WCC positive about place Assembly will be held

Edelberto Behs, PORTO ALEGRE, Brasil, May 19, 2003

The decision to hold the February 2006 World Council of Churches IX General Assembly in Taxi Heathrow Airport Porto Alegre was a very good one, said WCC secretary general Konrad Raiser.

The conditions that the Pontifical Catholic University of Porto Alegre offer, where the Assembly is slated to be held, “are better than those we have had at other assemblies,” said Raiser at the end of a weeklong preparatory visit to Brazil.

Accompanied by WCC officials pastors Marilia Schüller and Sabine Udodesko, Raiser left Saturday night for Geneva, Switzerland, where the organization is based.

Interviewed by ALC, the WCC secretary general was positive about his visit. “There is a spirit of positive collaboration but there are also great expectations” in local Churches, he said.

The hope is that preparatory work for the Assembly will give new energy to the joint work of Churches.

The ecumenical situation in Brazil is very interesting, said Raiser, as it is the only country in Latin America where the Catholic Church participates in a Church Council: the National Council of Christians Churches of Brazil (CONIC).

As such, it will also be one of the hosts of the IX Assembly even though it is not a member of the WCC because it was CONIC that invited the WCC to hold the event in Brazil.

Regarding longer-term issues, Raiser said that he does not believe that we are in the midst of an “ecumenical winter” or facing a crisis in the international ecumenical movement.

He admitted, however, that the ecumenical dynamic is quieter than it was 10 or 15 years ago. “The ecumenical movement has never developed in a straight line,” said Raiser.

Among other things, he said that it will still not be possible for Christians from different Church families to walk together to the altar to receive the Holy Supper at the IX Assembly.

The WCC congregates historic Protestant Churches from different denominations and two branches of Orthodox Churches that are still reluctant when it comes to sharing communion. Raiser is convinced that these and other barriers will disappear one day, but not before 2006.

During the Assembly in Porto Alegre local Churches will hold worship and praise services. Those who are able to invite all Christians to partake in the Holy Supper will do so. Others will only offer communion to their own members.

Raiser will leave the position as WCC Secretary General shortly before his 66th birthday next January. However, he said it was necessary to begin preparations for the Assembly, to avoid overloading his successor.

Raiser said that there are several candidates for his replacement but that the nominations are not public.

Once he is retired Raiser will return to Germany with his wife. He said he would dedicate himself to doing things he enjoys and will teach at university part time. Prior to taking on the WCC position Raiser was a professor of Systematic Theology.