News

The World Council of Churches Assembly, meeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil, today was told that "God is at work in Latin America, bringing joy, hope and vitality to the people, even in the midst of great adversity.

Leading theologians have addressed the World Council of Churches 9th Assembly on the theme of church unity. Scholars from the Protestant, Oriental Orthodox and Catholic traditions offered reflective comments on the document "Called To Be the One Church" in a session entitled "Church Unity ? Claiming a Common Future".

"A united church is no optional extra," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu in an impassioned speech to the World Council of Churches 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre. Rather, he said, it is "indispensable for the salvation of God's world".

Latin American culture received the spotlight - literally and figuratively - at the 9th Assembly Sunday evening. Delegates and others attending the event enjoyed a sampling of the region's music, dance, and traditions in a "grand cultural event".

Representatives of the US Conference for the World Council of Churches (WCC) addressed a message to the WCC's 9th Assembly on 18 February saying that the US-led Iraq war was a "mistake", and apologized to the ecumenical community for failing to raise a prophetic voice to prevent it.

Christians in a world of plural convictions are in a place which is "both promising and deeply risky", according to the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

It's been five years since the World Council of Churches launched its Decade to Overcome Violence. Participants at the 9th Assembly paused Saturday to mark that midpoint, reviewing what has occurred so far and looking to what can yet come.

Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva, president of Brazil, received an enthusiastic reception Friday as he addressed the delegate body of the World Council of Churches' 9th Assembly. The president thanked the WCC for its leadership in "the quest for a world at peace".

The president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity has stressed the "irreversible" commitment of the Roman Catholic Church to ecumenism.

Water may be the earth's most precious resource, and the supply of it is rapidly shrinking. The Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) is bringing this warning to the 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre in a host of different ways.