wfn.org | WCC Gen. Sec. to visit Russia in 1998

[Sheila MESA <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
17 December 1997

WCC GENERAL SECRETARY TO VISIT RUSSIA IN 1998

The Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of
Churches (WCC), will pay an official visit to Russia early in the New
Year at the invitation of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Dr Raiser will lead an ecumenical team to visit and strengthen
relationships with the Russian Orthodox Church which, with around 100
million members, is the largest of the WCC's 330 member churches, and
the only member church in the country.

The visit is intended to demonstrate visible support for the Russian
Orthodox Church's involvement in the ecumenical movement at a time
when there is criticism of such involvement from some sections within
the church itself.

The team will present, discuss and clarify the aims and work of the WCC
to a number of diverse audiences.

With Dr Raiser will be

Archbishop Jeremiasz (Anchimiuk) of Wroclaw and Szczecin, Poland.
Professor Nicholas Lossky who is a member of the (Moscow
Patriarchate) Russian Orthodox Church from France and also on the
WCC's Faith and Order Commission.
Rt Rev. Hendrik Swenungson, Bishop of Stockholm and a former member
of the Praesidium of the Conference of European Churches.
Members of WCC staff from Geneva.
 
The provisional programme for the visit, which will take place from
Friday, 30 January to Wednesday, 4 February 1998,  includes:

- Attendance at Orthodox Divine Liturgy in Moscow on Sunday morning.

- Official reception hosted by His Holiness Patriarch Alexis II, Head of the
Russian Orthodox Church.

- Discussions with His Eminence Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and
Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations
(DECR) of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).

- Meeting with senior staff of the DECR Secretariat for Inter-church
Relations.

- Meeting with the ROC Theological Commission at which Dr Raiser will
give a presentation on "The Common Understanding and Vision of the
WCC: the ecumenical movement in transition".  Archbishop Jeremiasz will
also speak on "The Orthodox churches and the WCC: some challenges
and opportunities".

- Visits to ROC departments for religious education, charities and social
service.

- Visit to Moscow Theological Academy in Sergiev Possad (formerly
Zagorsk) where Dr Raiser will make a presentation on "The ecumenical
movement and WCC today".  Prof. Lossky will also speak on "Why the
Orthodox churches are involved in the ecumenical movement".
- Visit to St Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Institute in Moscow for an
informal discussion with staff and students.

Whilst in Moscow, the team will also visit the Union of the Evangelical
Christian-Baptists of Russia, and hold informal talks with other Orthodox
groups and initiatives.

A press conference will be held in Moscow on Wednesday, 4 February. 
For details of time and place please contact the visit coordinator, Mr
Vladimir Shmaliy, Russian Orthodox Church, Department for External
Church Relations, Danilovsky Val 22, 113191 Moscow: Tel.
+7.095.952.2684; +7.095.230.2549; Fax +7.095.230.2619.

**********
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.

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