At the 8th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC)

AT THE 8TH ASSEMBLY OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

The 8th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) was held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from December 3 to 14, 1998, on the theme ‘Turn to God – Rejoice in Hope’. The jubilee Assembly of the international Christian organization, which marked its 50th anniversary, gathered some 5000 participants, including 966 delegates who represented the Orthodox Churches and over 300 Protestant denominations which comprise the WCC. The delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church was headed by Hieromonk Hilarion Alfeyev, secretary for interChristian affairs of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Assembly, which is traditionally convened once in 7-8 years, has summed up the programmatic activities of the WCC for the last period and outlined priorities for future work.

Moderator of the WCC Central Committee Catholicos Aram I of Cilicia and the WCC General Secretary Dr.Konrad Raiser in their reports touched upon a wide specter of problems connected with the present situation in the ecumenical movement, the role of the Orthodox Church in the WCC and possibilities of alternate forms of participation of churches in the life of Christian community. Special attention was attached to ‘Common Understanding and Vision’. The Assembly issued statements and resolutions on several public issues, such the status of Jerusalem, the situation in Sudan, the rights of children (in particular, conscription of children to the Army), human rights, globalization, and cancellation of foreign debts of the developing countries.

Great attention was paid to the situation of the Christian Churches in Africa and to the role which the WCC played in the struggle against racism and apartheid. Speaking at the Assembly were President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and President Nelson Mandela of the South African Republic.

The Assembly paid a special attention to the participation of the Orthodox Churches in the work of the WCC. The Orthodox Churches presented to the Assembly the document of the Inter-Orthodox meeting in Thessaloniki (April 29-May 2, 1998) as an agreed pan-orthodox position concerning the Council. The delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, following the recommendations of the Inter-Orthodox meeting, abstained from voting and prayers at the Assembly.

The Assembly resolved to set up a Special commission of the World Council of Churches and representatives of the Orthodox Churches to work out new structural forms of the WCC which would be acceptable to the Orthodox and would reflect their ecclesiastical self-understanding.

Delegates of the Assembly elected Presidents of the Council and the governing body of the WCC – the Central Committee. Catholicos Aram I of Cilicia was reelected its Moderator.

Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church elected to the Central Committee stated at its first session that following the recommendations of the Thessaloniki meeting they suspend their participation in the work of the Central Committee and will attend its sessions only as observers. The mandate of their participation will be limited and conditional on the results of the Special commission’s work.