CCA Condemns Suicide Bombing Targeting Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II

Programme Review and Programme Direction

Two key deliberative sessions during the 15th CCA General Assembly are the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions.

The Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions will both be conducted in three groups relating to the CCA’s programme areas, namely, (i) General Secretariat (GS), (ii) Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF); and (iii) Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia (PD).

Assembly participants will have the option to join one of three groups for both the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions. For the sake of coherence, the assigned group will remain the same for both sessions.

General Secretariat

The General Secretariat oversees the coordination of programmatic, administrative, and financial activities of the organization. The GS comprises various departments such as church and ecumenical relations, relations with ecumenical partners, finance, administration, and communications, which provide crucial support and services for the implementation of programs and contribute to the overall functioning of the CCA.

Programmes: Relations with member churches and councils, ecumenical partners; advocacy at the United Nations; ecumenical responses to emerging issues in solidarity; income development and finance; and communications.

Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)

Under the MU programme area, the CCA accompanies Asian churches to strengthen their mission and witness in multi-religious contexts, revitalise and nurture church unity and the Asian ecumenical movement, and develop contextual theological foundations.

Programmes: Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU); Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS); Asian women doing theology in the context of wider ecumenism; contextualisation of theology in Asia and ecumenical theological education.

The EF programme area focuses on nurturing and developing ecumenical leaders in Asia. The programme aims to enhance spiritual formation and theological understanding, enabling people to actively engage in ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.

Programmes: Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA); Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI); Youth and Women Leadership Development; Ecumenical Spirituality and Nurturing of Contextual Liturgical Traditions; Asia Sunday

Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)

The BP programme area is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in Asia’s diverse contexts. Through training, advocacy, and dialogue, the programme addresses the root causes of conflicts, empowers communities, and fosters sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.

Programmes: Pastoral Solidarity Visits; Churches in Action for Moving Beyond Conflict and Resolution; Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA); Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV); Eco-Justice for Sustainable Peace in the Oikos.

The PD programme area focuses on promoting justice, human rights, and social transformation in Asia. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and raising awareness, the programme addresses systemic injustice, empowers marginalised communities, and advocates for prophetic actions and meaningful change.

Programmes: Human Rights advocacy; Migration, Statelessness, and Trafficking in Persons; Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network; Asian Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC); Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment and Diakonia in Asia (ESADA); Health and Healing; Good Governance; Action Together to Combat HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

No preference updated.

20 June 2016

AphremIIMay2014The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) condemned the suicide bomber attack in the Church of St. Gabriel in the Al Wusta district, Qamishli, north-eastern Syria, during celebrations for the Orthodox Pentecost and in commemoration of the 1915 genocide led by Patriarch His Holiness Ignatius Aphrem II.

While expressing CCA’s concern about the suicide bomber attack targeting the Supreme leader of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, the General Secretary of CCA, Dr. Mathews George Chunakara, stated that the ”CCA is deeply saddened by this  unfortunate event and we share the concern of all those peace loving people and communities in Asia and around the world as we  pray for the blessed life and continued leadership of the Patriarch who works for sustained peace in the Middle East region ”.

The CCA General Secretary added that, “the ongoing violence by terrorist groups against the minority Christian communities in Syria and other parts of the Middle East is a serious concern. It is unfortunate that a series of five suicide bomber attacks against the Assyrian minorities in Syria took place in the past six months. The terrorist attack against any religious and cultural minority is deplorable and the international community should act collectively to stop the ongoing terrorist attacks in the Middle East”.

“It is unfortunate that a large number of Christians in the homelands where Christianity was born and rooted have already left their ancestral homes and lands as they are unable to survive because of their faith and religious identity”, Dr. Mathews George Chunakara said.

The members of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East are widely scattered in various Asian countries and they include CCA member constituencies in India, Iran, Australia and New Zealand.

CCA appeals to its member churches and councils to pray specially for peace in Syria and in other countries in Middle East regions.