Archbishop Wejryd elected President within World Council of Churches

Archbishop Anders Wejryd, Church of Sweden. Photo by Magnus Aronson/IKON.

Archbishop Anders Wejryd was elected President for the European region of the World Council of Churches, whose Assembly is currently under way in Busan, South Korea. Wejryd will represent the World Council of Churches in European contexts and take part in the work of the Central Committee. The World Council of Churches has eight presidents spanning the various continents.

“It feels like I’ve been entrusted with a major task that is likely to be difficult at times. It’s important for me to try to help maintain a good climate for discussion – to ensure that people are able to give different points of view but do not denounce one another,” says Anders Wejryd about his new post in the World Council of Churches, an organisation he has been following since the 1960s.

“It’s also important to continue expanding the World Council of Churches so that more churches with Pentecostal and Charismatic focuses that are interested in ecumenism are included,” he says. Wejryd will take up his post immediately after the close of the Assembly on Friday.

Document on Christian unity
The Assembly of the World Council of Churches is currently under way in Busan, South Korea. The meeting on the theme of justice and peace has brought together over 3,000 participants. From Sweden, around 50 people from various faith communities are taking part, including around 30 from the Church of Sweden.

On Friday the Assembly will meet to determine the church fellowship’s future strategies and adopt a unity statement. The document describes how Christian unity between members of the World Council of Churches can be expressed today.

For more information on the World Council of Churches, visit http://www.oikoumene.org/en.