After the Second World War, the World Council of Churches (WCC) was founded in 1948 as part of a grand peace project after the wartime atrocities. Leading persons from the ecumenical moment such as Willem Visser’t Hooft and John R. Mott intended a fellowship of churches which confesses the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures.

Today the churches in the WCC pursue the vision of ecumenism as they seek visible unity in one faith and one Eucharistic fellowship. The WCC promotes common witness in work for mission and evangelism, and engages in Christian service by meeting human need, breaking down barriers between people, seeking justice and peace, and upholding the integrity of creation.

In the beginning most of the member churches were from Europe, including the Ecumenical Patriarchate and some Eastern churches. During the 1960s, the influx of the Orthodox Churches from then communist Eastern Europe and the churches from southern Africa brought new perspectives.

It is a challenge that the Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC. However, it is a full member of the Faith & Order Commission and has representatives participating in many working groups and national ecumenical institutions.

The PRO ORIENTE Summer Course focuses on:
− The history of and changes in the ecumenical movement
− The Joint Working Group between the Catholic Church and the WCC
− New churches – new members
− Local and national ecumenical work
− The document ‘The Church: Towards a Common Vision’, published by the Faith & Order Commission in 2013

Speakers:
− Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the WCC, Geneva, Switzerland
− Rev. Esther Handschin, Methodist, Member of the Austrian Council of Churches, Vienna, Austria
− Fr. Dr. William Henn OFM Cap., professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome
− Dr. habil. Katharina Kunter, historian, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
− Dr. Theophilose Kuriakose, Metropolitan of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kerala, India
− Prof. Dr. Annemarie Mayer, professor at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Leuven, Belgium

Moderator:
Prof. Dr. Dietmar W. Winkler, professor at the University of Salzburg, member of the board of PRO ORIENTE

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