wfn.org | WCC - Economic globalization consultation: Another world

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

is possible!

World Council of Churches
Press Release, PR-01-27
For Immediate Use
9 August 2001

Economic globalization consultation: Another world is possible!

cf. WCC Press Update, Up-01-22, of 29 June 2001
cf. WCC Press Update, Up-01-19, of 25 June 2001
cf. WCC Press Release, PR-01-15, of 18 June 2001

"There are people across our continent who believe that another
world is possible... Humble people are beginning to understand
they face this enormous threat to sustainable life," says Angel
Luis Rivera-Agosto. Rivera-Agosto from Ecuador will be reporting
from Latin America to an international ecumenical consultation in
Fiji, 12-16 August, on the devastating effects of economic
globalization on national and regional economies. The
consultation is being organized by the World Council of Churches
(WCC) in cooperation with the Pacific Conference of Churches
(PCC).  

"There is growing social consciousness among peoples' movements
and even world leaders that the process of economic globalization
needs to be regulated. The church has an important role in
providing theological and ethical insights in support of the
peoples marginalized and excluded by economic globalization",
says Dr Rogate Mshana, WCC staff person on economic issues.  

The consultation will be an important step in the development of
the churches' understanding of economic globalization. Church
representatives will share experiences from thirty countries
facing the effects of economic globalization.  

"We go to the Pacific because, while many people think it is the
perfect place for a vacation, it is also a region suffering the
negative effects of globalization," said Mshana. "We want to
demonstrate our solidarity with the churches in the Pacific  as
they face those difficulties. It is a region that is often
marginalized in world forums because of its relatively small
population and distance from the major centres of political and
economic activity," he said.  

The consultation theme, 'Island of Hope', is based on the vision
and lifestyle of the Pacific. These challenge the logic of
globalization - the kind of alternative vision called for by the
WCC assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1998.  

Participants will focus on the effects of economic globalization
on peoples' lives, such as trade and environmental devastation,
while articulating alternatives from the perspective of the
ethical challenges to the churches.  

The WCC has worked with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches
(WARC), Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) on a number of regional consultations on
the same subject. The Fiji meeting will help build a picture of
churches' worldwide response to economic globalization. It will
be preceded by a gathering of 25 young people to prepare for
their participation in the main consultation.  

Participants include:

Linn Aas-Hansen, Norway
Rev. Dr Robert Aboygye-Mensah, Ghana
Dr Agnes Abuom, Kenya
Rev. Dick Avi, Papua New Guinea
Fr. Kevin Barr, Fiji
Fr. Vsevolod Chaplin, Russia
Jacques-chai Chomthongdi, Thailand
Lawrence S. Cumming, Canada
Rev. Bruce Deverell, New Zealand
Salam El-Haouch, Lebanon
Pastor Bender Enicar, The Federated States of Micronesia
Joan Alleluia Filemoni-Tofaeono, Fiji
Fr. Line Folautnoeloa, Tonga
Rev. Juan Gattinoni, Argentina
Lilia Solano Gongora, Colombia
Dr Ruth Gutter, Germany
Dr Tyegaye Habte, Ethiopia
Georgine Kengne, Cameroon
Bishop Wesley Kigasung, Papua New Guinea
Tex-Paul Koku, Togo 
Rev. Marta Kovacs, Hungary
Prof. Kyung Mi Park, Korea
Augusto Kelly Lawig, Philippines
Chris Lind, Canada
Bishop Bernardino Mandlate, Mozambique
H.E. Mar Gregorios Yoanna Ibrahim, Syria
Jack Menke, Suriname
Lic. Horacio Mesones, Ecuador
Rev. Dr Fidon Mwombeki, Tanzania
Prof. M. Abraham Oommen, India
Rev. Valamotu Palu, Fiji
Peter Pavlovic, Slovakia
Bishop Ellison Pogo, Solomon Islands
Pasteure Rafaelle Quinche, Switzerland
Angel Luis Rivera, Ecuador
Rev. Bertalan Tamas, Hungary,
Hellen Wangusa, Uganda
Tony Wawaruntu, Hong Kong

Some participants may be available for personal interviews by
telephone or by e-mail. Contact:  Bob Scott, Fiji Mocambo Nadi
Hotel, Tel.: +679 722.000 or Mobile: +679 259.540

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, 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, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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