WCC NEWS: WCC's international affairs commission refocuses on migration, religious freedom, security

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

WCC's international affairs commission refocuses on migration,
religious freedom, security and development
 

At the 50th meeting since its foundation in 1946, the Commission
of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) decided to
refocus, establishing four thematic working groups, in order
better to respond to the needs of the member churches. 


The meeting was hosted by the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of
Albania at St Vlash Monastry in Durrës, Albania from 2 to 8
October. 


The CCIA's new focal themes resonate with the mandate of the
commission during its early years. The churches had established
the commission as part of the World Council of Churches (WCC),
itself still in the process of formation, in order to deal with
the protection and resettlement of people uprooted by World War
II and to make the voice of the churches heard on issues of
common concern, notably on religious liberty. 


During their 2010 meeting, the commissioners identified four
areas on which CCIA activities should be focused through thematic
working groups, namely, "Peace and Security", "Dignity and Rights
of Migrants and Migrant Workers", "Freedom of Religion" and
"Peace in the Community". This last group will pay special
attention to the Millennium Development Goals and their impacts.



Freedom of religion must be recognized as a human right, said
the Rev. Kjell Magne Bondevik, a former prime minister of Norway,
in his report as CCIA moderator, adding that the protection of
holy sites needs to be considered as part of promoting peace
among religions and peoples. 


The group working on religious freedom will pay particular
attention to church-state relations and inter-religious dialogue
and cooperation. In the area of migration, the commission
identified statelessness and human trafficking as special
concerns. Another priority is the accompaniment of churches in
conflict situations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle
East. 


The commissioners look to the International Ecumenical Peace
Convocation (IEPC) in May 2011, to be held in Kingston, Jamaica,
to prepare a conceptual basis for ecumenical peace initiatives
beyond the Decade to Overcome Violence, which runs from 2001
through 2010. 


"The goal of the IEPC is to engage more of the churches in the
collective ecumenical potential to work for peace, focused around
the major peace issues and threats of violence of the early 21st
century," WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in
his address at the meeting. 


"The two areas of new programme thrusts identified by the CCIA
for the period until the next WCC Assembly in 2013 are the
dignity and the rights of migrants, and, secondly, the freedom of
religion. Our member constituencies have been requesting for the
WCC to become more involved in these two areas for some time",
said Dr Mathews George Chunakara, the WCC programme director for
International Affairs. "The commission noted that, increasingly,
large numbers of migrants and migrant workers from Africa, Asia,
Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific region are being
exploited and become victims of human trafficking and human
rights violations," he added. 


More information on the Commission of the Churches on
International Affairs (
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=2563&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=1
) 


Full text of the WCC general secretary's address to the CCIA (
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=2563&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=2
) 


[SIDE BAR] 
A "resurrected church"      
The setting of the Commission of the Churches on International
Affairs’ most recent meeting at the St Vlash Monastry in
Durrës, Albania had an inspirational quality. Its host, the
Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, was "resurrected" in
1991 after having been practically eliminated by the communist
regime that had ruled the country since 1944 and had declared an
atheist state in 1967, prohibiting all forms of religious
expression.

"The Church in Albania has become an example of the power of the
cross and the resurrection, a sign of the political relevance of
hope and of worship, and how important it is to worship God and
not humans' self-made Gods," WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav
Fykse Tveit said in addressing the CCIA.

In the earlier decades of communist rule Albania's Christians
suffered the same kind of persecution as their fellow believers
in other communist countries. But as of 1967, the persecution was
total. Hundreds of churches were pulled down, and many more
turned into warehouses, stables or cinemas. Virtually all the
monasteries were destroyed or became army barracks.

Since the end of the totalitarian regime in 1991, both the
society and the church in Albania have undergone radical changes.
Political reforms gave way to the resurrection of the church in
Albania. A remarkable revival and development began which
radiated into many social sectors.

The mission of the reconstructed Orthodox Autocephalous Church
of Albania has benefited social development in general in many
ways, for example in the areas of health and education.

In April 2010, the head of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of
Albania, Archbishop Anastasios who is also a WCC president, was
decorated with the country's highest award, together with the
three spiritual leaders of the Muslim, Roman Catholic and
Bektashi communities, in recognition of his merits in the field
of inter-religious dialogue.

More information on the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania
(
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=2563&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.