Press Release
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WCC AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
The Russian Orthodox Church has not suspended or withdrawn its membership of the World Council of Churches.
A meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, held 28-29 December in Moscow, heard a report on the WCC Eighth Assembly from the ROC delegates who attended. The report included details of the Assembly decision to set up a special commission to examine Orthodox concerns with and participation in the World Council of Churches.
The Holy Synod agreed that from now until the results of the special commission were known, the Russian Orthodox Church would suspend its active participation in the regular work of the WCC. In practice, this means elected Russian Orthodox Church members of the WCC executive committee and central committee would attend meetings but would not actively participate in general discussion or voting.
The Holy Synod agreed that the church would fully participate in the work of the special commission.
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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 336, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.