WCC in South Korea: Kitted out and ready to go

(Vatican Radio) A large delegation of Catholic ecumenical experts, headed by Bishop Brian Farrell of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, is in South Korea meeting with leaders of other churches and other religious communities. On Tuesday, the delegation travelled to Busan in the south of the country for the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches taking place from October 30th to November 8th.

Philippa Hitchen is travelling with the group and sent this update on the preparations:

WCC day minus 1. Participants have been arriving here in Busan, on the south west coast of Korea all day. Over 4000 of them, from hundreds of different churches and Christian communities across the globe, headed for the huge conference centre where they’ll spend the next ten days listening, discussing, disagreeing and perhaps most importantly praying together around the theme ‘God of Life, lead us to Justice and Peace.’
Each delegate will be kitted out with books of hymns and prayers, programme guides and essential texts for ecumenical conversations, plus a personal coffee mug and some beautifully embroidered Korean chopsticks for the all-important moments of sharing food together outside the main meeting halls.
The organisers are hoping this 10th Assembly will be an important landmark on the ecumenical journey. Seven years on from their previous encounter held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, a couple of key documents on theology and shared mission will come under the spotlight, as members of so many different churches try to thrash out ways of becoming a less competitive and more effective force for Christian witness in the world today.
The Catholic Church, of course, is not a member of the WCC, but rather an important observer at this encounter, with a delegation of 25 bishops, priests, religious, plus a couple of lay men and women who are all experts in ecumenical and interfaith relations. They too have been having a last minute heads together, following an intense two days of discovering more about the different churches and religions here in Korea. Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical council for promoting Christian Unity, will be presenting a message to the meeting from Pope Francis and many members of the delegation will be taking an active part in discussions, worship sessions or the so-called Madang space for workshops, exhibitions and shared celebrations.
All they need now is a good night’s sleep in preparation for the great ‘Gathering Prayer’ which official opens the Assembly tomorrow morning.