WCC NEWS: WCC leaders step up as Thursdays in Black ambassadors

Leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC), by becoming Thursdays in Black ambassadors, are acting and speaking out for a world free from rape and violence.  Left to right: vice-moderator H.E. Archbishop Dr Vicken Aykazian, Armenian Apostolic Church, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin; moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria; vice-moderator Rev. Merlyn Hyde Riley, Jamaica Baptist Union. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 26 October 2023 WCC general secretary Rev. Prof Dr Jerry Pillay, in a video released today, explained why he became an ambassador. “Sexual abuse and violence based on a person’s gender or vulnerability should have no place on our streets, in our homes, schools, workplaces, and worship communities,” Pillay said. “From growing up in South Africa to now serving as the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, I have seen the personal tragedies and the community and societal impact of sexual and gender-based violence.” In the coming weeks, the moderator and vice moderators of the WCC central committee will share their vision and commitment to ending gender-based violence.  Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the WCC central committee, says that the Thursdays in Black campaign is “a witness to Jesus Christ.” The issue can hardly be overestimated, he urged. “Sexual violence against women and children is such a burning issue, especially for the churches,” he said. “It is a topic still swept under the rug in societies and, sometimes, especially in churches. What should not be, cannot be.” Rev. Merlyn Hyde Riley,  general secretary of the Jamaica Baptist Union and vice moderator of the WCC central committee, commented that she became an ambassador to stop gender-based violence from denying human dignity. “I’m really proud to be an ambassador in the fight against gender-based violence,” she said. “I find gender-based violence to be extremely concerning because it is so pervasive and so destructive.” Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, vice moderator of the WCC central committee, said he became a Thursdays in Black ambassador to “stand with those who are survivors of gender-based violence, those who have lost loved ones to gender-based violence, and those who strive for a world where all are free from terror and domination.”  He added: “Reaching a world free from rape and violence is not impossible in today’s world, but is imminently possible if we all take the small steps in every way we can, steps in all communities, for all people.”   Thursdays in Black  See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland