wfn.org | LWI 2009-006 LWF Seeks Further Common Ecumenical Action with Russian Orthodox

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION  LWI News online: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html

LWF Seeks Further Common Ecumenical Action with Russian Orthodox General Secretary Noko Congratulates New Patriarch Kirill

GENEVA, 30 January 2009 (LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) hopes  for a further nurturing of ecumenical relations with the Russian Orthodox  Church, as its newly elected leader His Holiness Patriarch Kirill assumes  office on 2 February.

In a letter congratulating Kirill on his upcoming consecration as  Patriarch, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko expresses the LWF's  eagerness to continue to work together with the Russian Orthodox Church  "toward better mutual understanding and common action to address the needs  of our hurting world."

Noko points out that one of the most significant changes in the Christian  landscape over the last 20 years had been the public reemergence of strong  voices from the churches in countries of the former Soviet Union. He  singles out the reunification that Kirill's predecessor, Patriarch Alexei  II celebrated with the church outside Russia, as a new context for fresh  possibilities for Christian work on reconciliation.

The general secretary underscores Kirill's standing in the venerable  traditions of faithfulness in the Russian Orthodox Church, his extensive  knowledge of other branches of the Christian family, and longstanding  commitment to ecumenical activity. "You are thus uniquely placed to help  the entire Church of Christ to learn from the witness of the Russian  Orthodox Church and to live in growing relationship with it," adds the  general secretary.

The Local Church Council of the Russian Orthodox elected 62-year-old  Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad on 27 January in Moscow.  He succeeds Patriarch Alexei II who had led the church from 1990 until his  death on 5 December at the age of 79. (278 words)

*        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran  tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140  member churches in 79 countries all over the world, with a total membership  of over 68.3 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in  areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations,  theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the  various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is  located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless  specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or  opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an  article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced  with acknowledgment.]

>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
>P. O. Box 2100 CH-1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland

>Tel.: +41/22-791 63 69 Fax: +41/22-791 66 30
>E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org