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99-133

World Council of Churches declares Decade to Overcome Violence

by James Solheim

     (ENS) At the conclusion of its nine-day meeting in Geneva, 
the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches declared 
an Ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence, encouraging its 336 
member churches "to challenge the powers and principalities that 
perpetuate violence in our world." The decade was proposed by 
delegates to the WCC's Eighth Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe last 
December. The committee also issued nine recommendations to deal 
with "growing threats to international peace and security."

     In its memorandum on "Response to Armed Conflict and 
International Law," the 158-member committee deplored "the 
erosion of the authority and capacity of the United Nations and 
its institutions created to develop, codify and guarantee respect 
for the international rule of law."

     Singling out the NATO intervention in Kosovo, the memorandum 
said that the action "raised serious questions about the failure 
of the same nations to respond with similar energy and 
decisiveness to crises in Africa and elsewhere." And it called 
upon churches "to be agents of reconciliation in a troubled 
world," pointing to a need by the WCC "in dialogue and 
cooperation with people of other faiths, to expand and justify 
its efforts… of peace-making for the sake of peace and justice in 
the world."

Culture of violence

     WCC General Secretary Konrad Raiser strongly endorsed the 
decade, urging the member churches to help overcome the world's 
"generalized culture of violence." He said that "the commitment 
to overcome violence and build a culture of peace may indeed be 
the prophetic witness which the churches have to render at a time 
when the struggles for power and resources, identity or sheer 
survival" result in conflict between various groups--including 
communities of faith.

     "Violence in the homes and on the streets, between ethnic 
and religious groups, within and between nations and societies, 
is the most powerful force destroying human community life," 
Raiser said.

     Dealing with the issue of violence may require new efforts 
of moral and ethical reflection, Raiser suggested. "We are still 
deeply conditioned by thinking in the categories of the Cold War, 
based on the clear identification of an enemy and the 
confrontation of absolute good and evil," he said. "Today's 
violence cannot be overcome by imposing superior power and 
enforcing obedience and submission, since violence is itself an 
expression of the war logic of power."

     A serious reflection on violence would oblige the churches 
to "enter into a self-critical assessment" of the factors that 
"tend to justify violence in the name of defending order and 
enforcing obedience. And the churches must examine their role in 
contributing to a climate of violence, prepared for some "painful 
insights."

     He concluded, "It is my hope and prayer that, as an 
ecumenical community, we will be able through this decade to 
render a faithful witness to the One who is our peace and who has 
broken down the dividing wall of hostility."

Ecumenical space

     In other action, the Central Committee decided to put 
significant resources into developing the concept of "ecumenical 
space" to provide opportunities for churches to come together and 
discuss difficult issues that threaten to divide them. Serious 
tensions have plagued the WCC in recent years over issues such as 
human sexuality, the ordination of women, commitment to the 
search for unity and styles of mission.

     A special commission, established at the Eighth Assembly, 
will address growing tensions between some Orthodox and 
Protestant members. The Orthodox have been very critical of the 
direction of the WCC and have threatened to withdraw from 
membership.

     Catholicos Aram I of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who 
began his second term as moderator of the Central Committee, said 
that the failure of the WCC in the past to work closely with its 
members "made the council's work less relevant to the life of the 
churches and has opened a gap between the council and the 
churches."

     One of the effects of globalization in many parts of the 
world is the introduction of "Western liberal values that are 
threatening coexistence, shared values, local traditions, 
cultures and communities." Yet he expressed the hope that "the 
church is ready to open itself up to new horizons," and that the 
ecumenical movement was willing to be transformed to an 
"instrument of the people."

     Pamela Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, was 
elected to the Central Committee at the assembly in Harare and 
said in an interview that she was impressed with the high caliber 
of the new members. "It is one of my grounds for hope in the 
future of the WCC," she said. As a member of both the program 
committee and the finance committee she is in an unusual position 
to gauge the direction of the WCC.

     "The WCC is moving in the right direction, showing more 
sensitivity to the concerns of its member churches," she added. 
"And the Orthodox members got a big boost with the formation of a 
committee to address their concerns." She felt that "people were 
reaching out to one another more at the Central Committee meeting 
than in Harare."

     She is also convinced that the finance committee has a 
realistic grasp of the difficulties in maintaining support for 
the WCC. "The new chair of the committee is dedicated to tight 
fiscal policies," Chinnis said. "And that's a good sign."

--James Solheim is director of the Office of News and Information 
for the Episcopal Church.