WCC Convenes International Christian–Muslim Consultation

October 11, 2002

GENEVA – The World Council of Churches (WCC) will be hosting an international consultation on "Christians and Muslims in dialogue and beyond." The three-day consultation will take place from 16-18 October 2002 at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr Tarek Mitri, WCC staff member for Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue, says the WCC has invited 40 participants to gather for "a critical examination of the present state of relations between their respective communities and an assessment of what has been achieved." He says discussions will include "an exploration of future priorities," which are expected to focus on common action at the local level.

The event will be co-chaired by the WCC moderator of the WCC Central Committee, H.H. Aram I, Catholicos of the See of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Antelias, Lebanon) and Dr Mohamed S. El-Awa, an author and lawyer from Egypt.

Those addressing the opening-day theme of "Reflections on the present state of Muslim-Christian Relations" include:

H.E. Dr Abdelouahed Belkeziz, secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference

H.E. Sayyid Mohammad Ali Abtahi, president of the Institute for Inter-Religious Dialogue and vice-president of the Islamic Republic of Iran

H.E. Dr Mohamed Ahmed Al-Sherif, general secretary, Islamic Call Society

H.E. Dr Hamid Bin Ahmand Al-Rifaie, president, International Islamic Forum for Dialogue

Presentations from Christian points of view will be made by H.E. Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, president of the Vatican "Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue" and the Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of Churches.

Participants list:

Dr Mahdi Abdul Hadi, President, Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA), Jerusalem H.E. Sayyid Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr Martin Affolderbach, Christian-Muslim and Inter-Religious Affairs, Secretary – EKD, Germany Dr. Seyed Amir Akrami, Secretary for Inter-Religious Dialogue, Islami Culture and Relations, Iran Prof Dr Hamid Bin Ahmed Al-Rifaie, President, International Islamic Forum for Dialogue, Saudi Arabia Dr Mohamed Ahmed Al-Sherif, General Secretary, Islamic Call Society, Libya H.H. Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, Armenian Apostolic Church, Antelias, Lebanon (Co-moderator) .../... Bishop Samuel R. Azariah, Church of Pakistan, member of the WCC advisory group on Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue Rev. Dr John Azumah, member of the WCC advisory group on Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue; Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India Rev. Dr Jean-Claude Basset, Project Dialogue, Geneva, Switzerland H.E. Dr Abdelouahed Belkeziz, Secretary-General, Organization of the Islamic Conference, Saudi Arabia Prof. Dr Abdeslam Bou-Imajdil, Professor, Morocco Dr Mohamed S. El-Awa, author and lawyer, President, Egyptian Association for Dialogue and Culture Dr Asghar Ali Engineer, Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai, India Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, President, Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, Rome; member of the WCC advisory group on Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue Ms Josien Folbert, Interfaith Relations, Uniting Church of the Netherlands, member of the WCC advisory group on Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue Dr Vivian Fouad, Director, Coptic Centre for Social Studies, Egypt Dr Panayotis G. Fouyas, Professor, Greece Dr Hanan Ibrahim, Professor, Jordan

Rt. Rev. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Anglican Bishop of Kaduna, Nigeria Alhaj Muhammad Sani Isah, Islamic Community Leader, Kaduna, Nigeria Rev. Dr Riad Jarjour, General Secretary, Middle East Council of Churches, Cyprus Prof. Dr Muhammad Hashim Kamali, Professor, Faculty of Law, International Islamic University in Malaysia Father Rafiq Khoury, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Dr Oddbjorn Leirvik, Professor, Norway

Dr Philip Lewis, Professor, Bradford, United Kingdom Rev. Dr Maake J. Masango, Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, WCC Central Committee member, University of Pretoria, South Africa Mr Samir Morcos, Arab Group on Christian-Muslim Relations, Egypt Dr Nadia Mahmoud Mostafa, Director, Centre for Political Studies, Cairo University, Egypt Mr Ifet Mustafic, Office of the Grand Mufti, Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina Prof. Dr Jorgen S. Nielsen, member of the WCC advisory group on Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue; Director, Centre for the Study of Islam and Chistian-Muslim Relations, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom Dr Tariq Ramadan, Professor, Author, Geneva, Switzerland Rev. Dr Lissi Rasmussen, Islamic-Christian Study Centre, Copenhagen, Norway Rev. Dr Jay Rock, Office for Interfaith Relations, National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Dr Walid Saif, Professor, Faculty of Arts, University of Jordan Mr Mohammed Sammak, General Secretary, National Committee for Christian-Muslim Dialogue, Lebanon Dr Sayyid M. Syeed, General Secretary, Islamic Society of North America Dr Jumana Taha, Author, Syria

Rev. Dr Daniel Thigarajah, Executive Secretary, Christian Conference of Asia, Hong Kong Rev. Margaret Orr Thomas, member of the WCC advisory group on Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue, Interfaith Relations, United Presbyterian Church, USA

World Council of Churches NEWS

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.