   Tveit was speaking today (June 3), the second day of the 2010 World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh that commemorates a similar event in the capital of Scotland 100 years ago at which only one black African and 19 Asians were among more than 1,000 delegates present.
   “The churches can be witnesses of hope in times of injustice, of financial crises, of violence and tensions between peoples of faith, and of environmental threats,” said Tveit, a Norwegian theologian whose Geneva-based WCC traces its roots to the 1910 conference in Edinburgh.
   “Unity and Mission were the two main streams which led to the formation of the World Council of Churches. This wisdom led the International Missionary Council — ‘the child of Edinburgh’ — and the WCC to merge in 1961,” said Tveit, who took up his post in January.
   “Christian mission is called to offer reconciliation to humanity — with God, with fellow human beings, and with creation — a life that has the quality of the eternal life,” said the WCC general secretary, who noted that “many more sectors of world Christianity now take their inspiration” from the 1910 conference than those that actually participated in the event.
   The Roman Catholic Church is present at the 2010 conference, but was not represented 100 years ago.
   Pope Benedict XVI, in a message to the 2010 event, said, “I send my greetings to those gathered during these days in Scotland for the centennial of the first Edinburgh Missionary Conference, which is now acknowledged to have given birth to the modern ecumenical movement. May we all renew our commitment to work humbly and patiently, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to live again together our common apostolic heritage.”
   Tveit in his speech noted, however, that there is an awareness that “many Christians do not feel represented here and we humbly acknowledge the limitations of this conference.
   “Despite very positive developments, the past century has unfortunately experienced much hostility in mission, and we know this all too well,” said the WCC head, asserting there have been “many difficult lessons to learn.”
   “Our struggles with mission have included valid criticism towards different actors, a wide variety of reflections, as well as critical commentaries on the WCC’s work,” said Tveit.
   “We have all learned about the links between mission and colonialism, about shameful power struggles, and about the need for renewing the response to the Gospel in what used to be called Christian cultures,” he stated.
   “Nobody needs triumphalistic movements and churches,” said the Norwegian theologian. “The world needs faithful disciples of Christ, always carrying the cross in love and solidarity with the world for which Christ died.”
   Tveit in his speech also stated, “We cannot ignore that mission is a challenging theme in our relations to people of other faiths.”
   In recent weeks, the conference has faced organizational problems and differences as to who should account for its program. Two days before the meeting the international director of the conference, the Rev. Daryl Balia, a South African Methodist, said he had been suspended from his post.
   In the run up to the meeting, Balia had released two documents deeply critical of the conference. He also said organizers had rejected his ideas for a more inclusive gathering that would have had an inter-faith component.
   The WCC has 349 member churches, principally Anglican, Orthodox, and Protestant. The Roman Catholic Church does not belong to the WCC but has members in some of its bodies.
— ENI news correspondent Trevor Grundy contributed to this report.
