70 years ago — March 4, 1946
“The first world-wide gathering of Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Christian leaders since 1939 has recently been meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Men from the prisons and concentration camps, like Norway’s Bishop Berggrav and Germany’s Pastor Niemoeller, have been able to meet with their brethren from America, Britain and other lands around the world for the first time since before the war. During the long years of conflict the Christian ‘underground,’ a heroic band of men and women, managed to maintain some contacts across the barriers of war. Now the unbroken fellowship can be openly expressed.”
The purpose of the conference was to plan the 1947 meeting of the World Council of Churches. With Christians in the minority in the world it was important to be united and organized. “The church can show that its branches through their union in Christ have found a solution of the problem of achieving unity without destroying diversity. That is the type of leadership the world so desperately needs.”
From the article, “Four fronts for peace, part three: The church front” by Henry St. George Tucker.
