------------------------ Start of message from list: pov-l ----> Programme to Overcome Violence The Executive and Central Committees of the World Council of Churches have been meeting since last Tuesday, August 24, 1999. Consisting of delegates from member churches around the world, one of their main tasks is to make decisions about what the main foci of the Council will be for the coming years, and discuss how that might best be carried out. We are very pleased that planning for the Decade to Overcome Violence is seen as a priority for this Central Commitee. Please find following several Media Releases of WCC on overcoming violence, for your information. ***** CENTRAL COMMITTEENo. 02 EMBARGOED AGAINST DELIVERY CHURCHES SHOULD FOCUS ON OVERCOMING *CULTURE OF VIOLENCE,* SAYS WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES GENERAL SECRETARY Churches around the world should consider spending the first decade of the next century working to overcome the world ¢s *generalized culture of violence,* and acknowledge that their own theological traditions have helped shape the world ¢s current attitudes, said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser. Dr Raiser, in a report to the WCC¢s Central Committee here August 26, said *the commitment to overcome violence and build a culture of peace may indeed be the prophetic witness which the churches have to render at a time when the struggles for power and resources, identity or sheer survival* result in conflict between various groups, including communities of faith. When the WCC held its assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, last December, a proposal suggested that the international church organisation proclaim the years 2001-2010 *An Ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence.* *Violence in the homes and on the streets, between ethnic and religious groups, within and between nations and societies, is the most powerful force destroying human community life,* said the German theologian who has headed the WCC since 1992. The concern is not a new one for the WCC, Raiser said. Since the WCC¢s response in 1968 to Dr Martin Luther King¢s call for non-violence in the search for social justice, and in its own Programme to Combat Racism of the 1970s, the organization of Protestant and Orthodox churches has been dealing with the issue. Dr Raiser cited a resolution from the WCC¢s 1993 assembly in Vancouver, Canada, which noted that *peace is not just the absence of war*. Peace cannot be built upon the foundations of injustice, the Vancouver statement said, but must be based on *justice for and within all the nations, and respect for the God-given humanity and dignity of every person.* Dealing with the issue of violence may require new times of moral and ethical reflection, Raiser said. *We are still deeply conditioned by thinking in the categories of the cold war, based on the clear identification of an enemy and the confrontation of absolute good and evil,* he said. Today¢s violence, he added, *cannot be overcome by imposing superior power and enforcing obedience and submission, since violence is itself an expression of the war logic of power.* 90830.02.txt[5/3/2017 2:28:33 PM] In noting that the churches themselves may have contributed to the climate of violence, Raiser said the WCC¢s previous Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women brought the churches some *painful insights* about their own attitudes towards women. If there is serious reflection on violence in the world, Raiser said, churches will be obliged to *enter into a self-critical assessment of those theological, ecclesiological or cultural traditions which tend to justify violence in the name of defending order and enforcing obedience.* *It is my hope and prayer,* Raiser concluded, *that as an ecumenical community we will be able, through this decade, to render a faithful witness to the One who is our peace and who has broken down the dividing wall of hostility.* The WCC leader also said that the churches¢ concern for violence in the first decade of the next century would parallel other efforts in government and the wider society. Evaluating the WCC¢s assembly in Zimbabwe last December, the general secretary told the Central Committee that the overall assessment of the international meeting was *quite positive*. Some, he said, felt that issues were dodged, or that the Assembly focussed too much on internal organization. Referring to the document *Common Understanding and Vision,* Raiser said the WCC was affirmed as a *fellowship of churches*, but that intense discussion continued on the meaning of ecumenical endeavour. The discussions might mean, Raiser said, that the traditional assemblies of the 50-year-old WCC * held every seven years * might some day be replaced with a *new form of expressing and fostering the bonds of ecumenical fellowship.* The WCC Central Committee meeting continues here until September 3. * Contact: Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer Tel: (+41.22) 791.61.53 Mobile: (+41) 79. 284. 52.12 ***** CENTRAL COMMITTEENo. 3 WCC WOULD ¡REINFORCE AND ASSIST¢ PROGRAMMES IN MEMBER CHURCHES AND LOOK TO OTHER RELIGIONS FOR ANTI-VIOLENCE EFFORTS Though a decade of concern for violence in the world may not officially begin until 2001, existing programs of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its member churches are already preparing for it, said the Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the WCC, Thurday, 26 September. Dr Raiser stressed that the Decade to Overcome Violence would start with initiatives that have already taken place in member churches and *reinforce and assist them*. Dr Raiser said *this is not to be a program master-minded from Geneva,* referring to the headquarters city of the international organization. The WCC General Secretary also said, in response to a question at a news conference, that there would be an inter- religious component to the effort. He noted that other world-wide organizations such as the UN had been seeking contacts with a wide variety of religious leaders, and said that *religions need to overcome the stereotypes with which they have treated each other historically*. In the concern for world violence, Dr Raiser said, *We as Christians have to be humble and listen to the wisdom of eastern religions, especially Buddhism which has had much to say on peace and non-violence.* Dr. Raiser spoke during the WCC¢s Central Committee meeting here August 26-September 3 90830.02.txt[5/3/2017 2:28:33 PM] Referring to his evaluation of the WCC¢s Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, last December, Dr Raiser told reporters that the WCC and others were exploring whether a new *forum* of Christian organizations might contribute to the ecumenical movement. International Christian organizations, like the WCC, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) currently meet separately; but Dr Raiser suggested that it may be possible that the groups could meet together in parallel assemblies in the future. *This,* he said, *would make common discussions possible.* Contact: Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer Tel: (+41.22) 791.61.53 Mobile: (+41) 79. 284. 52.12 ------------------------ End of message from list: pov-l ----> 90830.02.txt[5/3/2017 2:28:33 PM] ------------------------ Start of message from list: pov-l ----> CENTRAL COMMITTEENo. 7 UN OFFICIAL ASKS CHURCHES TO JOIN CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM THE SCOURGE OF WAR The United Nations secretary-general*s special representative for Children and Armed Conflict has asked the World Council of Churches (WCC) to put its moral weight behind the recently-passed Security Council Resolution aimed at saving children from the scourge of war. *We are witnessing unspeakable abominations against children,* said Dr. Olara A. Otunnu, addressing the WCC Central Committee in Geneva on Aug. 28. *Over the last decade alone two million children were killed in conflict, one million made orphans, six million injured or permanently disabled, and 10 million left with psychological problems,* he said. About 20 million children are displaced within their own country or have become refugees, according to the UN official. His plea came just three days after the Security Council*s passage of Resolution 1261 dealing with the effects of warfare on children. Otunno called the Security Council Action *unprecedented* as the council normally deals with large geo-political issues rather than specific social problems. Otunnu said children were the *most innocent and blameless* victims of armed conflict and suffer disproportionately when wars break out. *Almost all the conflicts in the world today are civil wars,* he said, *fought among those who know each other very well and marked by widespread social breakdown and lawlessness.* He termed the problem a *moral and spiritual* failing because the enemy is *demonized,* and often defined in religious, racial, ethnic or regional terms. Traditional protections of civilians in combat have been set aside, he said, and *the village has now become the battlefield.* Otunnu said that in backing the UN resolution, the world*s churches should help in launching an era of energetically applying international standards such as the Geneva convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Support is also needed, he said, for traditional value systems that once provided an ethical basis for behavior. *The most damaging loss for a society to suffer is the collapse of its value system,* he said. *Today the moral center is no longer holding, and all have become fair game in a single-minded struggle for power.* Otunno said children should be made a *zone of peace.* He told the WCC Central Committee that warring parties must -- under threat of international sanctions -- be obilged to allow the distribution of relief aid, provide for *humanitarian ceasefires,* and agree not to use land mines or recruit children for combat.