CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (AP) - The Rev Robert Bilheimer, a Presbyterian minister who arranged for religious leaders to oppose the war in Vietnam and apartheid in South Africa, has died.
He was 89.
His son, Robert, told The New York Times that the leader in the ecumenical movement died December 17 of complications from a hip fracture and the late stages of Alzheimer's disease.
Bilheimer organized the first meeting of the World Council of Churches in 1948. The council is a broad movement with the goal of Christian unity.
He became an associate general secretary of the council and organized the 1960 mission for the South African members, which led to a proclamation rejecting all religious arguments supporting apartheid.
Bilheimer began work as the senior minister of Central Presbyterian Church in Rochester in 1963.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Bilheimer, three sons and five grandchildren.
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