World Council of Churches leaders spoke of unity and hope during the hour-long wrap-up press conference for the 11th Assembly Thursday, which can be viewed here.
The World Council of Churches Central Committee on Thursday elected Bishop Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria as its new moderator.
Amidst the wrap-up of the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches Thursday, Dr. Dianna Wright took the time to reflect on the gathering in Karlsruhe, Germany, of 352 member churches.
Tuesday’s press conference put on by the World Council of Churches meeting in its 11th Assembly featured three leaders working hard at affirming justice and human dignity.
Asked by a journalist about young adults being underrepresented at the World Council of Churches’ 11th Assembly, Ruth Mathen, delegate of the Melankara Orthodox Syrian Church, said a quick look at the dais would speak against that argument.
The World Council of Churches’ 11th Assembly elected eight new presidents, six regional and two from Orthodox churches, in a vote Monday with 574 delegates present.
During each of her nearly 20 years working for the United Nations, Dr. Azza Karam, now secretary general for the organization Religions for Peace, would take in “the awe-inspiring moment” along with prime ministers and presidents as the UN General Assembly got underway each year.
In preparation for the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Agnes Abuom, Moderator of the WCC Central Committee, couldn’t help but hearken back to the 10th Assembly, held in 2013 in Busan in the Republic of Korea.
“For more than three centuries, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union has tried to erase the uniqueness of Ukrainian people,” Archbishop Yevstratiy of Chernihiv and Nizhyn from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine said Friday during a World Council of Churches plenary session. “But we are successfully fighting for our freedom, for our independent future.”
