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WCC head opens NZ tour

WCC General Secretary Olav Fykse Tveit has opened his tour of Aotearoa with challenging insights on religion and violence, interfaith cooperation and the role of churches in building peace.

Julanne Clarke-Morris  |  07 Oct 2016  |

General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit opened his ecumenical and interfaith tour of Aotearoa New Zealand in Auckland last night, with a powhiri at Te Karaiti Te Pou Herenga Waka Maori Anglican church in Mangere.

Te Karaiti Church's Rev John Payne, local elders and youth from Te Tai Tokerau welcomed Dr Tveit, his wife Anna Tveit and WCC staff member Dr Katalina Tahaafe-Williams on behalf of tangata whenua and the Aotearoa churches, before gathering the ecumenical visitors for an opening service and festive meal.

Local WCC member churches turned out to support the welcome, including Presbyterian Assembly Executive Secretary the Rev Wayne Matheson, Anglican General Secretary the Rev Michael Hughes, Bishop of Tai Tokerau Rt Rev Kito Pikaahu and Methodist President the Rev Prince Devanandan.

Dr Tveit travelled on to Dunedin today where he met with the city’s interfaith and ecumenical leaders at a reception given by the Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull. Leaders from Anglican, Catholic, Coptic Orthodox, Presbyterian, Baptist, Islamic and Baha'i communities attended, including Anglican Vicar General of Dunedin the Rev Alec Clark, Catholic Bishop of Dunedin Most Rev Colin Campbell and Moderator Elect of the Presbyterian Church in Aotearoa New Zealand the Rev Richard Dawson.

Dunedin’s interfaith community shared the city’s history of interfaith cooperation, and heard from Dr Tveit about the WCC’s recent achievements in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.

Olav reported on the WCC''s recent conversations with Pope Francis, Jewish-Christian dialogue in the Holy Land, and with Egypt’s world authority in Sunni thought and Islamic law, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.

Olav explained how WCC leaders worked with the Grand Imam to identify two areas where they are unison as Islamic and Christian leaders:

1. Recognising the grave problem of religious-inspired violence round the globe, and

2. Holding the firm hope of countering conflicts associated with religion, by working with religious groups as a force for peace.

“Today when relations between religions are so violent in so many places, we are at the same time seeing perhaps the closest relations between religious leaders that we have ever had.” said Olav.

Dr Tveit also spoke of growing interest from the shakers and movers in United Nations’ development fields. UN organisations have begun to approach the WCC as a forum to build direct partnerships with the world’s churches.

“They can see that we have churches present in every corner of the globe. And that means we can play a role in helping their work to promote human flourishing – from the ground up.” he said.

WCC is currently holding conversations on development with UNICEF, the UN High Commission on Refugees, the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, the UN Population Fund, the International Labour Organisation and the World Health Organisation.

WCC’s growing relationship with UNICEF, for example, is seeing churches become close partners in building up protection for children.

“We are now working with UNICEF and local churches on child protection, but also to promote children’s rights and encourage young people to take up the issue of climate change.” he said.

Dr Tveit also talked of the WCC''s work with Jewish-Christian relations, speaking from the talks at a meeting in Israel, where Jewish and Christian leaders tackled the issue of disputed sites in the Holy Land.

“We spoke from the basis of justice and peace from both religious traditions, touching on how our holy scriptures can inform today’s understanding of who can or can’t live in certain places.” said Dr Tveit.

“We asked whether scriptures are the last word on who can live here or there, or whether we also have an accountability to the traditions of justice and peace within our own traditions.”

This evening Dr Fykse Tveit is speaking on the global crises that connect religion with violence, in a lecture at the University of Otago, jointly hosted by Otago’s Department of Public Theology, and its Department of Peace and Conflict Studies.

Tomorrow the WCC visitors will travel to Christchurch where they will take a tour of the earthquake-damaged city centre, and visit the Christchurch Methodist Mission’s Affordable Housing Initiative in Linwood.

Tomorrow afternoon at 2pm (Saturday 8 October) Dr Tveit will give a lecture at the Christchurch North Methodist Church on the WCC’s high level peacemaking work in response to situations in Israel, Palestine and Syria. 

Then this Sunday 9 October, Dr Tveit will conclude his tour by preaching in Christchurch at a combined service in Knox Church on Bealey Ave at 10am, then again at an ecumenical service at 7pm in Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell.

At both Sunday services Dr Tveit will share insights from the WCC’s  conversations and observations during its global ecumenical Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

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