The Assembly in media

ENI. The appeals for visible church unity made at the recent World Council of Churches assembly in Brazil were not new, but the longtime obstacles remain a sore point for many—especially limits on celebrating communion in each other's churches and the lack of a common date for Easter.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (UMNS) - A united church helped defeat apartheid in South Africa, former Archbishop Desmond Tutu reminded participants at the World Council of Churches' 9th Assembly.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (UMNS) - Hosting the World Council of Churches' 9th Assembly is a historic moment for Methodists and other Christians in Brazil, according to one of the nation's Methodist bishops.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (2/21/06) — A united church is not optional, said the former Anglican archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu, on Monday to the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, Feb. 20 (Reuters) — Changes in church practices that are seen as liberal, such as allowing women to serve in the clergy and permitting same-sex marriages, are creating a widening gulf within world Christianity, a leading Russian Orthodox bishop said Monday.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (2/21/06) — The Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) has been overshadowed by "brutal acts of international terrorism and the reactions to it," says the mid-term report of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on one of its primary program initiatives.

[Episcopal News Service] After five days at the Ninth Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Bishop Christopher Epting, deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations for the Episcopal Church shares some reflections, organized around the theme of the international, Christian gathering:

God, in your Grace, Transform the World;

The first six days of the World Council of Churches Ninth Assembly were devoted to presenting the issues the assembly is facing, as well as ecumenical conversations, committee work, Bible study, and prayers and worship.

Churches around the world are being urged to push their governments to pursue the unequivocal elimination of nuclear weapons.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (CNS) -- Catholic presence at the Ninth General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in mid-February was a daily and visible dimension of the international gathering.