An "historic" decision” “

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has decied to abandon its majority procedure and “progressively” adopt the “method of consensus” as a system for taking its own decisions. This is one of the most important innovations decided on by the WCC’s central committee, which met in Geneva from 25 August to 3 September, to respond to the requests of the Orthodox Churches. It is “an historic decision” which will enable the Orthodox Churches to raise their profile” within the WCC. That’s how the Patriarchate of Moscow presented the news of the decision on the official website of the Russian Church. On this question, a crisis had progressively developed in relations between the Orthodox and the Protestant churches – both members of the WCC – and reached its climax on the occasion of the general assembly in Harare in 1998. The numerical superiority of the Protestant churches within the WCC, combined with the decision-making procedures with a majority method, tended to marginalize the Orthodox Churches. It was a voting system – says a press-release issued by the Patriarchate of Moscow – that led the WCC to adopt “theological positions and views alien to the Orthodox tradition and doctrine”. To respond to this difficulty, the Council set up, again in 1998, a “special Commission” with the task of studying new methods for the participation of the Orthodox Churches. After four years of intensive work, the Commission presented its “final report”, which the WCC’s central committee accepted “with profound gratitude”, approving its “main recommendations”. It has therefore been decided that, with the exception of questions relating to finance and personal problems, the debate within the WCC will take place “without vote, until the participants are all of the same view”. According to the Commission’s report, the search for consensus has “more a conciliar than a parliamentary character”; it could have “a conciliatory effect and polarize opinions less”. The new method will be adopted on an experimental basis until 2006. Moreover, a “standing committee” has been set up to examine all the questions relating to the participation of the Orthodox Churches” in the WCC. “Ecumenical prayer” was another question tackled by the special Commission. The committee’s final report proposed to the WCC that the “ecumenical forms of worship” which had been developed within it be abandoned, and be replaced by “common confessional prayers”. These are prayers conducted by a single Christian tradition or realized by one or more confession, but taking all the necessary precautions to ensure that these prayers be not the expression of “an ecumenical Church that does not yet exist”.