wfn.org | WCC News: GenSec to visit churches in Hong Kong, Australia,

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

World Council of Churches 7 Press Release
For immediate release - 01/07/2004 - pr-04-16

WCC General Secretary makes first visit to churches in Asia and
the Pacific

 On his first trip to the Asia and Pacific regions since taking
office, WCC
 general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will visit member
churches and
 ecumenical organizations in Hong Kong, Australia and Fiji from
5 to 15
 July. Kobia will also spend time with refugees, asylum-seekers
and
 indigenous communities in Australia, and focus on HIV/AIDS in
the Pacific.

 Hong Kong, 5-7 July

 On his arrival in Hong Kong, Kobia will meet church and
ecumenical leaders
 at a reception organized by the Christian Conference of Asia
(CCA).

 In the context of year-long celebrations of the Hong Kong
Christian
 Council's (HKCC) fiftieth anniversary, he will address youth
leaders on
 "The ecumenical movement and youth", and meet with HKCC staff
and
 leadership; a separate meeting with CCA leaders is also
scheduled.

 Kobia will be addressing the participants of a WCC-organized
international
 inter-religious consultation, and may meet with Hong Kong
Special
 Administrative Region chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.

 Australia, 8-11 July

 Kobia will visit the Immigration Reception and Processing
Centre in
 Baxter, and stay with an Aboriginal community in Port Augusta
before
 attending the 2004 triennial national forum of the National
Council of
 Churches in Australia (NCCA).

 At the forum, taking place in Adelaide, Kobia will speak on
"The global
 church - challenges and celebrations".  During his stay, he
will preach at
 the Anglican Cathedral and meet with the leaders of WCC member
churches in
 Australia.

 Fiji, 12-15 July

 In Fiji, Kobia will pay attention to the impact of HIV/AIDS in
the region
 in a presentation to a Pacific church leaders' consultation on
"Ecumenism
 in the twenty-first century and challenges for the Pacific
churches".

 Leaders from all eighteen WCC member churches in the Pacific as
well as
 Pacific Conference of Churches member churches and the national
councils
 of churches of the Pacific region will be present for this
event.

 Following the conference, Kobia will give a public lecture on
the WCC
 ninth assembly theme, "God, in your grace, transform the world"
at the
 Pacific Theological College.  He will also meet with church
officials,
 regional ecumenical organizations and people living with
HIV/AIDS in the
 region.  A courtesy call with President Ratu Josefa Iloilo is
also
 scheduled.

 Kobia will be accompanied in Hong Kong and Australia by WCC
Asia secretary
 Mathews George Chunakara, and in Fiji by Diakonia and
Solidarity team
 coordinator Elizabeth Ferris and Pacific secretary Fe'iloakitau
Kaho Tevi.

 Press appointments and contacts

 Hong Kong
 Contact: Judy Chan, +852 2368 7123, judychan@hkcc.org.hk 

 Australia
 Press Conference in Adelaide
 Saturday, 10.07.2004, 14.00-15.00
 Contact: Nick Kerr, +61 41 343 1244, nick@sa.uca.org.au 

 Fiji
 Contact: Fe'iloakitau Kaho Tevi, +679 331 7509, +679 992 5935
(Mobile),
 fkt@wcc-coe.org 

 Host organizations

 Hong Kong Christian Council
 http://www.hkcc.org.hk/eng/hkcc.html 

 Christian Conference of Asia
 http://www.cca.org.hk/ 

 National Council of Churches in Australia
 http://www.ncca.org.au/ 

 Pacific Conference of Churches
 http://www.pacificforum.com/pcc/ 

For more information contact:
	 Media Relations Office: tel: (+41 22) 791 64 21 /  61
53
	 e-mail:media@wcc-coe.org - http://www.wcc-coe.org 

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now
342, in more
than 120 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 Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in
Kenya.