 |
|
Brief reports about The World Council of Churches  Opening
service boycottedMonday, December 7, 1998 The Associated Press reported that the World Council of Churches began its 50th anniversary assembly December 3 with multicultural pomp and a worship service that Orthodox church delegates from Russia and Greece refused to attend. Delegations from the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches - angry about the increasingly liberal stand of the council's dominant Protestant denominations on homosexuality and other issues - boycotted the ceremony, the Associated Press said. Befitting one of the most variegated Christian gatherings ever held, the worshippers joined in chants and songs from Argentina, India, Jamaica, Mozambique, Nigeria, Russia, Sweden, Syria, Pakistan, Taiwan, the United States and the assembly's host nation of Zimbabwe. According to CNN, the 960 delegates at the assembly, which meets through December 14, come from 330 denominations on all continents, representing a constituency of 350 million to 450 million Christians. Slaughter in the Sudan Monday, December 7, 1998 The churches should intercede with the international community to stop the slaughter in Southern Sudan, a Roman Catholic bishop told the World Council of Churches, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday. The Right Rev. Paride Taban, Bishop of Toriti, Sudan, said: "Many friends of Sudan are very keen on relief work. Spending on relief alone is like fattening a cow for slaughter. How long can one be doing relief work without spending time, energy and resources on root causes? "The suffering people of Sudan hear that the great nations have imposed a no-fly zone on the Iraqi Government of Sadam Hussein to protect the Kurds in Northern Iraq. Our people ask, "Are we not worth human life to be protected from the Sudanese air force by the imposition of a no-fly zone from the 13th to the 14 parallels?" Growing rift noted Monday, December 7, 1998 In its coverage of the World Council of Churches, the British Broadcasting System said, "A growing rift between Orthodox and Protestant churches is threatening to overshadow the World Council of Churches conference in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. "The council which represents the largest ecumenical Christian body in the world only meets every seven years and is marking the 50th anniversary of its founding. However its future is in jeopardy with Orthodox churches threatening to withdraw, upset by a perceived liberal agenda. "The WCC chose Africa as the host for the meeting as a celebration of the vitality of Christianity and like the Roman Catholic Church - which remains outside the WCC - it sees the continent as the most fertile ground for evangelisation. "The choice of Zimbabwe as its host nation seems a more apt symbol of the state of the WCC; the economic and social unrest which has gripped the country mirrors to some extent the turmoil within the organisation." |
|
|
Recent reports on the World Council of Churches
and daily coverage of the 50th Jubilee assembly in Harare |
|
| News From Around the Church contents | |
| News Updates | |
|
Home,
· Archives,
·
The Presbyterian Layman, |
|
