wfn.org | WCC convenes international Christian - Muslim consultation

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World Council of Churches
Press Release No. 02-26
For Immediate Use
8 October 2002

WCC convenes international Christian - Muslim consultation 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will be hosting an international
consultation on "Christians and Muslims in dialogue and beyond". The
three-day consultation will take place from 16-18 October 2002 at the
Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr Tarek Mitri, WCC staff member for Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue,
says the WCC has invited 40 participants to gather for "a critical
examination of the present state of relations between their respective
communities and an assessment of what has been achieved."  He says
discussions will include "an exploration of future priorities", which are
expected to focus on common action at the local level.

The event will be co-chaired by the WCC moderator of the WCC Central
Committee, H.H. Aram I, Catholicos of the See of Cilicia of the Armenian
Apostolic Church (Antelias, Lebanon) and Dr Mohamed S. El-Awa, an author and
lawyer from Egypt. 

Those addressing the opening-day theme of "Reflections on the present state
of Muslim-Christian Relations" include: 

H.E. Dr Abdelouahed Belkeziz, secretary general of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference 

H.E.  Sayyid Mohammad Ali Abtahi, president of the Institute for
Inter-Religious Dialogue and vice-president of the Islamic Republic of Iran  

H.E. Dr Mohamed Ahmed Al-Sherif, general secretary, Islamic Call Society

H.E. Dr Hamid Bin Ahmand Al-Rifaie, president, International Islamic Forum
for Dialogue

Presentations from Christian points of view will be made by H.E. Archbishop
Michael Fitzgerald, president of the Vatican "Council for Inter-Religious
Dialogue" and the Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World
Council of Churches.		  

Information for press attendance:
Journalists are invited to attend the sessions at the Ecumenical Centre in
Geneva on Wednesday 16 October until 16:00. 
A press conference in English will be held at 12:30 in the Main Hall of the
Ecumenical Centre.    
Participants will be available for interviews on request. The Centre is
equipped with an ISDN line.  
-----------------------
The following is in English only.

International Consultation on "Christians and Muslims in Dialogue and Beyond"
Geneva, October 16-18, 2002

Schedule of sessions open to the media:

16 October

09.00-10.30	
Opening remarks and presentation of program
*  H.H. Catholicos Aram I of Cilicia, 
Moderator of the World Council of Churches' Central Committee

11.00-12.30 
Reflections on the present state of Muslim-Christian Relations
*  H.E. Dr Abdelouahed Belkeziz, Secretary-General of the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference	
*  H.E. Dr Mohamed Ahmed Al-Sherif, General Secretary, 
Islamic Call Society  
*  H.E. Dr Hamid Bin Ahmad Al-Rifaie President, 
International Islamic Forum for Dialogue

14.30-16.00	
Reflections on the present state of Muslim-Christian Relations
* H.E. Sayyid Mohammad Ali Abtahi 
President of the Institute for Inter-Religious Dialogue,  
Vice-President, Islamic Republic of Iran
* Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser General Secretary, 
World Council of Churches,
* H.E. Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, Secretary, 
Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue

Participants list:

Dr Mahdi Abdul Hadi, President, Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of
International Affairs (PASSIA), Jerusalem
H.E. Sayyid Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of
Iran
Dr Martin Affolderbach, Christian-Muslim and Inter-Religious Affairs,
Secretary - EKD, Germany
Dr. Seyed Amir Akrami, Secretary for Inter-Religious Dialogue, Islami Culture
and Relations, Iran
Prof Dr Hamid Bin Ahmed Al-Rifaie, President, International Islamic Forum for
Dialogue, Saudi Arabia
Dr Mohamed Ahmed Al-Sherif, General Secretary, Islamic Call Society, Libya
H.H. Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, Armenian Apostolic Church, Antelias,
Lebanon (Co-moderator)	       .../...
Bishop Samuel R. Azariah, Church of Pakistan, member of the WCC advisory
group on Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue
Rev. Dr John Azumah, member of the WCC advisory group on Inter-Religious
Relations and Dialogue; Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India
Rev. Dr Jean-Claude Basset, Project Dialogue, Geneva, Switzerland
H.E. Dr Abdelouahed Belkeziz, Secretary-General, Organization of the Islamic
Conference, Saudi Arabia
Prof. Dr Abdeslam Bou-Imajdil, Professor, Morocco
Dr Mohamed S. El-Awa, author and lawyer, President, Egyptian Association for
Dialogue and Culture
Dr Asghar Ali Engineer, Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism,
Mumbai, India
Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, President, Pontifical Council for
Inter-Religious Dialogue, Rome; member of the WCC advisory group on
Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue
Ms Josien Folbert, Interfaith Relations, Uniting Church of the Netherlands,
member of the WCC advisory group on Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue
Dr Vivian Fouad, Director, Coptic Centre for Social Studies, Egypt
Dr Panayotis G. Fouyas, Professor, Greece
Dr Hanan Ibrahim, Professor, Jordan
Rt. Rev. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Anglican Bishop of Kaduna, Nigeria
Alhaj Muhammad Sani Isah, Islamic Community Leader, Kaduna, Nigeria
Rev. Dr Riad Jarjour, General Secretary, Middle East Council of Churches,
Cyprus
Prof. Dr Muhammad Hashim Kamali, Professor, Faculty of Law, International
Islamic University in Malaysia
Father Rafiq Khoury, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Dr Oddbjorn Leirvik, Professor, Norway
Dr Philip Lewis, Professor, Bradford, United Kingdom
Rev. Dr Maake J. Masango, Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, WCC
Central Committee member, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Mr Samir Morcos, Arab Group on Christian-Muslim Relations, Egypt
Dr Nadia Mahmoud Mostafa, Director, Centre for Political Studies, Cairo
University, Egypt
Mr Ifet Mustafic, Office of the Grand Mufti, Islamic Community in Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Prof. Dr Jorgen S. Nielsen, member of the WCC advisory group on
Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue; Director, Centre for the Study of
Islam and Chistian-Muslim Relations, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Dr Tariq Ramadan, Professor, Author, Geneva, Switzerland
Rev. Dr Lissi Rasmussen, Islamic-Christian Study Centre, Copenhagen, Norway
Rev. Dr Jay Rock, Office for Interfaith Relations, National Council of
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Dr Walid Saif, Professor, Faculty of Arts, University of Jordan
Mr Mohammed Sammak, General Secretary, National Committee for
Christian-Muslim Dialogue, Lebanon
Dr Sayyid M. Syeed, General Secretary, Islamic Society of North America
Dr Jumana Taha, Author, Syria
Rev. Dr Daniel Thigarajah, Executive Secretary, Christian Conference of Asia,
Hong Kong
Rev. Margaret Orr Thomas, member of the WCC advisory group on Inter-Religious
Relations and Dialogue, Interfaith Relations, United Presbyterian Church, USA

For further information and to schedule interviews, please contact the WCC
Media Relations Office, tel: +41 (0) 22 791 64 21

**********

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.

World Council of Churches
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