wfn.org | Message to Hong Kong churches

[mr@wcc-coe.org]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
27 June, 1997

HONG KONG: BRIGHT FUTURE  POSSIBLE;
 CHURCHES FACE NEW CHALLENGES, SAYS WCC

The determination, hard work and pragmatism of the people of Hong
Kong will ensure a bright future for the territory when it reverts to China,
says Rev Dr Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of
Churches (WCC).

The WCC leader adds that the churches in what will become a Special
Administrative Region of China face new challenges and must
"transcend barriers of political systems in search of new models of
society which will uphold justice, peace and human dignity".

Dr Raiser makes his remarks in a special message to the Hong Kong
Christian Council and its member churches to mark the handover of Hong
Kong to China on 1 July 1997.  The message has also been sent to the
one WCC member church in Hong Kong, viz, the Church of Christ in
China, and to the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).

Acknowledging the "future hopes and fears of the territory and its
people",  Dr Raiser assures Hong Kong Christians "of our prayers for
you and solidarity with you".  He describes as "significant" the role of the
churches in Hong Kong and points out that they are today responsible
for 60 per cent of social welfare work including schools and hospitals.

The churches, Dr Raiser believes, are "well equipped to face the
challenges of the future" and ends his message by saying the WCC joins
in the special prayer  written by CCA, based in Hong Kong, and the Hong
Kong Christian Council.  Among other things, the prayer asks God to give
wisdom and fortitude to the Hong Kong churches, and concludes, "We
pray that the church can continue to proclaim the gospel without
interference and undue restriction."

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 330, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Press and Information Office
Tel:  (41.22) 791.61.52/51
Fax:  (41.22) 798 13 46
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