PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
HIS GRACE BISHOP NAREG ATTENDS THE SEARCH COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE WORLD
COUNCIL OF CHURCHES (WCC)
>From April 1-4 2009, the Search Committee of the WCC met on the Island of
Crete. His Grace Bishop Nareg, Director of Ecumenical Relations of the
Catholicosate of The Holy See of Cilica, and a member of the Central
Committee of the WCC, is one of the members of the Committee. The task of
the Committee is to recommend candidates for the Position of General
Secretary to the Executive Committee.
Members of the Committee heard from member churches and ecumenical bodies
regarding their expectations from a WCC General Secretary; they received an
evaluation report from the Presidents and the staff on the role of the
General Secretary, and screened new applications. In the end of their
deliberations, they prepared a report for the Executive Committee meeting in
September 2009. The new General Secretary is expected to take office on
January 1 2009.
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AN EXPERTS’ GROUP MEETS TO CONTINUE ECUMENICAL CONVERSATION ON CHRISTIAN
SELF-UNDERSTANDING IN RELATION TO ISLAM
29 March to 1 April a group of experts from WCC member churches and
confessional families, scholars and educators met at the Ecumenical
Institute Bossey, near Geneva. Mrs. Teny Pirri-Simonian was invited to join
the group as representative of the Armenian Orthodox Church Catholicosate of
Cilicia.
The purpose of the meeting to study the listeners’ report prepared at an
earlier meeting held at Chavannes de Bogis near Geneva in October 2008. The
experts also discussed the keynote speech of His Holiness Aram I entitled
"Living As A Community With Islam – Concerns, Challenges And Promises, and
other papers presented at the first meeting The participants agreed that
it was not possible to speak with one Christian voice, yet it was important
to prepare together any Christian-Muslim dialogue. They also emphasized the
political context in which such dialogues happen, and the role of power. At
the end of the meeting they proposed a framework to be discussed by WCC
Programme staff and the Secretaries of Christian World Communions.
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THE ARMENIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ATTENDS THE MEETING OF THE COMMISSION ON
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (CCIA) OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
The Commission on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches met
15-20 March 2009 in the Carribbean Islands. Commissioner Mrs. Vana Der
Ohannessian represented the Catholicosate of Cilicia.
The global economic crisis and the response of the ecumenical movement were
at the center of CCIA’s discussions. The commissioners also discussed
matters of political urgency and interreligious issues affecting the lives
of the churches. The geographic context of the meeting also provided the
opportunity for the commissioners to discover the vibrant Christian churches
in the region.
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THE ASSEMBLY DISCERNMENT COMMITTEE (ADC) OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
PREPARES ITS REPORT TO THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
The ADC met for the second time in Dortweil near Frankfurt in Germany 16-19
March 2009. Mrs. Teny Pirri-Simonian attended the meeting on behalf of Dr.
Nora Bayrakdarian, a member of the WCC Central Committee.
The mandate of the group was to propose to the Central Committee new models
for an expanded Assembly. The ADC affirmed that it was possible to create
space for greater participation and involvement from those ecumenical actors
that are already in relationship with the WCC such as, Christian World
Communions (CWCs), Regional Ecumenical Organizations (REOs), National
council of Churches (NCCs), and other ecumenical partners. They also
underlined the importance of preserving the integrity and uniqueness of the
WCC as a fellowship of churches, as well as the ethos and method of
consensus. In their report to the Central Committee in September 2009, they
said that such an Assembly would become meaningful only when a new matrix of
relationships is designed. ADC hoped that the new Assembly Planning
Committee would plan differently than earlier Assemblies.