News

WCC executive committee will meet in Colombia to strengthen peacebuilding work

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee will meet 6-11 June in Bogota, Colombia, to reaffirm its commitment to the peace process in the country and to further develop the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity.

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Bogota

Plaza de Bolívar, in Bogota, Colombia.

Photo:
Marcelo Schneider/WCC
07 May 2024
Executive Committee of the WCC
Regions
Latin America

The executive committee will meet in Colombia at the invitation of the Presbyterian Church in Colombia and in support of the churches’ involvement in peacebuilding and reconciliation. The program includes discussion, visits and celebrations with the churches, communities and government to learn more about the work for peace in Colombia. 

“The reason for our intuitive agreement to bring the WCC executive committee to Colombia is part of our mission as WCC”, said Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the WCC central committee. “We acknowledge the important role the churches are playing in the peace process and we feel a great readiness to do whatever we can to support all those who are engaged overcoming conflict and violence in Colombia”, he added. 

In 2023, the WCC, with the Colombian Episcopal Conference, United Nations Mission in Colombia, and Organization of American States, has been appointed as a permanent accompanier for peace talks with the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) FARC-EP . 

The meeting will be hosted by the churches and ecumenical partners in Colombia, many of whom will accompany the executive committee as observers. The spiritual life includes prayer each morning with different churches.

For Rev. Milton Mejia, coordinator of DiPaz, the main ecumenical peacebuilding platform in Colombia, the meeting of the WCC governing body in Colombia is “a sign of its commitment to continue accompanying the search for peace through dialogue and the churches in our country in working with communities that maintain experiences of peace”, he said. 

“We are sure that this meeting will be a time to reaffirm joint work commitments between the WCC and Dipaz that will strengthen the contribution to the Colombian people's hope for peace”, added Mejia.

The business agenda of the executive committee includes the regular business of the executive committee meeting, including receiving 2023 narrative programme reports and audited financial reports, monitoring the implementation of WCC strategies, 2024 plans and budget and planning for 2025.