wfn.org | WCC - ORTHODOX WOMEN SEEK "THEOLOGY OF HEALING"

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> ORTHODOX WOMEN SEEK "THEOLOGY OF HEALING"

> For immediate release: 15 July 2010

The need for a "theology of healing" was the central theme of a  recent
international encounter between Orthodox women and Christians of  both
sexes from other traditions.

Female leadership in the life of the church ? be it in the  area of
worship, education, administration or social care ? should  not be
"understood as seeking power and prestige but as a deeper commitment  to
love and service that responds to the sacrificing love of Christ"  stated
the women and men who took part in the 8-12 July meeting at the  St Vlash
Theological Academy in Albania.

The participants suggested seeing the women's commitment as a "healing  to
all suffering people, particularly the abused, the violated, the  victims
of poverty and other marginalized people among which women and children
are the most vulnerable and highest numbers".

A theology of healing rests on the fact that "healing is a gift  from the
incarnate, crucified and risen Lord to all creation". This healing  "is
expressed in a concrete way daily according to the needs of the  social
context in which the Christian communities struggle".

Thus, women and men in the church need to commit themselves "to  be agents
of the resurrected Lord and instruments of healing in a broken and  needy
world".

Twenty-three Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Protestant and  Pentecostal
men and women from Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North and  South
America attended the meeting, which was hosted by the Orthodox
Autocephalous Church of Albania (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=718275fabf6b5bfcf568 ).

The meeting was a follow up on a series of inter-Orthodox women's
consultations on the role of women in the church that had started  in
1976.

Statement by the participants of the meeting (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=f946bb499b2515710013 )

WCC activities for Women in Church and Society (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=37bf0eddcba13fec5fe9 )

WCC press release on the inter-Orthodox women's consultation in  Greece,
2008 (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=a8939f2c44ef7e43025e
)

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 Olav Fykse  Tveit,  from
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.