1.

Background of the Study

The attempt to restore unity among Christians was lost a millennium ago between

Catholics and Orthodox, and half a millennium ago between Catholics and Protestants.

As a new millennium approaches, the drive to restore what was lost has gained new

momentum.

Pope Francis had a dialogue on the 14th of October 2021 and highlighted the St.

Iraneus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group’s aim of seeking ways in which the

“different traditions can enrich one another without losing their identity”. He also

expressed pleasure that it is neither a commission nor a committee, but rather a “working

group” that “assembles in fraternal and patient dialogue experts from various Churches

and different countries, who desire to pray and study together for the sake of unity”. He

encouraged those present with the help of God, to work to break down dividing walls and

to build bridges of communion(vaticannews.va).

A. The World Council of Churches

i. HISTORY

According to the World Council of Churches, in the 1930s and '40s, as

plans were being made for creation of the organization, the majority of

churches involved were based in Europe and North America.

Representation of churches by geographical regions arose from a vision of

Christian unity that would no longer be held captive by "western

parochialism" but provide a balance among churches of east and west,

south, and north. This balanced diversity was deemed essential to the

catholicity, or universality, of the world-wide church.

The WCC has identified eight regions that complement one another in

their partnership (see Figure 1.2). Most of these regions have inaugurated

autonomous regional ecumenical organizations (REOs) exhibiting their

differences from one another in terms of history, membership,

organizational structure, and decision-making. Representatives of each

region attempt to apply the goals of the global movement toward unity

within those cultural contexts where their member churches live and bear

witness.

Figure 1.2
 The 8 regions housing the WCC member churches

At the time of the foundation of the World Council of Churches in

1948 there were no regional ecumenical organizations yet. The first to

come into being was the East Asia Christian Conference (EACC), in 1957.

It was followed in 1959 by the Conference of European Churches (CEC).

At the early stage of this new development in the ecumenical movement,

the leadership of the WCC voiced some concern that it would lead to

fragmentation and weakening of the oneness of the movement. However,

the creation of regionalized ecumenical instruments reflected the felt need

of the churches for a place where they could deal with the specific issues

of their region, and make their voice heard at the regional level. Regional

ecumenical organizations also provide a context for the churches to

express and celebrate their common regional identity, culturally,

historically, and politically.

In 1963, the African churches founded the All-Africa Conference of

Churches (AACC), and in 1966 the churches in the Pacific established the

Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC). The Caribbean Conference of

Churches (CCC) was formed in 1973. That same year the East Asia

Christian Conference became the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA). In

1974, the churches of the Middle East brought into being the Middle East

Council of Churches (MECC). And in 1982 the churches in Latin America

created the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI). The only region

where there is no such body is North America.

 Although the regional ecumenical organizations (REOs as they are

being called) share a common identity and constitute a distinctive group

within the one ecumenical movement, they differ in approach, priorities,

working style, and structure, according to the particularities of each

region. The different designations of "conference" and "council" also

reflect nuances in their self-understanding. In two of them, the Christian

Conference of Asia and the Pacific Conference of Churches, national

councils of churches are full members along with the churches. The

Caribbean Conference of Churches has a category of associate

membership for national councils of churches; the All-Africa Conference

of Churches, the Conference of European Churches and the Latin

American Council of Churches have a similar associate status for councils

and other organizations. The Middle East Council of Churches is shaped

according to the specific model of "families of churches".

In three of the regional bodies the Catholic Church is a full member: in

the Caribbean Conference of Churches as founding member, in the Pacific

Conference of Churches since 1976 and 1991, and in the Middle East

Council of Churches since 1990. The Christian Conference of Asia works

closely with the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, with which it

has formed an Asian Ecumenical Committee. Similarly, the Conference of

European Churches and the Council of European Bishops' Conferences

cooperate in various programs and have jointly organized European

 Ecumenical Assemblies. The Latin American Council of Churches is in

dialogue with the Latin American Episcopal Conference.

In the early 1980s, the regional ecumenical organizations began to

develop inter-regional cooperation. The general secretaries of the

organizations started meeting regularly, to share information and discuss

common concerns. The World Council of Churches joined this process. In

1992, the REOs and the WCC formulated and agreed on a set of "guiding

principles for relationships and cooperation". Since then, an "REOs and

WCC General Secretaries Group" meets annually. It should be underlined

that the regional ecumenical organizations are entirely autonomous bodies,

which in no way depend structurally or otherwise on the WCC. The WCC

has formally acknowledged the REOs in its Rules as "essential partners in

the ecumenical enterprise". This partnership is reflected in the intensive

program cooperation between WCC teams and REOs, in a variety of

ways, according to the nature of the programs and the regional priorities

(oikumene.org).

According to Geneve International, the World Council of Churches

(WCC) is the broadest and most inclusive among the many organized expressions

of the modern ecumenical movement. Recognized as found in 1910, the WCC

portrays a fellowship of churches, like the League of Nations. However, due to

the outbreak of the second world war, the inauguration of the WCC, with over a

hundred participating churches, was held back indefinitely. Early religious bodies

affiliated to the WCC promoted and upheld various conferences for faith and
order through theological study and sacrament, as well as life and work through

social ministries, communion, and services.

The WCC oversees and represents about 580 million Christians under 352

churches, denominations, and church fellowships in more than 120 countries. The

figure includes most of the world’s Orthodox churches, scores of Anglican

Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, and reformed churches, among many united and

independent churches.

Figure 1.1
Ecumenical Center, Geneva Switzerland
Source: commons.wikimedia.org

The Ecumenical Center in Switzerland currently houses five Church

organizations: ACT Alliance, Ecumenical Church Loan Fund, Lutheran World

Federation, World Student Christian Federation, and the World Council of

Churches. The religious establishment also served as the headquarters of the

Conference of European Churches, Ecumenical News International, and the

World Communion of Reformed Churches (oikumene.org).

ii. WCC Programs and Initiatives

All WCC programs aim to support the member churches an ecumenical

partner to journey together, promoting justice and peace in the world as an

expression of faith in the Triune God. Today the WCC focuses its work in the

program areas of Unity, Mission and Ecumenical Relations, Public Witness and

Diakonia, and Ecumenical Formation (oikumene.org).

All efforts share a responsibility for transversal issues, such as strengthening

relationships with member churches and ecumenical partners, spiritual life, youth

engagement, inter-religious dialogue and cooperation and building a just

community of women and men.

 Ecumenical Office to the United Nations (EOUN)

Housed at the Church Center for the United Nations, the

EOUN is the World Council of Churches’ focal point for advocacy

initiatives at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

The EOUN is a key instrument, helping to create a platform

for the most marginalized, particularly those from the Global

South, to bear witness to their experiences and truth in order to

influence policy and decision making at the UN in New York,

among member states, and within other intergovernmental and

multilateral institutions.
 By engaging in continuous dialogue and programmatic

cooperation with such agencies as the United Nations Inter-Agency

Task Force on Religion and Sustainable Development, the United

Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population

Fund (UNFPA), and UN Women, the WCC aims to strengthen and

enhance UN discourse and practice on issues of peace and security,

sustainable development, and human rights. Through these

dynamic partnerships, the EOUN serves to echo the call to action

of the ecumenical fellowship, promoting peace building,

reconciliation, human rights, peaceful resistance to violence, and

sustainable development.

 Church and Ecumenical Relations

The constitutional basis of the WCC says that it is a

fellowship of churches. For a strong fellowship, the member

churches, as well as related regional and national councils, need to

nurture a strong sense of ownership of the WCC’s work.

The WCC was created by the churches in order to call each

other to visible unity. It also serves to strengthen relations and

cooperations with churches outside the WCC, and among all

Christians.

 On Racism, Discrimination and Xenophobia

 WCC work on overcoming racism focuses on the

theological and ecclesial challenges faced by the churches in

dealing with racial injustice in society.

 Commission on World Mission and Evangelism

Within the WCC, the mission movement is represented by

the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME). It

offers spaces for sharing reflections, experiences, questions, and

discoveries on the theology, content, and methods of common

Christian witness today.

 WCC Archives and Library

The WCC Archives and Library form the institutional and

historical memory of the World Council of Churches and the

modern ecumenical movement. They ensure for future generations

a long-term access to this unique and invaluable documentary

resource and ecumenical heritage, while furthering ecumenical

research and education locally and globally.

 Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance

The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, an ecumenical

initiative of the WCC, is a global network of churches and related

organizations committed to campaigning together for justice and

human dignity. Current campaign issues are HIV and AIDS, food

security and sustainable agriculture.

  Peacebuilding: Conflict transformation and Reconciliation

Christians and churches are entrusted with the ministry of peace

and reconciliation. The WCC response to violence and violent

conflict today is based on decades of ecumenical deliberation,

understanding, practice and advocacy, assisting churches to make

progress toward greater unity for peace.

 Faith and Order Commission

Faith and order refer to two areas in which remaining

disagreements prevent communion or unity among Christian

churches. Significant disagreements on what churches believe

prevent common life among them. The Commission on Faith and

Order undertakes theological studies so that the churches may

reach sufficient agreement across their diversity and grow in

mutual care and accountability. In doing so, the churches are

persistent in their belief that the church of Jesus Christ is not many

“churches” but One Church.

 Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation

WCC attempts to strengthen interreligious trust and respect

through bilateral and multilateral dialogues, and through regional

and cross-cultural encounters on topics like religion and violence

and the search for identity in pluralistic societies (oikumene.org).

B. The National Council of Churches in the Philippines

 The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) was founded

in 1963. It is an ecumenical fellowship of non- Roman Catholic denominations in

the Philippines under the World Council of Churches, working together for unity

in faith and order.

The NCCP is organized in ten regional ecumenical councils: Cordillera,

Cagayan Valley, Pangasinan-Ilocos-La Union-Abra, Romblon-Mindoro, Palawan,

Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Cotabato, Misamis Oriental-Camiguin-

Butuan-Lanao, Basilan-Zamboanga-Misamis Occidental Regional Ecumenical

Council; and has ten member churches: Apostolic Catholic Church (ACC),

Convention of the Baptist Churches (CPBC), Episcopal Church in the Philippines

(ECP), Evangelical Church in the Philippines/ Iglesia Evangelica Metodista En

Las Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF), Philippine Independent Church/ Iglesia Filipina

Independiente (IFI), Iglesia Unida Ecumenical (IUE), Lutheran Church in the

Philippines (LCP), The Salvation Army (TSA), United Church of Christ in the

Philippines (UCCP), and The United Methodist Church (UMC).

The ministry of the NCCP is organized into three distinct programs –

Ecumenical Education and Nurture, Christian Unity and Ecumenical Relations,

and Faith, Witness and Service – which seek to express its mission of promoting

fellowship, being a channel of united witness and a vibrant and credible

institution for Christian solidarity towards genuine transformation of church and

society (nccphilippines.org).

i. NCCP Programs and Initiatives

 Ecumenical Education and Nurture

The NCCP’s effort towards Ecumenical Education and

Nurture is guided by a principle: Education is not neutral, it is

passive, and cannot be compartmentalized. Its task is to educate

people on values that promote Shalom and to empower people

towards an inclusive community where more people can

participate in God’s Oikumene. The program unit operates through

four program thrusts: Nurture and Value Formation, Capacity

Building and Ecumenical Formation, Ecumenical Leadership

Formation, and Advocacy, Networking and Publications.

 Christian Unity

Movement towards unity is the heartbeat of ecumenical

work. The desire for unity is a gift inherent in every

person/Christian, therefore, the task of stoking the passion for

unity work is the task of the NCCP. These persons and groups will

be participants and bearers of the ecumenical movement, thus

making it their own. The NCCP, therefore, is a facilitator for the

movement for unity.

 Ecumenical Relations, Witness and Service

The Program Unit on Faith, Witness and Service has the main task

of making church people better critical thinkers and responsible

members of society, projecting the NCCP and all it stands for in

 the local and international communities and ministering to the

needs of the poor and the marginalized to uplift their condition

(nccphilippines.org).

C. Religion Distribution in the Philippines

Religion plays a significant role in the lives of Filipinos. Majority of Filipinos

are Christians; Figure 1.3 shows the religion distribution in the Philippines.

Figure 1.3
Religion Affiliation of Filipinos
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2015 Census

According to the 2015 census, 94% of the Philippine population follows

Christianity, out of which 79.5% practices Catholicism and the remaining 11.6% belong

to the Iglesia ni Cristo, Evangelicals, Aglipayans, and other Christian groups. The

Spanish rulers introduced Catholic ideas during the 16th century. During the long rule of
 Spain over the Philippines, the Christian religion was well established in the country's

veins.

2. Statement of the Problem

Christians are divided into thousands of denominations. According to the

Philippine Statistics Authority, Christianity is the dominant religion and there are more

than a hundred different Christian denominations in the Philippines. 79.5% of Christians

are Roman Catholics and it is also evident that other Christian churches have already

reached a sizable proportion of the country’s population.

Some people experience discrimination because of the differences between their

views and beliefs or the church that they belong to and that is caused by the lack of

understanding and perception of ecumenism. Commitment to ecumenical education needs

to be strengthened and a broader range of ecumenical resources is needed to achieve

unity among Christians. The different branches of the Christian faith are not separate

religions, but rather these churches have different interpretations of what the Christian

religion is supposed to be.

Religion is used as a criterion to make discriminatory rules and regulations.

Discrimination based on religious differences is a growing problem in the world today.

This gives rise to tension among people, religions, cultures, and nations and can be a

threat to justice and peace.