Ecumenical Patriarch to open WCC session

10/3/2009

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I will open the meeting of the World Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order, to be held Wdnesday through Oct. 14 in Crete, Greece.

The 120 members of the WCC's commission, considered Christianity's most representative theological forum, will address the question of Christian unity from new perspectives. The main theme of the conference is “Called To Be One Church” and members also will discuss “The Nature and Mission of the Church.”

The WCC, founded in 1948, seeks to promote Christian unity and has 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican, and other churches representing 560 million Christians in 110 nations. It works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church.