wfn.org | WCC NEWS: WCC to attend Madrid interfaith conference

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World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 15/07/2008 15:01:22

>WCC TO ATTEND MADRID INTERFAITH CONFERENCE

World Council of Churches (WCC) representatives will participate at the  16-18 July international interfaith conference convened in Madrid by the  Muslim World League following an initiative by Saudi Arabia's King  Abdullah.

The WCC will be represented by one of its presidents, Patriarch Abune  Paulos, head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and by Metropolitan  Emmanuel(Adamakis) of France, from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of  Constantinople.

Also attending the conference will be Lebanese Minister of Culture Dr  Tarek Mitri, a former WCC staff and a member of the Greek Orthodox  Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East, as well as the WCC's Director of  Inter-religious dialogue and cooperation, Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana.

Organized by the Muslim World League at the initiative of Saudi Arabia's  King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the three-day long "International Conference  for Dialogue" is expected to gather some 200 participants representing  Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism.

Islam is the official state religion of Saudi Arabia, while non-Muslim  religious services and symbols are banned within the kingdom's territory.

>Media contact in Madrid: +41-76-230-8669

WCC work on interreligious dialogue and cooperation
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=2940

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

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness  and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of  churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,  Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million  Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman  Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from  the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.