wfn.org | Iraq crisis: WCC presents church leaders' declaration to UN Security Council

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Update 03-10
For Immediate Use
13 March 2003

Iraq crisis: WCC presents church leaders' declaration to UN Security Council 

cf. Press update, Up-03-02 of 5 February 2003
cf. Press update, Up-03-03 of 6 February 2003
cf. Press release, PR-03-10 of 14 February 2003
cf. Press update, Up-03-05 of 21 February 2003

A declaration opposing military action against Iraq and signed by church
leaders from Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle
East and the Pacific, was delivered yesterday to members of the United
Nations (UN) Security Council by the World Council of Churches (WCC). The
declaration is signed by over 100 church leaders, including the WCC general
secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser and the general secretaries of the six
regional ecumenical organizations (REOs). 

The signatures were gathered in response to an urgent appeal by the WCC and
the REOs over the past few days. More signatures are being collected, and an
updated list will be sent to UN Security Council members at the end of the
week.

The church leaders "express their continued opposition to a war against Iraq,
and offer a joint appeal for peace" says a letter to the UN ambassadors by
Peter Weiderud, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on
International Affairs. 

The cover letter calls on the Security Council to uphold the principles of
the UN Charter "by resisting pressures to join in pre-emptive military
strikes against a sovereign state", and encourages the search for
non-military solutions.  Weiderud notes that the church  leaders also call on
the Government of Iraq "to comply with binding UN Security Council
Resolutions and cooperate fully with UN weapons inspectors".

In other WCC advocacy efforts, WCC international affairs staff met last week
with representatives of Mexico, Chile, Cameroon, Guinea, Angola and Pakistan
at their diplomatic missions in Geneva. Weiderud notes that "At this moment,
these countries are playing a critical role in defending the principles of
the UN Charter and resisting the pressure to legitimate pre-emptive military
attack." He said that the WCC delegations are asking that these countries
press for more time for weapons inspections, and reject calls to go to war.  
     

The WCC has placed the church leaders' declaration on the web with a sign-up
form so that others can indicated their support for the advocacy work of the
churches seeking non-military solutions to the crisis.

The declaration, signatures and form for support is found at:

English: http://www2.wcc-coe.org/signatures.nsf/iraq-e 
French: http://www2.wcc-coe.org/signatures.nsf/iraq-f 
German: http://www2.wcc-coe.org/signatures.nsf/iraq-g 
Spanish: http://www2.wcc-coe.org/signatures.nsf/iraq-s 

For further information, please contact the Media Relations Office, 
tel: +41 (0)22 791 64 21 / 61 53

**********
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
Media Relations Office
Tel: (41 22) 791 6153 / 791 6421
Fax: (41 22) 798 1346
E-mail: media@wcc-coe.org 
Web: www.wcc-coe.org 

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