WCC hears stories of violence, peace in DOV report

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.

WCC delegates at the 9th Assembly were briefed on the progress of the DOV in a Saturday afternoon plenary. An increasing concern for security in individual as well as national and global decisions "seems to be gaining the upper hand," says the report. Religion is being used to legitimize violent conflict around the world. And the "noticeable arms proliferation and a growth in the general militarization of the world" has followed a period of actual disarmament among nations. (...)