WCC NEWS: Muslims and Christians to meet in Geneva to build a common future

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World Council of Churches - News

MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS TO MEET IN GENEVA TO BUILD A COMMON FUTURE

For immediate release: 26 October 2010

High-ranking Muslim and Christian leaders as well as renowned scholars
and interfaith practitioners will gather 1-4 November at the 
Ecumenical
Centre in Geneva for an international consultation on Christian and 
Muslim
concerns.

The international consultation, which is called "Transforming 
Communities:
Christians and Muslims Building a Common Future", will identify and
address issues of common concern and provide guidance for cooperation
between Muslims and Christians, including faith-inspired approaches 
for
joint Christian-Muslim action.

A joint statement will be issued at the end of the consultation on 4
November during a press conference.

The consultation will open with keynote addresses by His Royal 
Highness
Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad bin Talal, personal envoy and special 
advisor to
His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Archbishop Anders Wejryd 
of
the Church of Sweden.

Also participating in the consultation will be: the general secretary 
of
the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit; Dr Muhammad 
Ahmed
Sharif, general secretary of the World Islamic Call Society; Dr
Abdulrahman Al-Zayed representing the Muslim World League; and 
Ayatollah
Muhammad Ali Al-Tashkiri, secretary general of the World Forum for
Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought.

Rev. Thomas Wipf, president of the Federation of the Swiss Protestant
Churches and the Swiss Council of Religions, and Sheikh Yousef Ibram, 
imam
of the Geneva mosque, will also be attending.

The consultation, which builds on the solid basis of past initiatives 
and
achievements by a variety of organizations and networks, is a joint
Christian-Muslim initiative in planning, funding and participation. 
The
conveners are the World Council of Churches (WCC), the World Islamic 
Call
Society, the Royal Aal al Bayt Institute and the Consortium of A 
Common
Word.

"Christians and Muslims have a joint responsibility to contribute the 
very
best of their theological, spiritual, and ethical resources for the 
common
good of humanity", stated the organizers.

The group expects the consultation to "develop concrete ways of 
building a
common future, in order to achieve more compassionate and just 
societies,
based on equality, co-citizenship and mutual respect".

The group will also visit St. Pierre’s Cathedral and the Islamic 
Cultural
Center and mosque in Geneva on Thursday morning, where members of the
group will meet with members of Geneva faith communities and the 
Geneva
Interfaith Platform.

The 60 participants plus consultation guests will address three key 
issues
in the present context of Muslim-Christian relations:
* Beyond Majority and Minority
* From Conflict to Compassionate Justice: Building ecologies of peace
* Learning to Overcome; formulating educational tools to resolve 
issues


The first days of the consultation, 1-3 November, will be closed to 
the
media and public; however, at the end of each day a summary of the
discussions will be made available. On Thursday 4 November a press
conference will be held to discuss the joint statement from the group.

For more information about the consultation and media opportunities
contact:
WCC Media services  +41.79.507.6363
or e-mail:
Theodore Gill  tag[at]wcc-coe.org (Link: tag@wcc-coe.org )
Mark Beach     meb[at]wcc-coe.org (Link: meb@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 Olav Fykse 
Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, 
Switzerland.



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