February 23, 2010

The recordings (in mp3 format) of a press briefing with the new general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, have been posted to the WCC online press room: http://bit.ly/GS-pressbriefing/

Tveit addressed the following issues (in English):

The ecumenical movement and the WCC. Tveit speaks about his vision for bringing new energy to the quest for Christian unity (7 min).

Haiti. Having advocated for the cancellation of the country's debt at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Tveit pushes the issue further (3 min 30).

Climate change. Building on the churches important advocacy role around the Copenhagen climate summit, Tveit speaks about future ecumenical actions (3 min 30).

Middle East. A former co-moderator of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum, a platform for churches and Christian organizations advocating for a just peace, Tveit discusses ecumenical perspectives for a seemingly intractable conflict (5 min).

During the questions and answers part of the briefing, Tveit speaks about relations with the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, Muslim-Christian relations and the council's financial situation, among other issues (38 min).

The press briefing with Geneva-based media took place at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, 22 February.

It came in advance of the service during which Tveit is to be formally installed as WCC general secretary by the council's Executive Committee, on Tuesday, 23 February.

The sermon preached by Tveit during the installation service is available in English: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=1953&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=-2.

German: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=1953&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=-3.

French: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=1953&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=-4.

Spanish: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=1953&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=-5.

Russian: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2267&rid=f_15592&mid=1953&aC=c416b25e&jumpurl=-6.

A short biographical note about Tveit is available here: http://bit.ly/GS-bio-eng/.

World Council of Churches