In a special greeting to the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly, Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, presiding bishop of the Church of Norway an

“It is a miracle that we all are able to gather here. Knowing how much work it is behind such an event, I will particularly commend all staff members and all involved in the preparations in so many ways that we are here,” he said. “The world is already deeply into challenges that humanity has not seen before, through climate change and all its effects on the whole world.”
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Pope Francis will travel to Geneva on June 21st to mark the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches. The announcement was made on Friday at a press conference in the Vatican by the WCC General Secretary, Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit and by Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The WCC was founded in 1948 with a membership of 147 Christian Churches, largely in Europe and North America. Today it brings together 348 members in countries across the globe, including most of the world’s Orthodox, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches.

Since 1965 the Catholic Church has worked closely together with the WCC through a Joint Working Group, as well as through participation in specific commissions or practical initiatives.
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A worship service on 30 August at the Pentecostal Cathedral of Curico, Chile, featured participation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and the WCC president for Latin America and the Caribbean Rev. Gloria Ulloa. Christian unity and ecumenical aspirations remained in focus at the service attended by more than 1,300 people.

Bishop Luis Ulises Muñoz Moraga, head of the Pentecostal Church of Chile, a member church of the WCC, said there is “no other way” for their church but the one that leads to Christian unity. “Despite occasional internal tensions around the question of churches’ engagement in ecumenical movement, the commitment to be part of the global fellowship as an expression of faith prevails,” he said.

The Pentecostal Church of Chile joined the WCC as a member in 1961.

The WCC general secretary delivered a sermon at the service, preaching from Romans 15:13. “We pray together so that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,” he said.

“Those who have hope have power to live and to participate in transformation of life, so that others can live with hope. Your church, Pentecostal Church of Chile, is a remarkable example of this truth, in the past decades under dictatorship as well as today,” said Tveit.
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A message focusing on the theme “Ora et labora”, meaning “pray and work”, was shared by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, at the 75th anniversary of the Taizé Community, commemorating the life of the community’s founder Brother Roger.

Tveit addressed the event titled “New Solidarity”, held on 16 August in Burgundy, France.

Founded in 1940, Taizé is an ecumenical monastic order centred in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, France, which brings together young people from around the world for reflection, prayer and community living.

The WCC general secretary called the anniversary commemoration a “poignant moment”: “Taizé is a village, it is a religious community, but more than that it is a spiritual home – a precious station on life’s journey and a meeting point with others together on the way,” said Tveit.
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Last month, Rome was the venue of the 50-year anniversary of the Joint Working Group (JWG) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). Established in 1965, as a consequence of the pro-ecumenical Second Vatican Council, the JWG met in the Italian capital June 22–24 to begin its 10th round of ecumenical conversations.

Expressing gratitude for the “new momentum in collective efforts to manifest our common faith in God, the creator, and our commitment to common service,” WCC general secretary Olav Fykse Tveit addressed RCC leaders at a June 23 ceremony in the ecumenical Centro Pro Unione.

His remarks were summarized in a WCC media release. “The unity agenda remains at the heart of all our efforts for common witness and contributions to ensure more justice and peace for people and creation,” said Tveit. “We are grateful and even proud of 50 years as a working group between these great major ecumenical instruments in the world, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches.”
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The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) begins at the end of October and promises to be one of the most diverse gathering of Christians in the world.

The assembly will be an opportunity for renewing the worldwide ecumenical movement – infusing it with honesty, humility and hope, according to the WCC general secretary.

As to why this is the case, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary, and a Lutheran pastor from the Church of Norway says, it is “through humility, honesty and hope that we can live together as humanity and a Church in a world, where justice and peace are fundamental initiatives and not merely words.”

The theme of the WCC assembly is a prayer “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.

The assembly will take place from 30 October to 8 November in Busan, Republic of Korea.

It will bring around 3,000 participants from Asia, Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East, North America and Latin America, including a large number of young people and several thousand Korean Christians.
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The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, on 3 June spoke to a United Nations conference in Geneva, where he addressed “the role of religion in the search for justice and peace.”

The conference at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, was called by UN Geneva director general Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in search of “a comprehensive framework” or new paradigm for UN work with its partners in the areas of global economy, ecology, education, health, security, and governance.

Calling for “an open, proper, critical and constructive reflection on the role of religion in our work for justice and peace and in our local and global life together,” Tveit urged the international community to grapple more deeply with religion. “It must go beyond discussions about ‘misuse’ of religion,” he said.

“It must also include a self-critical reflection on what our religions are teaching and representing today.”
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“Christian unity is an intrinsic dimension of God’s grace to us. It belongs to our faith, as we also confess it together in the creeds of the early church. To belong to Christ means to belong to the body of Christ, the church,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). He was referring to the covenanting process of five church denominations in Wales.
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There’s nothing more Catholic than ecumenism, nothing more Christian than unity, nothing more urgent than the need to heal divisions in the body of Christ, but none of it will happen based on resentments, fears and identity politics, the head of the World Council of Churches told a couple hundred people in Toronto March 14.

On his first official visit to Canada, Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit laid out challenges to ecumenism which he said oppose the Christian mandate to fulfill the Lord’s Prayer — “Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.”

“We are forced to ask whether we are seeking a consensus for the sake of our own institution, for our tradition, for our own group,” said Tveit. “Or if we are seeking a consensus that is giving space for the other, for the wholeness of God’s Church and God’s creation.”
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“Unity” belongs to the concepts that should be constantly discussed. Life is changing, also the life of the churches and their life together. So are their understanding of unity, their challenges to unity and their contributions to it.

Images can stimulate our reflections, without saying everything or being exclusive, they can nurture our imagination and our ability to be creative. Images from nature can give us a sense of reality, and a deeper sense of how we are a part of a living reality. I have been reflecting on an image, actually a photo, that give me some new insights, deepening my reflections on this topic that I have been discussing and striving for during the last 20 years of study and work. The photo is of some lichen, growing in a circle, across the deep crevice in the rock on which they grow. It seems to be challenged by the split in the rock, but nevertheless grows across it. This striking image has encouraged me to look at unity as something of a double reality. It is growing life, yet still making a structure. It belongs to the essential nature of this lichen to grow in circles, to become part of a unity. I am told by my dear colleague from Tanzania that the same is true for banana trees, they also grow like families in circles. The photo taken just outside our small summer house at the coast of Norway last summer, is from a bare rock next to the sea on a small island, out in the big sea that unites Norway with the continent of Europe and further more with the whole globe. I wonder what images in Canadian nature might inspire you to these kinds of reflections.

Thus, I believe that «Unity» is a concept that requires complementary perspectives. I have brought my reflections together in 10 pairs of perspectives, describing unity, to offer you here for your consideration today.
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