Drafting Groups - Origin and mandate
During its 9th Assembly held in Porto Alegre, members of the ecumenical community adopted a document on "Vulnerable populations at risk. Statement on the responsibility to protect", where they made the following recommendation:
h) Asks the Central Committee to consider a study process engaging all member churches and ecumenical organisations in order to develop an extensive ecumenical declaration on peace, firmly rooted in an articulated theology. This should deal with topics such as just peace, the Responsibility to Protect, the role and the legal status of non-state combatants, the conflict of values (for example: territorial integrity and human life). It should be adopted at the conclusion of the Decade to Overcome Violence in 2010. [read more...] |
The International Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace that will be adopted at the Convocation in 2011 (in Kingston, Jamaica) will be one of the culminating points of the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV). With this in mind, a first Drafting Group composed of eminent theologians from different confessions was formed in order to reflect on the Declaration on Peace.
Drafting the declaration
As input for their work they took into consideration the deliberations and reports from Living Letters visits and Expert Consultations that had taken place up to mid-July 2008 as well as contributions that had been submitted by seminaries and theological faculties. An "Initial Statement Towards an Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace" (Initial Statement) was developed, refined and translated to be made available in the four working languages of the WCC: English, French, German and Spanish. With this, the work of the first Drafting Group was completed. This initial statement was sent to WCC member churches and other interested constituency members to solicit their reactions during the course of 2009.
The DOV Reference Group, which met in April 2009, initiated the formation of a second drafting group to amend the Initial Statement, reflecting the reactions received to the first draft as well as any new input from the Living Letters, consultations or theological institutions.
The 2nd Drafting Group met in Bogotà, Colombia from 20 to 27 March 2010.
Second Drafting Group:
- Rev. Dr Jione HAVEA
- Prof. Dr Scott John HOLLAND
- Ms Susan JACOB
- Rev. Iselin JØRGENSEN
- Prof. Dr Assaad Elias KATTAN
- Canon Bernice Joyce NIMA
- Dr Anna Kasafi PERKINS
- Rev. Dr Konrad RAISER (moderator)
- Rev. Peter STUCKY
- Mrs Alba Luz ARRIETA CABRALES (consultant)
Their next meeting is scheduled from 27 September to 3 October. The final document will be ready by the end of 2010 for presentation to the WCC Central Committee which meets in February of 2011 and then to the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation and finally delivered to the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Korea.
