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Sam Kobia visits CCA Centre
Sam Kobia with Ahn Jae Woong at the CCA Centre Highlights priority areas for WCC in coming years Dr Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has said that overcoming violence will be an important area of work for the organisation in the coming years. The Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV), proclaimed at the WCC assembly in Harare in 1998 and officially inaugurated in 2001, will be one of the highest priorities for the WCC, he told a meeting at the Christian Conference of Asia Centre on 7 July. Dr Ahn Jae Woong, general secretary of the CCA presided over the meeting. Sam Kobia told the meeting that the next WCC general assembly in February 2006 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, would reflect more on this and provide advice and wisdom on the issue. Violence is very much part of the humanity. There is a feeling that violence is almost inevitable. There is sanctioned violence. As Christian church we have even accepted just wars. There is so much violence that is acceptable. �Should this be the case for all times and in the future?� he asked. There is so much violence at the micro level like in families, communities and cities, and at national and international level. It is a complex issue, he said, and asked the question, �Where do we come in as a church?� �We are dealing with an issue that is likely to influence the lives and relationships of nations and people.� he told the staff of the CCA, Documentation for Action Groups in Asia and Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism. He said that the DOV focus on Asia in 2005 will give the WCC an opportunity to work closely with the CCA, and hoped that the WCC could learn more from the region about building peace and reconciliation, and peaceful and harmonious living between different faiths. He mentioned inter-religious dialogue and cooperation with people of other faiths as another priority area for the WCC. He said that since September 11, 2001 the whole question of religion and violence has taken on a new dimension. He felt that it is now important for dialogue and cooperation to go beyond the academic level, to the level where people live. He announced that the WCC is planning to hold a major international conference on inter-religious dialogue in June 2005. Ecumenical formation was another area, which will receive a lot of attention of the WCC in the years to come, according to the general secretary. He said that the first and second generation of ecumenical leadership received ecumenical formation through well-structured bodies like the WSCF, SCM, YMCA and YWCA. �Today that is not happening, � he noted. Ecumenical organisations are going through difficult times. He acknowledged that the lack of leadership formation for young people is not just happening in the WCC alone, but also in many ecumenical partner organisations in the world. The general secretary highlighted issue of Climate Change as another area of focus of the WCC. He noted that the magnitude of the problem is not taken seriously by many countries including the USA, a country, which pollutes the environment more than any other country in the world. Advocacy and campaign for more countries to ratify the Kyoto protocol, will be major concern of the WCC, he pointed out. He concluded his talk by pointing out that spirituality is the basis of the work of the WCC and this is what made it different from many other secular non-governmental organisations in the world. Earlier, Kobia noted that there has always been a special relationship between the WCC and regional ecumenical organisations. He said that the WCC always had �good and strong relationship with the CCA.� Sam Kobia planted a tree on the campus of the CCA Centre after the meeting. He also had lunch with the ecumenical colleagues and friends before leaving. One of his last engagements in Hong Kong was a meeting with Mr Tung Chee-hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong Government of Special Administrative Region. The meeting lasted for about 30 minutes. Dr Ahn Jae Woong, general secretary of the CCA, Rev Eric So, general secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council and Dr Mathews George Chunakara, Asia secretary of the WCC were present on the occasion. 
WCC general secretary speaking on WCC priorities 
Kobia addressing the staff 
Kobia planting a tree on the CCA campus 
Kobia at the CCA canteen 
Kobia with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. Ahn Jae Woong and Mathews George Chunakara are also seen. posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 |
