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WCC Assembly Addresses Public Issues, Water Concerns

Churches and ecumenical partners were called to work together to preserve and protect water resources against over-consumption and pollution during the WCC 9th Assembly.

Churches and ecumenical partners were called to work together to preserve and protect water resources against over-consumption and pollution during the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The WCC approved a statement this week that described water as “an integral part of the right to life,” according to a report released by the ecumenical body on Tuesday.

The "Statement on Water for Life" drew on the demands made by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, who said that water should never be treated as private property and that “indifference towards the vitality of water constitutes both a blasphemy to God the Creator and a crime against humanity.”

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The 9th Assembly stated: “Access to freshwater supplies is becoming an urgent matter across the planet. The survival of 1.2 billion people is currently in jeopardy due to lack of adequate water and sanitation.

“Agreements concerning international watercourses and river basins,” it continued, “need to be more concrete, setting out measures to enforce treaties made and incorporating detailed conflict resolution mechanisms in case disputes erupt.”

This week has also seen discussion taking place on other public issues such as vulnerable populations, terrorism and human rights, and reform of the United Nations.

The World Council of Churches Assembly only gathers once every six to eight years, and unites to represent the world’s largest grouping of Christian churches.

Delegates have gathered from more than 120 countries across the globe and are representing a combined total of about 500 million people.

The WCC has testified that the Assembly will go towards supporting the motion that “A world without poverty is not only possible, but is in keeping with the grace of God for the world.”

In a statement released before the gathering, the Rev Samuel Kobia, the General Secretary of the WCC, said that the 21st Century has been marked by destructive power and has disgraced human dignity.

The WCC has testified the hope that the Assembly will “mark the beginning of a new phase in the search for Christian unity.”

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