wfn.org | WCC NEWS Cardinal Kasper & Catholicos Aram I in Geneva next

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

World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 09/11/2005

40 YEARS OF WCC-ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH COLLABORATION:
KASPER AND ARAM I TO ADDRESS THE RENEWAL OF ECUMENISM IN 21ST CENTURY

Forty years after they set out on an ecumenical journey together, the
World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity (PCPCU) are celebrating their joint anniversary with a
public event at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 17 November, and
reflecting on the renewal of ecumenism in the 21st century.

The public event begins at 16:00, and will be preceded by a press
conference (see below).

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will welcome guests and public
to the event, while the co-moderator of the Joint Working Group (JWG)
between the RCC and the WCC, Archbishop Mario Conti, will introduce the
two bodies' common journey of faith.

PCPCU president Walter Cardinal Kasper and WCC central committee moderator
Catholicos Aram I (Armenian Apostolic Church, See of Cilicia) will then
share their analysis and views on the role and mandate of the JWG and the
ways in which it can promote the renewal of ecumenism in the 21st century.

In his address, Kasper will spell out his vision of the new challenges
that the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council should address
together if they want to be more effective. In turn, Aram I will affirm
that collaboration in face of new challenges needs to move from reflection
to reception in local churches.

Formed in 1965, following the Second Vatican Council, the JWG is a
consultative body charged with initiating, evaluating and sustaining the
many forms of collaboration between its two parent bodies.

The JWG's contribution to ecumenism over the coming decades will also be
the focus of an 18-19 November consultation at the Bossey Ecumenical
Institute involving the JWG executive group and a few former JWG members.

> Press conference

Before the event, Cardinal Kasper and Catholicos Aram I will meet media
representatives at a press conference scheduled at 15:00. Journalists
planning to attend the press conference should contact the WCC media
relations office in advance (see contact details below).

Additional information on the work of the JWG between 1999-2005, as well
as collaborative efforts between the offices and programmes of the WCC and
the PCPCU over the same period are available on the WCC website at:
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/ecumenical/8thjointworkinggroup.pdf

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

Sign up for WCC press releases at
http://onlineservices.wcc-coe.org/pressnames.nsf

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, 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.