Statement of the EKD council on the final report of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC

1. In early September 2002 the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) received the final report of its Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC. After discussion, its proposals were adopted without any major amendments and with only five abstentions. The member churches of the WCC are called upon to state their opinion on the proposals, particularly those involving amendments of the constitution, by the next WCC assembly in 2006. The report of the Special Commission is informed by the desire to continue to enable, strengthen and intensify cooperation in the World Council of Churches for all concerned. This wish has met with marked approval in the EKD. At some points, however, the final report has given rise to amazement and concern.

2. Accordingly, at its meeting on 11-12 December 2002 the EKD council asked the board of theology to draft an advisory opinion on the theological statements and practical proposals for amendments put forward in the final report and its four appendices. The ecumenism commission of the EKD was involved in the drafting of the present statement, in an introductory section (I) questions are asked about the reasons and motives for the desired changes in the work of the WCC. Then the solutions proposed in the central section B of the Final Report (1) are assessed: fundamental questions relating to ecclesiology (II), the understanding of common prayer (III), the social and ethical dimension of the WCC's work (IV) and the organizational or decision-making processes in the WCC (V). The statement concludes with recommendations on how to handle the final report and on follow-up (VI).

I. Introduction

I. Present challenges

3. The creation of the Special Commission was decided in 1998 by the Harare assembly and it was given a three-year mandate to draw up proposals for changes in the WCC. These changes were intended to make it easier for the Orthodox churches to remain members of the WCC and continue to play an active part there.

4. There were three main reasons for this decision:

a) The relationship between majorities and minorities in the decision-making process in the WCC is problematic. The Orthodox churches represent a large number of Christians but only a handful of churches when compared to those of Protestant Christians. In addition, in the last few years the number of Protestant member churches has continued to grow. Consequently the Orthodox churches have come to feel themselves pushed into a minority position in the WCC.

b) The relationship between theological, spiritual and ethical questions requires an explanatory description and a new weighting in the work of the WCC. On the one hand, the majority situation described above also has ,consequences in terms of the issues it deals with. On the other, there are differences between the Eastern and Western theological traditions with respect to defining this relationship. Yet the question of what issues are relevant for the WCC and what are irrelevant or unacceptable arises not only for the Orthodox.

c) There is a debate within Orthodoxy with respect to the proper understanding of worship and its ecclesia character, and this is also discussed between the Orthodox and the Western churches. The debate concerns questions about the relationship between ecclesiology and liturgy, and also aspects of church law. These differences also affect the way we together seek the path towards church unity (one baptism, one faith, common prayer).

5. The changes in the WCC's way of working suggested in the final report are meant to help to solve these problems and thus enable all participating churches to continue to work together in the WCC, in a deeper relationship.

2. Historical background to the present problems

6. It is not new for the Orthodox churches to link their cooperation in the WCC with demands that it change its way of working. Thus they have deplored their lack of influence on the development of the WCC. And yet, when the WCC failed to take a clear pnsition on certain topics (e.g. Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, human-rights violations in Romania) this was partly because of the influence of the Orthodox churches. The intensity of Orthodox desires for change, that have recently come to a head, is primarily due to the major political changes in Eastern and Central Europe.

7. Under socialist regimes it was only possible for a small group of church representatives from these countries to participate in the ecumenical movement. In addition, the lack of public awareness in these countries practically prevented the churches from receiving the results of ecumenical dialogues. Furthermore, attending ecumenical conferences was only possible with the permission of the socialist authorities. After the breakdown of communism, the fact of having participated in the ecumenical movement was, in retrospect, equated with conformity to the communist system, or at least interpreted as reflecting close relations with the regime. For these two reasons the ecumenical movement, albeit co-initiated by the Orthodox churches in the 1920s, did not have a broad basis in these churches and their societal environment. In addition, there has been disappointment at the lack of unambiguous statements by the WCC on the situation in the former socialist countries.