The 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches begins its work

On 14 February 2006, the 9^th Assembly of the World Council of Churches began its work in Porto Alegre, Brazil, addressing the theme ‘God, in your grace transform the world’.

Taking part in the Assembly will be a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria. The delegation includes 21 clergymen and laymen from Russia, other countries of the CIS and Baltic countries, dioceses and parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in the far abroad. Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations will visit the Assembly as a guest of honour.

• Participants in the World Council of Churches to work out a common position on new technologies affecting personal freedom
• Orthodox participants in the WCC Assembly celebrated Divine Liturgy in the Russian parish
• Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad answers the questions of journalists accredited for the 9th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Portu-Alegri
• The 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches begins its work