Aram I and Samuel Kobia underscore achievements in the WCC Central Committee Meeting

Fernando Oshige, GENEVA, Suiza, February 22, 2005

The moderator of the World Council of Churches  (WCC) Central Committee Aram I underscored that Taxi Heathrow Airport one of the principal fruits of the meeting was the approval of consensus as a means to make decisions, which will make it possible to reactivate the presence of the Orthodox in the life of the ecumenical body.

WCC Secretary General, Samuel Kobia underlined that approving the consensus method, as opposed to a voting method or approval by majority, marks a change in institutional culture.

After 50 years (the WCC was created in 1948), the Churches have left parliamentary methods.  A change in the institutional culture is not common in an organization that has been in place for so many years, he said.

During this session of the Central Committee, elected at the WCC Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1998, participants agreed to continue the activity of the Permanent Commission on Consensus and Collaboration among Orthodox and Protestants and to continue dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church and other Pentecostal Churches.

A new Central Committee, the WCC’s governing body between Assemblies, will be elected at the next Assembly, planned for February 2006 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The 150 members of the Central Committee, meeting in Geneva from February 15 – 22 also support talks to organize a Global Christian Forum, in which the WCC, Catholic Churches, Evangelical, Orthodox, Protestant and Pentecostal Churches would participate.

The aim of the forum is to facilitate dialogue about Church unity and the need for a common testimony.

The adoption of consensus and the agreement to convert the Special Dialogue Committee between Orthodox and the WCC in a Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration, are concrete steps to maintain and strengthen the permanence of Orthodox Churches in the WCC.

In the months prior to the Harare Assembly, the relationship between the Orthodox Churches and the WCC had turned critical, to the point where these Churches had decided to reduce their delegations and two Orthodox Churches, that of Georgia in 1997 and Bulgaria in 1998, had officially pulled out of the international body.

Orthodox Churches demanded a “radical restructuring of the Council” and a decision making method that would go beyond simple voting as, given their numbers, some decision were adopted overlooking their opinions.

 The Assembly approved the constitution of a special commission, made up of 50 percent Orthodox representatives and 50 percent designed by the WCC Executive Committee.

That Commission, during the 2003 Central Committee meeting formulated the proposal that decisions should be made by consensus and not following traditional parliamentary norms. This decision was not exempt from criticism and one of the strongest opponents, German Bishop Margot Kaessman, resigned from the Central Committee when she did not agree with the measure.

Kobia emphasized the conversations he has held with Pentecostal leaders during his recent visit to Latin America and said that a Pentecostal representation would be present in the IX General Assembly in Brazil. In this country there has been a significant growth of Evangelical Churches and official statistics speak of 26 million Evangelicals, the majority linked to Pentecostal, Charismatic and NeoPentecostal Churches.

During a final press conference, Kobia emphasized the decision of the British government to impel programs to overcome poverty in Africa, using the Churches as vehicles as opposed to governments. He indicated that the Churches have constructed a vast network and have reached the neediest sectors.