On 30 October – 8 November, the 10th Assembly of the WCC took place. The General Assembly took place in the city of Busan, South Korea. The theme of the assembly was “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.”The conference, therefore, was based on the concepts of justice and peace. I believe that one of the most important reasons why it was decided that the assembly conduct its work in Korea was clear. The effort to live in peace and harmony together is a primary issue for the Korean people, who have been separated for years; even a major part of the work and prayer of the assembly was the reunion of the Korean peninsula.
The World Council of Churches is a Christian organization that has a very important role not only in the preservation of peace, of human rights, and dialogue between the Christians, especially in the dialogue of Christians with the world.
There are members from more than 110 countries in this important organization. There are about 345 member Churches, including Orthodox, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed, and independent Churches etc. These Churches are located in different regions of the world: in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, Caribbean, Pacific, Middle East etc. The number of participants in this magnificent event, which takes place once every 7 years, reached up to 5,000, including members of the Korean Churches.
The Orthodox world was represented by delegations from different countries by bishops, laity, youth etc. Participants were from Russia, Serbia, Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Greece, Albania, Antioch, Constantinople, the United States, even from Kenya, Zimbabwe and Australia.
The program was diverse. Apart from the work of the main assembly related to justice, peace, and witness, and the Christian mission, we had the opportunity to reflect and study Biblical passages in small groups, to talk about the challenges of today’s world etc.
We also had the blessing of visiting the Orthodox communities in Seoul and Busan and learning something about the culture and traditions of the people. We realized that Orthodoxy had been present in this country for 38 years and with the blessing of God the worker of the Gospel of God have already managed to create seven parishes.
This assembly was a very important global event for the entire Christian world.
Gabriela Dalipi
