Tribute to His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, of blessed memory

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.

21 March 2012
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

20 March, 2012

To: The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church
Your Eminences and Graces, Respected members of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,It is with great sorrow that we received the sad news of the passing away of Pope Shenouda III, spiritual head of the Egyptian Coptic Church on March 17, 2012. The Christian Conference of Asia shares your grief and sorrow at the loss of your beloved Patriarch who served the Coptic Church for four decades with wisdom, courage and compassion.His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, brought to his office not only his erudition and intellect, but also the piety and serenity of monastic life and the years he spent in solitude as a hermit. We understand that he inspired the growth of the church both within and outside Egypt and courageously stood for the rights of the country’s Christian Minority.
The Papal funeral

His vision and zeal for fellowship and unity of all Christians led him to visit   Rome in 1973 and sign a Declaration of Common Faith with Pope Paul VI.  Hailed as the first meeting between Alexandrine and Roman pontiffs since 451 AD, this event will go down in history as a journey of faith and love. He sought the friendship and co-operation of other Orthodox Churches in the Middle East and accompanied the Christians of the Middle East through many challenging and critical moments in the recent past.

We learn valuable lessons from his life that was spent in advocacy and dialogue for peace and reconciliation, especially to promote Christian –Muslim unity and Israeli – Palestinian peace, and take pride in the fact that he was awarded the UNESCO’s Mandanjeet Singh prize for Tolerance in 2000. He inspired co-operation and accord among the people of Egypt regardless of the religion they profess saying "We Christians and Muslims are like organs in one body, which is Egypt."
We appreciate his strong convictions about the role of young people in the church and uphold his statement "A church without youth is a church without a future.” We hold in high esteem his regard for women and his faith in the gift of women’s ministries in the life of the Church that led to his bold decision to resume the ordination of deaconesses after an interval of several centuries and to encourage women to enter Theological colleges and communal Councils.
At this time of grief, when the Church is overwhelmed at the loss of such an illustrious, wise and saintly leader, we offer our solidarity and prayers for peace and guidance, keeping in mind the difficult period that the Christians and the people of Egypt are going through. Let us strive to live his legacy of a way of life that fearlessly reached out to build bridges of love as he believed that “Love generates love and separation generates separation."
May his soul rest in peace.
Rev. Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang
General Secretary