Opening Address to The W.C.C.,Addis Ababa,Jan.12,1971
 

"Mr.Chairman,Eminences and Distinguished Members of the Central Committee,

It is with feelings of great spiritual and personal happiness that We witness the convening
of this meeting of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches in Our capital city.
This is particularly so as it is more timely than ever for followers of Christ to gather to
deliberate on current vital issues affecting international peace and justice.
Man's egoistic motives and his selfish desire to pursue exclusively his own individual
interests, thus failing in his God-given task of following the goal of the unity of all, is
witness to the feebleness of human nature, and constitutes the major obstacle to the
unity of all Christians towards which we strive.
How long will we, who are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, who are taught by the same
Holy Bible, continue to remain divided amongst ourselves?
Realizing that the time has come for the Church of Christ, divided for many centuries up till
now, to come together in unity and work together, it is imperative for all of us to strive
together, in accordance with the words of the Apostle, Ephesians, Chapter 4, verses 5 and
6 to clear the way and open it up for the realization of unity. Each church and all churches
have the obligation, derived from their covenant with God, to proclaim the Gospel, to make
disciples of all nations and thus to make the faith grow and bear fruit.
We Christians living by the faith of Christ, the Head and Pillar on whom the Church is founded,
cannot escape the responsibility to work for the peace of the world, and to ensure equality
for all human beings created by God, lest we fail in our duty by being mere passive
witnesses to the gruesome spectacle of human beings, created in the image of God, being
deprived by virtue of their color or their poverty, of the benefits and blessings that are the
birthright of every man and all men, and suffering in agony, cast forth from the pale of full
human existence.
Man does not live by bread alone. The spiritual life does not deny, however, the need for
bread. Therefore, the spiritual life of humanity must necessarily include the common aspiration
of all of us for a better standard of living and for greater improvement in the quality of
human existence.
May God our Creator, the Helper and guiding Light of us all, grant you His wisdom that your
meeting may bear fruit for His glory. We sincerely wish you all success and pray that God
may lead you to that unity which Christians all over the world eagerly await."