On 10/25/2022 at 10:04. Updated on 10/25/2022 at 07:27
The Meta group (parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.) said on Tuesday that it had resolved the global outage that affected its WhatsApp instant messaging service and disrupted the sending and receiving of messages for its billions of users.
“We know people had trouble messaging on WhatsApp today,” a spokesperson for Meta said. “We have resolved the issue and apologize for any inconvenience.”
The outage began around 9:00 a.m. (HB) and lasted around two hours, preventing the world’s two billion users from sending and receiving messages through the app.
No explanation yet
On the online platform that provides users with real-time information on the status of various Downdetector websites and services, several people were reporting that messaging was down. Reports have also been posted on the social network Twitter.
The cause of the failure has not yet been specified.
The United Nations was founded in 1945 after the Second World War and is committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.
In our opinion, however the most important job of such organization today is to prevent injustice, stop aggression and make sure that a powerful nation does not violate the freedom of a smaller or less resourceful country.
Since its founding, UN headquarter is in New York City, but it has offices in Geneva – Switzerland. As a diplomatic center, with near universal representation of states, Geneva is the ideal location for successful international cooperation. Thousands of beneficial meetings are held at the Palais des Nations every year, each in different ways touching the lives of people around the globe. This way, it brings together individuals, organizations, and nations to ensure a better future for all.
One of its mail activities is to provide a platform for civil society organizations to meet, discuss and come to an understanding on issues that create conflicts and violate human rights. For that the UN Human Rights Council holds no fewer than three regular sessions a year, in February-March, June-July and September-October.
Normally, it is the States and their governments that are the deciders and practitioners of conflicts as well as finding the solutions, the role of the civil societies is often invisible in such development. NGO organisations tirelessly work to create the conditions that pushes international institutions and States to set aside their entrenched views in conflicts and move towards peace through give and take process.
A very good example of such effort is the conference held on 6th October 2022 in Geneva at the 51st Session of the UN Human Rights Council which was arranged by European NGOs, “Recognize to reconcile Initiative” to advance the cause of justice and peace to prevail between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in the South Caucuses and the world at large.
The conference not only discussed the importance of recognition of the historical wrong doings that happened in Khojaly- Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992 but also encourage governments and leaders of public opinion in both countries to consider application of transitional justice mechanisms in their post-conflict normalization agenda.
The eminent speakers from various European human rights organisations, like Gyorgy Tatar, Director of the Budapest Centre of MAP, Thierry Valle, Director of the CAP- Freedom of Conscience, Antonio Stango, President of the Italian Federation for Human Rights and Bashy Quraishy, Secretary General of the European Muslim Initiative for Social Cohesion (EMISCO) addressed the event.
The main speaker was Ms. Munira Subasic, President of Association Mothers of Srebrenica whose life story and first-hand experience of Bosnian Muslims massacres touched every participant. The main emphasises of all the speakers was to encourage Armenia to properly recognize Khojaly massacre and offer a public apology to its victims but they also requested Azerbaijan to open public space for direct dialogue on the issue at hand between the civil societies of the two countries because it would be an important cornerstone for reconciliation efforts.
The conference appreciated the fact that leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have recently announced their willingness “to turn the page” and start“era of peace in the region”. The organisers believe that it is time for a strong international mediation, first on civil society level, to end the impunity and silence, render justice for Khojaly but also to help communities in both countries to overcome the shadow of the tragedy through recognition, dialogue, and ultimate reconciliation. In such dire circumstances, the role of civil society becomes even more vital, not only in leading the way when other paths are muddy but also bringing peace to both parties, namely aggrieved and the aggressor.
In recent history, there are many examples of successful reconciliation, but we can mention two outstanding efforts that are well known: namely the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Rwanda Conflict resolution.
After the end of Apartheid in South Africa, there were two choices in front of Nelson Mandela. To embark on retribution and revenge or extend a hand of reconciliation towards those who committed tremendous crimes against the African majority. In 1996, the Government of National Unity under the great Mandela established, The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to help deal with what happened under apartheid.
He nominated, a great humanitarian, Bishop Desmond Tutu as Chair of the Commission. Tutu’s idea of reconciliation was to invite the witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations to give statements about their experiences, and some were asked to speak at public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution. The TRC was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa. Despite some flaws, it is generally thought to have been successful.
Another good example is Rwanda conflict resolution, which is held up as a model for reconciliation, 28 years after genocide. Reconciliation has enabled Rwandans to close a chapter of their history and write a new one. For that Rwandan people collectively decided to move forward and rebuild their society after the 1994 genocide. The post-genocide RPF government imposed a reckoning from the top but it was also up to ordinary Rwandans to figure out how to carry on day-to-day. In short, confession as a way forward lead to reconciliation.
In light of the increasing challenges that Europe and the world faces, such initiatives are especially important for reducing the risk of escalation in conflict situations around the world, particularly in areas where there are opportunities for peaceful transformation.
Since the conference was attended by various ambassadors, including Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as NGO representatives, media, and conflict resolution experts, we believe that NGOs and activists with expertise on transitional justice, human rights, and peacebuilding would join the coalition because by doing so, they would not only be extending their valuable expertise and help to achieve objectives of “Recognize to reconcile” initiative but would be partner in advancing its noble cause of Justice and Peace to prevail between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
We would like to end by mentioning that our Vienna/Rome Initiative is the right way to move forward and get justice for the victims. We do not have to repeat mistakes but learn from the achievements of others, because peace can only come if we all work to achieve it.
More than 250,000 data points available on the Data Portal of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), now with a new, user-friendly interface
Vienna (Austria), 25 October 2022 – Did you know that more than 400,000 people were killed worldwide in 2020 – and that Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest rate of intentional homicide (21 victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 people)?
Or that there are about 209 million people (4 per cent of the global population aged 15-64) who used cannabis over the last twelve months? Meanwhile, 1.2 per cent of the global population used opioids and 0.7 per cent used amphetamines.
These facts represent only a small subset of the more than 250,000 data points available on the Data Portal of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), now with a new, user-friendly interface that makes it easier to access data about a wide range of drugs and crime related topics.
The portal, the global reference for international statistics on drugs, crime, and criminal justice, is designed to provide answers to your questions related to many of UNODC’s mandate areas. These include: drug use and treatment; drug trafficking and cultivation; drug-related crime; intentional homicide; violent and sexual crime; corruption and economic crime; prisons and prisoners; access to and functioning of justice; firearms trafficking; trafficking in persons; wildlife trafficking; and more.
More interested in an overview on drugs, crime, and justice statistics in your own country? Go to the Country Profiles Section, which provides a statistical snapshot of the drugs and crime situation and the functioning of the criminal justice system in a particular country.
With the aim of providing the most comprehensive and high-quality data at your fingertips, UNODC will work to continuously update and develop the Data Portal.
Black silhouettes of soldier in the smoke fire burning moving in battle operation. Back light
Few days ago, the Ukrainian scholarly project “Religion on Fire” launched their interim report on the damages caused to religious buildings and facilities as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The report is based on the results of a monitoring that took place from February 24 to August 24, 2022, and as said before, it’s an interim report, meaning that more data are gathered, and the monitoring is continuing.
The project “Religion on Fire: Documenting Russia’s War Crimes against Religious Communities in Ukraine” was initiated in March 2022 by the Workshop for the Academic Study of Religion and supported by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, the Congress of National Communities of Ukraine, and the International Center for Law and Religious Studies at Brigham Young University (USA).
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate is the most touched by Russian destruction
The team, made of religious study scholars from Ukraine, documents the damages to religious facilities but also murders, injuries, and abductions of religious leaders of various denominations by the Russian military in Ukraine. They collect open source data and exclusive materials from field visits to the de-occupied territories.
One of the interesting things in their first findings, is that in fact, as regards the numbers of religious building destroyed or damaged in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC), which is a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate, is the most touched by the bombings of the Russian army. Indeed, 156 buildings of the UOC have been destroyed or damaged, against 21 of the Orthodx Church of Ukraine (independent from Moscow), 5 of the Greek and Roman Catholics, 37 protestant buildings, 5 mosques, 13 Jewish facilities. It’s interesting to note that according to the results of the Council of the UOC (MP) on May 27, 2022, this structure announced its withdrawal from the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church.
20 religious figured killed by bombings or automatic weapons
They also collected data on 20 religious figures who died because of the Russian army, killed by bombings or shot with automatic weapons, and 15 religious figures abducted.
Of course, when documenting war crimes, the question of the intentionality is crucial. The report gives a beginning of answer about it: “Some religious facilities were hit by indiscriminate bombardment, while others were deliberately destroyed with machine guns or artillery. Currently, the official results of the investigation have not yet been published for most of the cases, but we can reasonably claim that the religious buildings were special targets of some attacks.”
It gives examples: “First of all, there are published testimonies of eyewitnesses who saw the targeted shelling of a religious facility via large-caliber machine guns or other weapons. It’s the case of St. George church in the village of Zavorychi (Kyiv region), which was built in 1873 and destroyed on March 7, 2022, by targeted fire21. In another case, there’re eyewitnesses of an aerial drone reconnaissance after the initial hit on the Irpin Bible Seminary on March 19, 2022. The next day, there was a repeated, more destructive shelling of the building.”
Religion on Fire: Russia is destroying primarily its own Churches in Ukraine
Maintain International Attention to War Crimes
The scholars make 6 recommendations that they develop at the end of their report: 1. To support religious minorities, 2. To promote the documentation of war crimes, 3. To develop Ukrainian legislation, 4. To advocate for sanctions against Russian religious figures (who have been supporting the war and the propaganda of the Kremlin and regularly spread hate against Ukrainians), 5. To maintain international attention to war crimes. You can follow the project Religion on Firehere.
To make international trade easier, shorten customs clearance times and reduce the risk of fraud, the EU decided to create a single window for customs. Today the Council adopted new rules which set the appropriate conditions for digital collaboration between customs and partner competent authorities.
The single window environment will allow customs and other authorities to automatically verify that the goods in question comply with EU requirements and that the necessary formalities have been completed.
More than 60 non-customs EU acts as well as national non-customs legislation in areas such as health and safety, the environment, agriculture, fisheries, international heritage and market surveillance need to be enforced at external borders. This requires additional documents on top of customs declarations and affects hundreds of millions movements of goods each year.
I am pleased that we decided to create a single window for customs, as it will make trading with the EU a lot easier. All relevant authorities at the EU’s external borders will be able to access the relevant data electronically and collaborate more easily on border checks. We will be able to enforce our high European standards in areas such as health and safety, environment, agriculture or international heritage more easily. I am confident that the single window will make goods clearance a lot faster. This will affect hundreds of millions movements of goods each year.Zbyněk Stanjura, Minister of Finance of Czechia
Efficient customs clearance and controls are essential to allow trade to flow smoothly while also protecting EU citizens, businesses and the environment. Once fully implemented, businesses will no longer have to submit documents to several authorities through different portals. The single window environment will allow customs and other authorities to automatically verify that the goods in question comply with EU requirements and that the necessary formalities have been completed.
The new rules are expected to boost the smooth flow of cross-border trade and will help reduce the administrative burden for traders, particularly by saving time and making clearance simpler and more automated.
Background and next steps
The Commission came forward with the proposal establishing the EU single window environment for customs and amending regulation (EU) No 952/2013 on 29 October 2020. The Council agreed its negotiating mandate on 15 December 2021. Negotiations between the co-legislators ended in a provisional agreement on 19 May 2022. Today’s adoption of the final text means that this regulation can now be signed at the European Parliament’s November II plenary and then be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The EEA has shortlisted 50 finalists in this year’s competition which asked avid photographers to submit their best nature photos in any of the four competition categories — air, water, land and sound.
This year’s contest received the highest number of photo submissions ever. Water was the biggest category followed by land.
The winner of each category will receive a cash prize of €1,000. Additional prizes are awarded to the best youth entry as well as the public’s favourite photo.Citizens across Europe now have the opportunity to choose their favourite photo. You can vote for as many photos as you want but each person is only allowed to vote once.
The Well with Nature photo competition highlights our connection to nature, how much we care for it and how it can keep us emotionally and physically healthy. It aims to raise awareness about the benefits we can all receive by taking action towards zero pollution.
On Friday 21 October 2022, the first of a number of Diwali events started to take place and in Luxembourg took place one that included the presence of the President (Dr. Lakshmi Vyas) and VicePresident (Krishna Kripa Dasa) of the Hindu Forum Europe. The event, organized by the Hindu Forum Luxembourg had different personalities and guests attending the celebration, including the Deputy Chief of Mission for India to the European Union, Mr Debasish Prusty.
Diwali, the Festival of lights in Hinduism, according to the Religious Festivities Calendar of the Spanish government Foundation Pluralism and Coexistence “Is the most widely celebrated and accepted by all orientations both in India and outside Asia. It is celebrated for five days between mid-October and mid-November of the common calendar. It worships Lakshmi, goddess of fortune, and also commemorates the victorious return of the god Rama after his exile. It is a festival characterised by merriment, gifts, new clothes, and celebrations in houses that are carefully cleaned and lights are lit. In the temples, it is the main celebration where they are decorated and illuminated to signify the triumph of light over darkness.” You can find more about it here.
The opening ceremony of the event was performed by Krishna Kripa Dasa (aka Juan Carlos Ramchandani), who while being the Vice President of the Hindu Forum Europe, is also the President of the Spanish Federation of Hinduism, which is working to unite the Hindu community in Spain to guarantee for all Hindus the rights that other younger religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam and even Buddhism already have in Spain.
The ceremony performed by Krishna Kripa Dasa at the start of the evening, consisted in the offering of five elements (fire, water, wind, earth and sky), offering incense and other items to the pooja, blowing on the conch and ringing a bell.
Ambi Venkataraman, President of the Hindu Forum Luxembourg (and one of the 13 original founders of the Indian Association Luxembourg), and Lakshmi Vyas, President of the Hindu Forum Europe, welcomed Debasish Prusty, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India to European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg, as special guest for this occasion. Many of the 100+ attendees were from Luxembourg but included numerous participants coming from Spain, UK, Belgium, Netherlands and others.
Lakshmi Vyas, President of the Hindu Forum Europe (HFE), presented a brief history of HFE and showed a series of photographs chronicling the activities of the HFE over the past few years since its formation in 2006. Vyas is Former Principal of Elphinstone College, Mumbai, and has authored three books on Environmental Science, published more than thirty research papers on International journals of repute and is a follower of Iyengar Yoga. Her current mission is to unite the Hindus and represent them in UK and the European institutions.
Ambi Venkataraman talked about the HFL (formed in 2017) and its activities, explaining the link the venue (the Lycée Michel Rodange in Luxembourg-Merl) has had with thee HFL – based on student exchanges.
Debasish Prusty, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy, wished everyone present a happy Diwali and said how he regarded everyone attending as ambassadors, bringing Diwali across Europe.
As reported by chronicle.lu , India has many festivals, with Diwali – a five-day festival of Lights – being the one celebrated by all religions in the country and considered by many to be the country’s most important holiday. In northern India, they celebrate the story of King Rama’s return to Ayodhya after he defeated Ravana by lighting rows of clay lamps. Southern India celebrates it as the day that Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura. It is a time to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil.
The formal part of the evening was followed by a cultural programme of dance, with Arsha performing a Kathak dance, Ragasudha performing a Bharatnatyan dance, and Nishi Joshi-Bhatt performing a semi-classical dance, all accompanied by appropriate music.
In following the tremendous respect Hinduism scriptures have for diversity and the different understandings of religions, among others, representatives of the Church of Scientology in Europe were invited to participate, in recognition of the so much needed interfaith dialogue and cooperation in Europe.
Ivan Arjona, the representative of the Scientologists, accepted the invitation and while wishing a wonderful Diwali to all Hindus in Europe, offered two unique commemorative samples of the scriptures of Scientology, written by its founder L. Ron Hubbard, one of them a translated version of Dianetics in Hindi, and the other the book of sermons and ceremonies translated into Spanish.
According to a report from Chronicle.lu, this was followed by a classical Tamil song performance by Smt. Uma Rangarajan. Youngsters Om Sankar and Diya Ganesh also sang and Ms Vedhikha (Bharatanatyam dance) and a young troupe (Bollywood semi-classical dance) also performed reflecting the family and community spirit of the event. Those attending then partook in an Indian meal provided by the Indian restaurant Kripa, with dancing to round off the celebration.
Given where most of the fighting and dying is taking place it is easy to think that the current European security crisis is primarily about Ukraine. This tendency is reinforced by the fact that Russia and the west are keen to keep the war limited to Ukrainian territory.
Vladimir Putin’s whole calculation has, from the outset, been based on two assumptions. First that Russia’s possession of nuclear weapons would deter western military intervention for fear of wider escalation. The second was that Europe’s dependence on Moscow’s gas supply would mute any sanctions from the west and that, in the long run, these factors would be used to force Kyiv to yield in some way to Putin’s demands.
For its part, the US and its allies have also been keen to limit the conflict, recognising that while Kyiv is fighting for its survival as an independent sovereign state, the first policy priority for the west is to avoid a general war in Europe. Putin’s frequent and lurid nuclear sabre rattling is also intended to remind the west that its meddling – even its continued military support for Kyiv – risks just that outcome.
This framing of the war also explains the constant calls for a negotiated resolution to the conflict. Many efforts to end the war, from the French president Emmanuel Macron to the business magnate Elon Musk, focus on the need for negotiation. By this they mean a compromise by Ukraine over parts of its territory, such as Crimea, or its security status regarding Nato membership and alignment with the west rather than Russia. Even the US president Joe Biden’s statement that Putin must be offered an “off ramp” is a recognition of the desire to solve the Ukraine crisis on these terms.
Yet this approach to a resolution of the war is flawed in two important ways. First, in ignores the clear evidence that neither side is interested in a negotiated solution as both Russia and Ukraine believe that they have more to gain by fighting. Indeed, both sides seem convinced that they can win.
For Ukraine its military successes and territorial advances demonstrate that the tide of the war has turned on the ground due to its better training, logistics, intelligence, equipment and morale. For Russia, weaponising winter, attacking Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure as well as mass mobilisation of reserve troops and regular threats of further escalation have convinced Moscow that in the long run it can break the will of Ukraine or its western backers.
Perhaps more importantly however, framing the war in these terms misses the wider challenge that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine poses for both the future of the European security order – and indeed the rules of the international system as a whole. In short, the problem is not confined to the war in Ukraine.
Where Russian is the main language. Felipe Menegaz, Peter Fitzgerald, CC BY-NC-SA
The problem is that a major world power has gone rogue and abandoned its adherence to the basic principles of non-intervention. Principles that sit at the heart of the international system of states. It has done this by leveraging the threat of nuclear war as a central element of its approach.
Further, Putin has indicated that his imperialist aims are not limited to the areas that it has recently declared to be Russian territory. Indeed, Russia’s imperial aims stretch to all of Ukraine, and to all Russian-speaking enclaves in Europe, including the Baltic states and Moldova.
Russia has also, since 2015, propped up the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, enabling its use of poison gas against its own people. Russian soldiers have also been active in Africa, through the Wagner Group, where their efforts in more than a dozen countries advance Moscow’s political influence and commercial interests.
In both the Middle East and Africa, Russia is exploiting what it sees as the strategic vacuum left by US hesitance and withdrawal. In explicitly calling for the end of the US led international order it is acting on an alternative vision for the international system where Russia’s self-serving imperial influence is on the march.
To grant concessions to Russia at Ukraine’s expense would do little to pacify Russia’s grandiose power ambitions – quite the opposite, it would merely feed the beast. Europe’s borders, and international frontiers more broadly, would be forever open to challenge in a world with such a state as a major power.
Future lessons
How this war ends matters hugely beyond the confines of Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders. Russia’s claim that everywhere that speaks Russian should be part of the Russian state has obvious parallels for Taiwan and China’s claim to its sovereignty.
Nuclear fears: Vladimir Putin has repeatedly hinted he may use Russia’s nuclear arsenal in Ukraine. EPA-EFE/Sergei Ilnitsky
But even more importantly, Putin’s attempts at nuclear coercion are a fundamental challenge to the role of nuclear weapons within the international system. The lesson now drawn by many observers in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and further afield is that possession of nuclear weapons is the only guarantee of a secure defence. And if the nuclear threat allows a weak army to make territorial gains by an illegal invasion of a neighbour, then the precedent set for offensive use of nuclear weapons in this way would be truly alarming.
By contrast, if Putin’s threat, or even limited use of nuclear weapons leads to Russia’s defeat in this aggressive war, then the signal sent to the international community is one that would diminish the status of nuclear weapons. If nothing else, this is worth supporting Ukraine’s fight for.
On Wednesday, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decided to recognize the “Chechen Republic of Ichkeria” as a “territory temporarily occupied by Russia” and condemned the “genocide against the Chechens”.
According to the information of Radio Free Europe, the Ukrainian government is currently engaged in the development of “an electronic platform on which to hold referendums on the independence of other national republics within the Russian Federation – Dagestan, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, etc.”
The publication cited its Ukrainian source, who also stated that Ukraine closely monitors “the national movements of Bashkirs, Tatars, Kumyks, Ingush, Kalmyks, Erzyans and other peoples enslaved by the Russian Federation, and is ready for dialogue with these forces. which they want decolonization and are willing to make efforts along the way.”
The MP from the Servant of the People faction, Oleg Dunda, said that the “dismantling” of Russia will take place in “a year or two”. He also said that “at the end of 2022 – the beginning of 2023, planned referendums will be held in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kaliningrad Oblast, most likely in almost all regions of the North Caucasus, possibly Buryatia…”
Recently, Vil Mirzayanov, head of the Tatar “government-in-exile”, also living in the US, asked Volodymyr Zelensky to recognize the independence of Tatarstan.
Such a decision has long been prepared by Ukrainian parliamentarians. Back in July, the Chechen separatist and “prime minister of Ichkeria in exile” Akhmed Zakaev appointed Yury Shulipa as consul of the “republic” in Kyiv.
Zakaev himself came to Kyiv in June and met with Ukrainian lawmakers, after which the idea for the bill emerged. After his visit, the Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko founded the parliamentary association “For a Free Caucasus” to “help the oppressed peoples of the North Caucasus”.
Goncharenko also prepared a draft law to recognize the “Circassian genocide” – so we will soon see such a decision by the Ukrainian parliamentarians.
We remind you that Chechen fighters who emigrated to the West and Turkey in the mid-2000s are fighting on the side of the armed forces of Ukraine, some of them participated in the civil war in Syria.
What do I remember, more than a month after the remarkable event that brought together more than 4,000 Christians in the Karlsruhe Congress Centre from 31 August to 8 September? I am referring to the eleventh General Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC).
Three words come to my mind: love, pilgrimage, and unity. Let’s talk about the first in this paper!
Certainly, the theme “Christ’s love leads the world to reconciliation and unity” is original, when placed in the history of these assemblies. It was at the 2018 WCC central committee (during the visit of Pope Francis to the WCC) that the then general secretary Olav Tveit proposed this theme, based on Paul’s reflection on reconciliation: “the love of Christ embraces us” (II Cor. 5:14-15). (See here)
This theme of “the love of Christ”, so central to the Christian faith, had in fact never been thematized in the WCC. Some had doubts about the relevance of such a theme. Others rejoiced. After the theocentric themes of the last three assemblies – influenced by openness to inter-religious dialogue – it focuses on the kerygma: the risen Christ. [1] The time has now come to “give an account of the hope that is in us” (1 Peter 3:15): if we want to meet all, it is because Christ died and rose for all!
Grounding the search for unity in the Trinitarian love revealed in Christ’s death and resurrection provides a solid foundation for ecumenism. But will the language of love be understood in a secularized context? Jerry Pillay, the newly elected general secretary, said at that time (in 2018) that this theme would renew the commitment to unity. To work for the unity of humanity, we must start with the house of God.
Pope Francis asked in his message to the Assembly: “how can we credibly proclaim the Gospel of reconciliation without also being committed, as Christians, to promoting reconciliation among ourselves? Reconciliation among Christians is the fundamental prerequisite for the credible mission of the Church. Ecumenism and Mission belong together and interrelate”. https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/message-of-his-holiness-pope-francis-to-the-11th-assembly-of-the-world-council-of-churches Tveit discerns the influence of the “spirituality of communion” in the choice of this theme which emphasizes the importance of relationships. [2].
This theme inspired WCC president Agnes Abouom to coin the phrase “ecumenism of the heart”. In her presidential report, she writes: “churches will be challenged to seek to overcome their divisions through an “ecumenism of the heart”, i.e., an ecumenism in which we look at other churches first of all with the eyes of communion in the love of the compassionate Jesus; with the eyes of common commitment to God’s kingdom; and only within the solid foundation of that unity in Christ do we look at what separates them in matters of faith, ordained ministry or ethics.” (§45). https://www.oikoumene.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/A01-Report-of-the-Moderator-ENG.pdf
At the initial press conference, Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of the United Methodist Church in the USA, vice moderator of the Central Committee of the WCC, echoed this: “I hope that this assembly will enable us to be more perfect in love. We want to live an ecumenism of the heart. We want people to be able to say, like the first Christians, ‘look how much they love each other’”.
Romanian Orthodox Fr Ioan Sauca, the acting general secretary of the WCC, states in his report that this ecumenism of the heart is translated into a respectful attitude of welcome and dialogue: “As followers of Christ, we were entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, and the theme of the WCC’s 11th Assembly reminds us all that the love of Christ moves the world to reconciliation and unity. It would be very easy to use the language of the politicians, but we are called to use the language of faith, of our faith. It is easy to exclude, excommunicate, and demonize, but we are called as the WCC to offer a free and safe platform of encounter and dialogue, to meet and listen to one another even if and even when we disagree. (§53). This is how he responded to calls for the expulsion of the Russian Orthodox Church from the WCC fellowship. https://www.oikoumene.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/A02-Report-of-the-Acting%20General-Secretary-ENG.pdf
The WCC’s new moderator of the Central Committee, Lutheran Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, preaching on the words of St. John “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (I John 4:16) asked: “Shall we be witnesses of this beautiful and eternally faithful love in this wounded world?
This “ecumenism of the heart” was the golden thread of this assembly, which wanted to affirm that the search for Christian unity is rooted in the love of Christ, who died and rose for all.
Love is also at the center of the beautiful final message adopted by the assembly. Its last words are: “In Christ, all things will be made new. His love which is open to all, including the last, the least, and the lost, and is offered to all, can move and empower us in a pilgrimage of justice, reconciliation, and unity”. https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/message-of-the-wcc-11th-assembly-a-call-to-act-together The challenge is to work together, brothers and sisters, despite our differences, to witness to Christ together. As behind divisions there is a lack of love, only the Holy Spirit has the power to heal and to unite. It is a call to take Christ’s “New Commandment” seriously, to live it among Christians and to extend it to all.
It is precisely this love that impels us to be ambassadors of reconciliation and unity, as the Apostle to the Gentiles forcefully announced: “It is in the name of Christ that we are ambassadors, and through us it is God himself who is in fact calling you. In the name of Christ, we beseech you, be reconciled to God” (1 Cor 5:20).
[1] The themes of previous assemblies were: Harare 1998: “Let us turn to God in the joy of hope”. Porto Alegre 2006: “God, in your grace, transform the world”. Busan – Korea 2013: “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.
[2] Tveit in the Epilogue to Chiara Lubich, My ecumenical journey, New City 2020, p. 127 wrote “It might well be that it was under influence of Chiara and her charism for Christian unity that the WCC was inspired to choose (this) theme for the eleventh WCC assembly”.
