEATH, WCC LEADER'S HOPES ARE FOR PEACE AND END TO VIOLENCE
At the execution of Saddam Hussein, the World Council of Churches' General Secretary issued a statement asking God to grant the nation of Iraq "the mercy, justice and compassion that it has long been denied" and "an end to fear and death that marked Saddam Hussein's rule and that continue now".
"We pray that those who hold power in Iraq now and in the future will create a new heritage of government for its people," said the Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia. "May Iraq's leaders pursue reconciliation and mutual respect among all its communities."
While holding a leader responsible for his crimes is significant, Kobia said, "each taking of a person's life is a part of a larger tragedy and nowhere is this more apparent than in a land of daily killings". The WCC is opposed to the death penalty.
Full text of the statement: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2938
More on WCC and the Iraq crisis:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/iraq.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.