WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES MEETING IN BRAZIL

VATICAN CITY, FEB 14, 2006 (VIS) - Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, is due to participate in the inaugural session of the ninth general assembly of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC). The meeting is being held at Porto Alegre, Brazil, from February 14 to 23 on the theme: "God in Your Grace, transform the world."

  A communique made public today indicates that the general assembly is the WCC's most important governing body and is held every seven years. It is expected that the Brazil meeting will be attended by 3,000 participants, including more than 700 official delegates representing the 340 churches and ecclesial communities affiliated to the WCC, organizations otherwise associated with the WCC, and non-affiliated churches.

  According to the program, each day will begin with a joint prayer and a small group of biblical reflection; this will be followed by three plenary sessions and a joint evening prayer. One of the assembly's main tasks will be to appoint the members of the new central committee which will oversee implementation of the WCC activities until the next assembly in 2013.

  Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will head the official Catholic delegation, made up of 18 members who will act as observers. These include representatives from the Roman Curia, episcopal conferences and lay movements, as well as religious superiors.

  The Catholic Church, the communique concludes, is not a member of the WCC, though it collaborates with the organization in various ways, particularly with its Faith and Constitution Commission which has the task of continuing the search for the unity of Christians by promoting common study and reflection on subjects over which division still exists, such as ecclesiology. The Joint Working Group, instituted in 1965, is the principal structure coordinating relations between the Catholic Church and the WCC.
CON-UC/WCC ASSEMBLY/BRAZIL                    VIS 20060214 (320)