World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org For immediate release - 23/05/2007 03:06:08 PM
WCC ASKS THE JORDANIAN GOVERNMENT TO RECONSIDER DECISION ON GREEK ORTHODOX PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has received with "deep concern" the recent withdrawal of Jordan's recognition of Patriarch Theophilos III as the head of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and requested the decision to be reconsidered.
In a 18 May letter to the Jordanian Prime Minister Dr Marouf Suleiman al-Bakhit, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia expressed "fear that such a decision might lead to a division among the Orthodox Christian community in Jordan and Palestine with negative ecclesial and socio-political consequences". Kobia also stressed that recognizing Theophilos III "is of utmost importance for the good governance of the institutions related to that patriarchate".
The election of the head of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is customarily recognized by the Jordanian and Israeli governments as well as by the Palestinian Authority.
The full text of the WCC letter to the Jordanian government is available at: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=3585
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 347 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.
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