This time we had some important choices to make on the next General Secretary and the venue of the next Assembly, and on how we structure the organisation and our work and so on. But some great concerns of the churches were also raised in these meetings and addressed and discussed thoroughly and public statements were issued. They are very much an expression of what is on our hearts and what we really now have to talk about together and speak into.
These public issues statements show that a great solidarity between Christians was expressed in this meeting. You have this solidarity expression of Christians in the Middle East and their role in the peace process. Particularly this issue of a just peace for the Palestinians regarding the settlements has to be focused more than before. This is an issue that is also coming from the local Christians in the area who are saying ‘we want a just peace here and you as a fellowship of churches have to help us to get there’. They say ‘these settlements are an obstacle for us’.
So that’s a big one and there is also this expression of solidarity with Christians in Pakistan and other places where they find themselves to be in a very difficult situation. Of course it is important to say that a statement like the one on Darfur and on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, that’s solidarity with everybody, not only Christians. But of course it is coming to us from our Christian brothers and sisters there as a strong expression of almost despair and it is important that these cries are heard in an assembly like this. So I think it has been a good meeting showing this solidarity with Christians but also with other peoples who are in great difficulties.
Also the statement on ecojustice has been worked on for a long time and that’s one thing I am also very concerned about - how we as a global fellowship of Christians address that. How can we avoid the consequences that might come in 30, 40, 50 years? That’s mainly the question in the western part of the world. In my country we are already seeing the consequences and the question is what we should do to face those who are already experiencing the dramatic climate changes. We had here people from Pacific islands that might disappear. And we have the Bishop of Greenland who says that our indigenous people cannot do what they did any more because the ice is gone.
So this is the place to express not only principles about this or that, our policy, but it is also to express the voices from those who are experiencing the effects and that statement is now very strong because it says this is our world and in this world somebody has more responsibility than others to contribute both to providing solutions to those experiencing it now and to say that we must have greater reductions in our emissions because we can’t just look at this as an environmental issue. It is really a matter of justice as well.
Will you be doing anything specific in the run up to Copenhagen?
Yes, there are some important plans for that and the World Council of Churches agenda on this is very visible and present. This is not only an issue of what kind of political decisions have to be made. It is also a matter of very deep human questions: how shall we survive? How shall we be able to live here? Will our culture survive?
Those questions are very, very deep to people and those are also questions of faith. So I think the church has an important role here to provide a space for people to tell the truth and to cry and to pray and to ask for forgiveness. In the church we can do that without saying that we have a political solution to it, but we can just speak the truth and also pray and express our hope. I think we have to be aware of how the churches together have different roles to play in a question like that.
