Brazil picked for WCC's 2006 assembly

Christian Century, Sept 11, 2002

The General Assembly of the World Council of Churches will meet for the first time in Latin America. The WCC central committee selected Porto Alegre, Brazil, for the 2006 gathering of its highest decision-making conference.

WCC General Secretary Konrad Raiser told journalists September 3 that the Porto Alegre assembly also would be the first time the World Council had accepted an invitation from a national church council that includes the Roman Catholic Church.

He said this would help to demonstrate that "locally, nationally and regionally" relations between WCC churches and the Catholic Church are growing and intensifying. The Catholic Church does not belong to the 342-member WCC, although it works in cooperation with the ecumenical body.

Catholicism in Brazil claims the allegiance of 89 percent of the population. Porto Alegre, nonetheless, is an important center for Lutheranism, which was brought to Brazil in the 19th century by German immigrants. In secret balloting, the southern Brazil city topped challenges from Seoul, South Korea, and Nicosia, Cyprus, to host the assembly, which last met in 1998 in Harare, Zimbabwe. --ENI