It was with deep grief and distress that the World Council of Churches (WCC) received the news of the passing away of Dr Johannes Rau, the former president of Germany, "a friend of the ecumenical movement"."A humanist and a practising Christian," Rau will be remembered for his work during the 1950s for "the unification of Germany and reconciliation with the victims of fascism and the Holocaust," WCC deputy general secretary Georges Lemopoulos affirmed in a letter to WCC member churches in Germany.
Rau addressed the WCC central committee meeting in Potsdam in February 2001. At that time, he reminded its members of "the need for churches and religious organizations to play an important role in accompanying the political decision-making process in order to ensure that it remain faithful to the aspirations of the people".
Called "brother Johannes" by his friends for his engagement in the church, Rau was "a friend of the ecumenical movement" and "recognized the important role religion had come to play during the post-cold war period in the civil and political life of most nations," the letter says.
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Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.
