“May the Holy Spirit imbue us with hope”. With this invocation ends the traditional message that the World Council of Churches sends out every year (and has done since 1950) on the occasion of Pentecost. This year the text of the message was prepared by metropolitan Chrysostomos of Ephesos (Turkey) and was signed by eight representatives of the WCC’s member churches. The metropolitan dwelt on the power of the Spirit that descended on the apostles at Pentecost. “In a world of violence he explained we recall the descent of the Holy Spirit as a violent wind accompanied by tongues of fire. But the irruption of the Holy Spirit “is neither brutal nor destructive. It is violent and yet it honours the image of God in the human being”. “Only the irruption of the Paraclete ends the message may triumph over the brutal manifestation of evil and violence in our life and in the world”.
