Theme Plenary, 31 October

This is a recording of the Theme Plenary at the WWC 10th Assembly 2013, Busan, Republic of Korea. The theme plenary set the agenda for the ensuing plenaries and ecumenical conversations, each of which is rooted in the assembly theme. Through the contributions of key personalities from the church and from society, the theme plenary offered reflections on how to interpret the current world situation, the role of the churches and the life of the WCC fellowship, in light of the prayer "God of life, lead us to justice and peace".

Moderator

H.E. Archbishop Dr Vicken Aykazian is Turkish-born, and currently leads the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern). He is the president of the National Council of Churches in the USA, and actively engaged in the ecumenical movement and in the World Council of Churches. Archbishop Vicken was formerly Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church in Switzerland.

Speakers

Mr Michel Sidibé is the Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Mr Sidibé's passion for advancing global health began in his native Mali, where he took up the cause of the nomadic Tuareg people. Since those early days, Mr Sidibé has spent more than 25 years in public service. He is an advocate with a people- centred approach, and has called for the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015.

Dr Wedad Abbas Tawfik is an Egyptian lay person of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. She is member of the Middle East Council of Churches' (MECC) Women's Program, the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, and of the (Coptic) Papal Women's Committee. She is currently a professor at the Institute of Coptic Studies in Cairo. She has been a member of the WCC's Plenary Commission on Faith and Order since 2006.

Bishop Duleep Kamil de Chikera was the Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka from 2001-2010. He is an Asian theologian with particular interest in the areas of justice and peace and interfaith collaboration. He is a founder member of the Congress of Religions and the Friday Forum, both of which engage in advocacy for human rights and democratic space in Sri Lanka. Bishop Duleep is also a member of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA).

Mrs Mélisande Schifter, M.Th. is of German and Thai descent and a young theologian of the Evangelical Church in Baden, Germany, with experience in East Africa, China and the USA. She currently serves the WCC in the programme on Ecumenical Theological Education. She also serves at Globethics, working on the global digital library on theology and ecumenism. Mrs Schifter holds a Master of Theology and is engaged in research for her doctoral thesis on Chinese Christianity.

The plenary also included a greeting from his Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas -- Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. The greeting is also available here.

High resolution photos available via http://photos.oikoumene.org/?c=3272