Orthodox Leaders Call for Social Transformation and Transfiguration

By Pauline J. Chang, Christian Post Reporter Monday, January 17, 2005

The international gathering of World Council of Churches (WCC)-aligned Orthodox Church leaders came to a close with calls for social transformation and transfiguration.

"God's divine unconditional graceful love draws us to Him (Rom. 5,15), because humans are not only created by God but they are created for God. In God we entirely find the purpose of our lives restored and transformed,” the statement read.

"The process of the transfiguration of our socio-economic order (...) involves our personal and communal commitment" and the struggle to forge a "chain of good" affecting all aspects of human life, the report continued. "Christ gathers all things in Him, and the whole of creation is transformed into a new heaven and a new earth.”

The statement was drafted during the pre-assembly meeting of WCC Orthodox member churches in Rhodes, Greece, Jan. 10-17, 2005. The gathering, which attracted more than fifty hierarchs and theologians of several orthodox traditions, was meant to construct a unified Orthodox voice in light of the upcoming WCC ninth assembly. There are twenty two eastern orthodox and oriental orthodox member churches in the WCC, and their combined membership makes up almost half of the Council’s total constituency. The WCC ninth assembly will be held in Brazil in February 2006, under the banner, “God, in your grace, transform the world.”

The text of the report of the Rhodes meeting is available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/rhodesreport.html

More information on the WCC ninth assembly is available at
http://www.wcc-assembly.info