wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Iraq, new council of church leaders aims to promote acceptance of the other

["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: 19 February 2010

WCC WELCOMES NEW IRAQI COUNCIL OF CHURCH LEADERS

"With great hope and deep satisfaction" the World Council of
Churches
(WCC) has welcomed the news that a Council of Christian Church
Leaders of
Iraq has been established.

"In our view, it is a development that augurs as much for the
future of the
churches in Iraq as it does for Iraq as a nation," the WCC
general
secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit wrote in an 18 February
congratulatory
message to the members of the new body.

The council includes all patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and
heads of
churches in Iraq from the 14 Christian communities registered in
Iraq
since 1982, belonging to the Catholic, Eastern and Oriental
Orthodox as
well as Protestant traditions.

The aim of the new council, according to its bylaws, is "to
unite the
opinion, position and decision of the churches in Iraq" on
issues related
to the churches and the state.

The council intends to do so "upholding and strengthening the
Christian
presence, promoting cooperation and joint action without
interfering in
private matters of the churches or their related entities".

In a press release announcing the creation of the new council,
the founders
highlighted the importance of Christian education and of
dialogue with the
Muslim community in order to "promote the acceptance of the
other".

"Iraqi Christians have never viewed themselves as simply a
minority
community who stand for their own interests. They have always
shown their
deep rootedness in the history and civilization of Iraq," Tveit
wrote in
his message to the founders of the council.

The WCC general secretary congratulated them "for formulating a
vision that
is unequivocally committed to the advancement of all Iraqi
citizens. From
this standpoint, the council’s plan to engage in promoting
ecumenical
initiatives and dialogue and partnership with Muslims is an
essential
assertion."

The WCC letter also expresses the solidarity of churches all
over the world
with the Iraqi Christians: "We commit ourselves as a fellowship
of
churches from around the world to accompany you in the arduous
tasks that
face the Iraqi churches in the rebuilding of your nation."

The formation of the council of church leaders comes at a time
when
sectarian violence, including many deadly attacks on Christian
citizens
and churches, continues to be a major problem in Iraq and is
forcing many
members of religious minorities to flee their homes.

The representatives of the 14 churches that founded the council
at a 9
February meeting in Baghdad unanimously elected Archbishop Dr
Avak
Asadourian of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Iraq as general
secretary.
Archbishop Basilius Guirgis al-Qass Moussa of the Syrian
Catholic Church
was elected deputy general secretary.

At a February 2009 meeting in Lebanon co-organized by the WCC,
Iraqi church
leaders had "pledged to work together on establishing an
ecumenical forum
for all Iraqi church leaders that allows them to speak with a
common voice
to religious and political authorities inside and outside of
Iraq."

Full text of the letter by the WCC general secretary:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=1947&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=-1

Press release by the Council of Christian Church-Leaders of
Iraq:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=1947&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=-2

WCC press release on the 2009 meeting:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=1947&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=-3

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 Olav Fykse
Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva,
Switzerland.