Pope Benedict XVI Blog

13th Conference on World Mission and Evangelism starts

Symbolic of St. Paul's missionary journey (Acts:16-34), a cross, made in Jerusalem, will be brought to the Areopagos on Mars Hill in Athens.

EUROPE/GREECE - With the arrival by sea of a 4 mt high cross of olive wood sent from Jerusalem the 13th Conference on World Mission and Evangelism organised by the World Council of Churches opens in Athens today

Athens (Fides Service) - From 9 al 16 May the 13th Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, the 1st in the 21st century, organised by the World Council of Churches WCC will take place at the Agios Andrea Recreational Centre in Athens with the theme “Come Holy Spirit, heal and reconcile” and sub-theme “Called in Christ to be healing and reconciling communities”. The 12th Conference was held in 1996 at Sao Salvador da Bahia Brazil, on the theme: "Called to One Hope - the Gospel in Diverse Cultures". This is the first time that the event is held in a mainly Orthodox country.

The Catholic delegate led by Bishop Brian Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Unity among Christians comprises 26 representatives of the Mixed Working Group Catholic Church and WCC, the Roman Curia, the Federation of Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life and Mission Orders, and lay movements within Missionary Orders and Movement for Christian Unity.

The Conference opens today with a touching ceremony. Summoned by the sound of African talking drums, nearly 500 conference participants and over 100 local representatives, guests and stewards will gather on the beach to receive a 4-metre-high cross was made of Olive wood by a Jerusalem craftsman. Brought from the Middle East and received by representatives from the other regions of the world, it is intended as a symbol of reconciliation and healing as well as of churches standing in solidarity with Christians in the Middle East. In the afternoon on Sunday 15 May, the same cross whose reception marked the beginning of the conference will lead participants and members of Greek congregations in a procession to the Areopagos, on Mars Hill. There, on the very spot where the apostle Paul preached to the Athenians nearly two thousand years ago, an open-air worship service will close the conference and send participants out into the world, to fulfill Jesus' command to proclaim the good news of God's kingdom as a testimony to all nations” said Juan Michel Conference media officer.

Among the first ecumenical fruits of the conference at the local level has been the creation of a host committee in which the Church of Greece is joined by four other churches: Roman Catholic, Evangelical Church of Greece, Armenian Evangelical and Armenian Apostolic Church. . Addressing some 700 participants at the opening session the archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, His Beatitude Christodoulos welcomed the Conference as an “important and timely event, in face of the many and difficult challenges which confront all Christians today".

See more information: http://www.mission2005.org. (R.Z.) (Agenzia Fides 10/5/2005; Righe 33 - Parole 447)

For more information go to the "Conference on World Mission and Evangelism".

posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 8:31 AM