World Council of Churches head emphasizes importance of unity

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This article was published 14/12/2024 (301 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Rev. Dr. Jerry Pillay was disappointed. Sitting in the Elm Pizzeria and Café on Henderson Highway last weekend, the South Africa-born and raised head of the World Council of Churches (WCC) said he had been promised freezing cold temperatures in Winnipeg.

Instead, the temperature hovered around four degrees Celsius, more like what it was like in Geneva, Switzerland where he is the general secretary of the WCC — an organization that represents over 580 million Christians belonging to 352 churches and denominations in 120 countries and territories throughout the world.

Pillay was in Canada Dec. 4-9 to help the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) mark its 80th anniversary. Although the main celebrations for that anniversary were in Toronto, Winnipeg was selected as the only other Canadian stop for Pillay so he could meet with Indigenous leaders and visit the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR).

During a conversation, Pillay said it is important for churches to work together to address “the big global issues” in the world — things like climate change, conflict, hunger, poverty and injustice. “We are stronger together,” he said.

For him, Christian unity is important in a world that is becoming increasingly divided and polarized, he went on to say. “A divided church has no message for a divided world,” he stated.

People from different denominations and church groups working together also sends a message of hope in a world where so many people feel hopeless. “The church should be a community of hope and healing,” Pillay said.

But churches should not shy away from addressing challenging issues, he added, even if that causes tension in the fellowship or results in criticism.

One of those challenging issues is the war in Gaza. The WCC has not been shy to speak out against it, calling for ceasefire and criticizing the “indiscriminate nature of the Israeli military actions in the territory, and of the lack of respect for fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and morality.”

The Council went on to call for the unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza, “as well as of persons detained in Gaza and the West Bank without due legal process.” It also called for the end to “illegal” settlements in the West Bank, saying that settlement expansion must “stop immediately.”

Those statements prompted some members of Jewish communities around the world to criticize the WCC for targeting Israel, Pillay acknowledged.

The WCC “is not against Israel,” he stated. What the Council is against is “the killing of thousands of civilians in Gaza. It’s very clear that the killing of civilians is wrong. This is a justice issue for us. It’s not a political stand … we feel called to take an advocacy role on behalf of those being harmed by the war.”

Another challenging issue is the war between Russia and Ukraine — something that strikes close to home for the Council since it involves member churches on both sides.

Right from the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the WCC called the war “illegal and unjustifiable” and “incompatible with God’s very nature and will for humanity and against our fundamental Christian and ecumenical principles.

Like all war, it is contrary to the Bible, which calls on Christians “to be peacemakers in the midst of conflict,” the Council said.

The Council also rejected the use of religious language to justify the invasion, as when the head of the Russian Orthodox Church called the invasion a “holy war.”

One topic on which there is widespread support is engagement with and support for Indigenous people — a key reason for why Pillay was keen to come to Winnipeg. He described his meetings at the NCTR, and with local Indigenous people as “powerful experiences,” times when he learned more about their spirituality and heard their stories.

For Kaila Johnston, who directs education at the NCTR, Pillay’s visit was a welcome opportunity to talk about the important role churches can plan in reconciliation with Indigenous people here in Canada and in other countries.

Among the topics addressed during his visit was how to deal with things like residential school denialism, and other ways some people try to diminish the negative impacts of colonialism on Indigenous people. They also spoke about how Indigenous people who are Christians can claim both identities without contradiction and through celebration.

“We have some really great resources other groups like the WCC can use,” Johnston said of how the NCTR can be of service to the Council.

One subject that came up with Pillay and others at The Elm was about the role Canadian Christians can play in the worldwide ecumenical movement. Peter Noteboom, general secretary of the CCC, came along with Pillay for his visit to Winnipeg. For him, it’s about how Christians in this country can promote the Canadian “capacity to listen and make room for others.”

Canadians, he said, often end up in ecumenical leadership roles because of their commitment to fairness, justice and equity. “We can work to bring hope in times of division,” he added.

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