The 60th anniversary of the World Council of the Church, which was officially established on August 13th 1948 and which now gathers 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican Churches from 110 countries across the world, was celebrated yesterday afternoon in the Cathedral of St. Pierre in Geneva, with a solemn ceremony officiated by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. The ceremony was attended in addition to many leaders of the Churches that are members of the WCC by mgr. Brian Farrell, secretary of the Papal Council for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians; Rev. Colin Williams, secretary general of the Conference of European Churches (Kek); and Ishmael Noko, secretary general of the World Lutheran Federation. "During these six decades of our life said the Patriarch Bartholomew I in his homily , the Council acted as an ideal platform, where the Churches, coming from different horizons and belonging to a wide variety of theological and ecclesiological traditions, could talk with each other and promote Christian unity, responding to the many needs of contemporary society". The life of WCC recalled the Patriarch has gone through deep crises, such as the one of the eighth General Assembly of Harare, due to contrasts between the Orthodox members and the Protestant members.
