wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Saints and martyrs: international ecumenical symposium

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

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 23/09/2008 13:29:43

SAINTS AND MARTYRS, A DRIVING FORCE FOR CHURCH UNITY

Can saints and martyrs – or for that matter, Christians who
lived exemplary lives – help unite the churches into which they
were born? An international group of experts will discuss this
and other related questions at a symposium in an Italian
monastery. 

Throughout the history of the church, men and women have set
examples of Christian life that constitute a rich heritage to the
ecumenical movement. An international symposium to take place at
the monastery of Bose, Italy from 29 October to 2 November 2008
will discuss how the joint remembrance of those witnesses to the
faith can contribute to an ecumenical spirituality. 

About 80 internationally acknowledged theologians and church
leaders from Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal
backgrounds are expected to participate. Speakers include Dr Mary
Tanner, World Council of Churches (WCC) president from Europe.
The archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has submitted a
paper to be read on his behalf. 

"There is growing awareness that witnesses to the faith, both
contemporary and from the past, do not belong only to individual
confessional groups but are the common heritage and a source of
inspiration for the whole christendom and beyond," said Tamara
Grdzelidze, a programme executive of the WCC Commission on Faith
and Order. 

"This symposium aims to share in the richness of holiness and
martyrdom as experienced in various church traditions and
contexts and to see how this awareness may further our
reconciliation and mutual understanding," Grdzelidze added. 

As part of the symposium, an ecumenical commemoration of
Christian witnesses will take place on Saturday, 1 November, the
Feast of All Saints in the tradition of Western Christianity. 

The symposium is part of the project "A cloud of witnesses"
carried out jointly by the WCC Commission on Faith and Order and
the monastery of Bose. 

Media contact: Tamara Grdzelidze +41-76-378-6339
tgr@wcc-coe.org

More information:

http://www.monasterodibose.it/index.php/content/view/1729/461/lang,en/

>WCC Commission on Faith and Order:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3606

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363media@wcc-coe.org

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 349 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.