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World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
10 June 1997

GEORGIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH WITHDRAWAL FROM WCC  SERIOUS 
BUT NOT EXCEPTIONAL  SAYS WCC GENERAL SECRETARY		

Following the decision of  the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox
Church to leave the World Council of Churches (WCC), Dr Konrad Raiser,
WCC General Secretary, has written to His Holiness Elia II, Catholicos
Patriarch of All Georgia.

In a 9 June letter, Dr Raiser says the decision is "a very serious
development but it does not represent an exceptional situation. Similar
conflicts have arisen in many other churches representing the whole
spectrum of Christian traditions."

Dr Raiser adds, "We consider this as an almost natural consequence of
the fact that the ecumenical movement raises questions and poses
challenges for the churches."

The Georgian Patriarch informed Dr Raiser in a 22 May letter of the
synod s decision, explaining that  a "negative attitude towards the
ecumenical movement" had grown up in the Georgian Orthodox Church
and threatened to divide it.

The patriarch said the Holy Synod felt the WCC did not consider
Orthodox interests enough; it was also critical of what it saw as
attempts "to confer the WCC with an ecclesiological character".

In his reply, Dr Raiser acknowledges the WCC "must be prepared to
listen to the critical questions which member churches address to it". 
However , he adds the WCC sincerely regrets "that in some situations -
and the Georgian Orthodox Church may not constitute an exception -
legitimate differences of assessment regarding the ecumenical
movement are being so linked with other internal conflicts that the
impression is created as if the ecumenical movement was a cause of
division in the church".

Dr Raiser assures the Patriarch there is no intention to turn the WCC into
any kind of church, i.e. give it an ecclesiological character.  He further
stresses that the WCC is also willing to discuss the Georgian anxiety that
Orthodox concerns are not properly considered by the WCC, although he
believes the WCC already tries to listen to what Orthodox churches have
to say.

The WCC General Secretary tells the Patriarch that the WCC Officers at
their regular meeting last week considered the Georgian decision to
leave the WCC  "with deep sorrow and regret".

Dr Raiser concludes with a word of gratitude that the Patriarch and other
leaders in his church are "widely appreciated partners in the ecumenical
movement and co-workers in the search for Christian unity" and this
"sustains us in our hope for the future".

Dr Raiser also tells the Patriarch: " In this very unfortunate situation we
want, above all, to assure you of our continuing solidarity. It is our prayer
that we may be led by the Holy Spirit to find the ways which permit us to
reaffirm our ecumenical fellowship."

A copy of Dr Raiser s letter (English only) is available upon request.

**********
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
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