Paralimni, Cyprus, May 18, 2022
Photo: oikoumene.org
The World Council of Churches will hold its 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, from August 31 to September 8 this year. In preparation for the event, Orthodox and Oriental delegations gathered in Paralimni, Cyprus, May 10-15, to deliberate upon the theme of the upcoming assembly: “Christ’s Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity.”
The Inter-Orthodox Pre-Assembly gathered 50 participants from 20 Orthodox and Oriental Local Churches who issued two documents, including, among other things, a lengthy reflection on the theme of love, and a unanimous condemnation of the wars raging throughout the world today.
Reflecting upon the central theme, the Pre-Assembly’s communique emphasizes that love is of utmost importance in Orthodox theology. “The supreme act of God’s love is the divine economy of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.”
“As Orthodox, we are committed to the goal of Eucharistic unity, which has been the vision of the WCC from its initiation… In this mission, we join with all Christians, seeking to promote unity, reconciliation, justice, and peace on the basis of Christ’s message and God’s love for humanity and all creation,” the document reads.
Further, the communique informs that the Russian Church delegation, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), head of the Department for External Church Relations, “informed the body about the armed confrontation in Ukraine,” focusing on the Russian Church’s attitude “to this painful situation.” The Pre-Assembly members shared their deep concerns “over developments in the region” and prayed for peace.
The delegates also approved a report that will be offered as an Orthodox contribution at the upcoming 11th WCC Assembly.
“We gather at a moment when around the world the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, violence, conflicts, wars, Occupation, racism, poverty, and ecological devastation imperil human existence, contrary to Christ’s love that moves the world to reconciliation and unity!” the report states.
As the WCC is a forum for “dialogue among Christian communities and churches,” the Assembly “cannot imagine the expulsion of any member,” the report reads, in response to calls to eject the Russian Church from the WCC against the background of the fratricidal war in Ukraine.
Reflecting upon the WCC theme of love, the report states: “The passion of Christ was not the price to be paid for human sins, nor the ransom to be given to Satan, but was the ultimate expression of God’s love for all people.”
Following a lengthy reflection on love, the report turns to current events:
As Christians, we are greatly affected by the tragedies that have been unfolding before our eyes. Cries for help of millions of our brothers and sisters in various parts of the world must not remain the voice heard “wailing and in loud lamentation” like Rachel “weeping for her children, refusing to be consoled as they are no more” (Matthew 2:18) As Orthodox churches—which identify both their history and their present with the mystery of the Cross, the suffering and resurrection of the Lord—we are deeply concerned with the conflicts, human rights violations, the worsening refugee crisis, the systematic destruction of Christian cultural heritage, terrorist actions, and persecutions and uprooting of Christians taking place in different parts of the world. We are particularly concerned about, and lift up in prayer, the situation in Ukraine, Armenia, Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and the Middle East and Africa, and other places in the world. We also sorrowfully remember the yet unresolved situation of the kidnapped Archbishop Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim, and other abducted clergy and lay people. “Never again”: “we do not forget” the consequences of degradation and dehumanization which has resulted in untold pain, suffering, and sorrow for generations.
And expressing serious concern about Ukraine, the Assembly condemns wars and emphasizes the need for peace and stability:
During our deliberations, there was an expression of grave concern over the armed conflict in Ukraine that has already claimed many people’s lives. The participants in the meeting have been unanimous in condemning the wars and call upon all the parties involved in the conflicts to do everything within their power for the urgent establishment of peace and for ensuring safety in Ukraine, Russia, Europe, and the whole world. We also condemn systematic campaigns of disinformation that promote divisions and hatred. In this time of great hardships, we are called to lift up fervent prayers to Christ the Savior so that hatred may not take hold of human souls and hearts, but, instead, love and fraternal communion may return to the brotherly peoples in anguish.
All conflicts should be solved peacefully, not through military action, the Report continues:
We believe that conflicts must be solved only through peaceful means and dialogue, and not through military action. We call and pray for the immediate cessation of violence in these areas, as in all places where conflict is occurring, and for the universal observance of self-determination and good governance. Christ’s love moves us to work and pray for reconciliation and unity, to express God’s will for peace.”
Regarding the COVID pandemic, the Assembly states: “The pandemic must be understood as a consequence of humankind's exploitative relationship with the rest of creation, an entitlement that is arrogant and neglects the ethos of metanoia.”
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