Editing World Council of Churches (section)

==Criticism==
===Alleged neglect of suffering church in Eastern Europe===
{{POV|date=May 2020}}
Some historians, the U.S. State Department and former KGB officers themselves have alleged and provided corroborating evidence that the KGB's influence directly, or through lobbying by means of a front organization, the Christian Peace Conference, resulted in the WCC's failure to recognize or act on calls for help from persecuted East European Christians at the 1983 Vancouver General Assembly.<ref name= "active">{{cite web|url= http://jmw.typepad.com/files/state-department---a-report-on-active-measures-and-propaganda.pdf | title = Soviet Influences: A Report on Active Measures and Propaganda 1986-7 | work= US State Department Report | date= August 1987 | page= 12 |access-date=2015-02-27| archive-url =  https://web.archive.org/web/20150227052417/http://jmw.typepad.com/files/state-department---a-report-on-active-measures-and-propaganda.pdf | archive-date= 2015-02-27}}</ref><ref name= "mitrokhin" />{{rp|647–8}}

===Claims of infiltration and influence by the KGB===
It is claimed the [[KGB]] has infiltrated and influenced past WCC councils and policy.<ref name= andrew /> In 1992, Father [[Gleb Yakunin]], a vice Chairman of a Russian parliamentary commission that investigated the activities of the KGB, citing verbatim KGB reports, claimed that its [[KGB#Directorates|Fifth Directorate]] was actively involved in influencing WCC policy from 1967 to 1989.<ref name="active" /><ref name= "gleb">{{cite web|url= http://intellit.muskingum.edu/russia_folder/pcw_era/sect_16e.htm |last= Yakunin |first=Gleb |title= Soviet Active Measures in the "Post-Cold War" Era 1988-1991 | via = The United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations by the United States Information Agency |publication-date= June 1992 |issue= 1,1 |work =[[Argumenty i Fakty]] |date=January 1992 |access-date= 2015-02-26}}</ref> For example, in the 1983 WCC General Assembly in Vancouver, one cited document described the presence and activities of 47 KGB agents to secure the election of an "acceptable" candidate as General Secretary.<ref name="gleb" /><ref>Polosin, Vyacheslav (Chair Russian Supreme Soviet's Committee on Denominations and Freedom of Religion), Megapolis Ekspress, January 21, 1992.</ref> The [[Mitrokhin Archive#Penetration of churches|Mitrokhin Archive]] reveals more about the depth of the penetration and influence wielded by the KGB over the WCC.<ref name= "mitrokhin">{{Cite book |last1= Andrew |first1=Christopher |last2= Mitrokhin |first2= Vasili |title= The Mitrokhin Archive |publisher= Penguin |location=London |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-14028487-4}}</ref> [[Nikodim Rotov|Metropolitan Nikodim]] was a KGB agent, codenamed SVYATOSLAV, who served as one of six WCC Presidents from 1975 until his death.<ref name= "mitrokhin" />{{rp|729}}<ref name= "besier">{{Cite book |last1= Besier |first1=Gerhard |last2=Boyens |first2= Armin |last3=Lindemann|first3=Gerhard |title=Nationaler Protestantismus und ökumenische Bewegung : kirchliches Handeln im Kalten Krieg (1945-1990) |publisher= Duncker & Humblot |location=Berlin |page=1074 |date=1999 |isbn= 978-342810032-3}}</ref> His earlier intervention had resulted in the WCC making no comment on the invasion of Czechoslovakia.<ref name= "mitrokhin" />{{rp |636}} As a result of his influence and that of other agents, it is claimed the USSR was rarely publicly criticised.<ref name="mitrokhin" />{{rp|637}} In 1989, copies of the KGB documents claim "the WCC executive and central committee adopted public statements (eight) and messages (three)" which corresponded to its own political direction.<ref name="mitrokhin" />{{rp |637}} Appeals from suffering dissidents both from within the Russian Orthodox Church and Protestants were ignored in 1983.<ref name="mitrokhin" />{{rp|647–8}}  Metropolitan Aleksi Ridiger of Tallinn and Estonia was repeatedly alleged to be a KGB agent codenamed DROZDOV, who in 1988 was awarded an honorary citation for services to the KGB by its chairman.<ref name="mitrokhin" />{{rp |650}}<ref>{{Cite news| first = Felix | last = Corley |title= Patriarch Alexy II: Priest who stayed close to the Kremlin while guiding the Russian Orthodox Church into the post-Soviet era |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/patriarch-alexy-ii-priest-who-stayed-close-to-the-kremlin-while-guiding-the-russian-orthodox-church-into-the-postsoviet-era-1054454.html|work=[[The Independent]] |date=8 December 2008 |access-date=2008-12-06 |location= London|url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081207082812/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/patriarch-alexy-ii-priest-who-stayed-close-to-the-kremlin-while-guiding-the-russian-orthodox-church-into-the-postsoviet-era-1054454.html|archive-date=2008-12-07}}</ref><ref name="CWNrep">{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=13868 |title=Confirmed: Russian Patriarch Worked with KGB | via = Catholic World News | publisher = Keston Institute |date=2000-09-22 |access-date= 2015-03-03 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150303223306/http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=13868|archive-date=2015-03-03}}</ref> Despite official disavowals, [[The Guardian]] described the evidence as "compelling".<ref>{{cite web|url=  https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/feb/12/1 |title=Russian Patriarch "was KGB spy" |work= [[The Guardian]] |date=1999-02-12 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150303223655/http://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/feb/12/1 |archive-date= 2015-03-03}}</ref>  In 1990 he became [[Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow|Alexius II]], the 15th Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Upon his death in 2008, the WCC's official tribute, by its Council officers, described him as "courageous", "supportive and constructive" and the recipient of "abundant blessing", no reference was made to the allegations.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/general-secretary/tributes |title=Tributes from the General Secretary |publisher= World Council of Churches |access-date=2015-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227104653/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/general-secretary/tributes |archive-date= 2015-02-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/patriarch-alexy-ii-a-powerful-voice-constructive-and-critical |title= Patriarch Alexy II: a powerful voice, constructive and critical |publisher=World Council of Churches |date= 2008-12-05 |access-date= 2015-02-28 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150227104730/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/patriarch-alexy-ii-a-powerful-voice-constructive-and-critical |archive-date=2015-02-27}}</ref>

===Attitude towards Israel===
The World Council of Churches has been described as taking an adversarial position toward the state of Israel.<ref name= merkley>{{Cite book | last = Merkley | first = Paul | title =  Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel | publisher = Mcgill Queens Univ Press | location = Montreal| page = 284 | date = March 1, 2007 | isbn = 9780773532557}}</ref> It has also been claimed the council has focused particularly on activities and publications criticizing Israel in comparison with other human rights issues.<ref name=vermaat>{{Citation | last = Vermaat | first = J.A.Emerson  | title = The World Council of Churches, Israel and the PLO | journal = Mid-Stream | pages = 3–9 |date=November 1984}}</ref><ref name="Rottenberg">{{Cite book | last = Rottenberg | first = Isaac| title = The Turbulent Triangle: Christians-Jews-Israel: A Personal-Historical Account | publisher = Red Mountain Associates | location = Hawley, Pa. | pages = 61–2| date = 1989 | isbn =9780899627465}}</ref> It is similarly claimed that it downplayed appeals from Egyptian Copts about human rights abuses under Sadat and Mubarak, in order to focus on its neighbour.<ref name= merkley /> In 2009, the Council called for an international [[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions|boycott]] on goods produced in Israeli settlements, which it described as 'illegal, unjust' and 'incompatible with peace'.<ref name="BDS">{{cite web | url= http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/central-committee/2009/report-on-public-issues/statement-on-israeli-settlements-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory | title = Statement on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory | work= World Council of Churches website | date = 2009-09-02 | access-date= 2015-08-11| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150811210314/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/central-committee/2009/report-on-public-issues/statement-on-israeli-settlements-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory | archive-date= 2015-08-11}}</ref> In 2013, the General Secretary was reported to claim in Cairo, "We support the Palestinians. The WCC supports the Palestinians, because they are in the right."<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=107349 | title = World Council of Churches condemns Israeli occupation | work = World Bulletin | date = 2013-04-24 | access-date = 2015-02-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150220172800/http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=107349 | archive-date = 2015-02-20 | url-status = usurped }}</ref> The WCC's [[Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel]] (EAPPI) has been criticised by the [[Board of Deputies of British Jews]] for promoting "an inflammatory and partisan programme at the expense of its interfaith relations".<ref name= JChron>{{cite web|url= http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/69714/board-deputies-statement-synod-eappi-vote |title= Board of Deputies statement on the Synod EAPPI vote | work= Jewish Chronicle |date= 2012-07-12 | access-date= 2014-08-02}}</ref> The WCC secretariat was involved in preparing and helped disseminate the [[Kairos Palestine| Kairos Palestine Document]], which declares “the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is a sin against God and humanity because it deprives the Palestinians of their basic human rights”, and in the view of one critic, its "authors want to see a single state".<ref name=lowe>{{cite web| last =Lowe| first =Malcolm| title =The Palestinian KairosDocument: A Behind-the-Scenes Analysis| work =New English Review. | date =April 2010| url =http://www.newenglishreview.org/Malcolm_Lowe/The_Palestinian_%22Kairos%22_Document%3A_A_Behind-the-Scenes_Analysis/| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150225035801/http://www.newenglishreview.org/Malcolm_Lowe/The_Palestinian_%22Kairos%22_Document%3A_A_Behind-the-Scenes_Analysis/|archive-date= 2015-02-25}}</ref>
On the other hand, the WCC claims "Antisemitism is sin against God and man".<ref name="oikoumene3">{{cite web|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/general-secretary/messages-and-letters/rosh-ha-shanah-2015|publisher=oikoumene.org|title=Rosh Ha-Shanah greetings 2015 — World Council of Churches|access-date=2017-07-15}}</ref>

=== Opposition to Christian Zionism ===
[[Christian Zionism]], which has long represented a major thread of [[Christian Zionism#Protestant Reformation|historic and contemporary Protestants]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wesley-fellowship.org.uk/Zionist_Hymn.html |title=''A Wesley 'Zionist' Hymn?'' Charles Wesley's hymn, published in 1762 and included by John Wesley in his 1780 hymn-book, A Collection of Hymns for the use of the People called Methodists |work=The Wesley Fellowship |date=2010-07-01 |access-date=2014-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717011126/http://wesley-fellowship.org.uk/Zionist_Hymn.html |archive-date=2014-07-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=lewis>{{cite book | last = Lewis | first = Donald | title = The Origins of Christian Zionism: Lord Shaftesbury And Evangelical Support For A Jewish Homeland | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date = 2 January 2014 | location = Cambridge | page = 380 | isbn =9781107631960}}</ref> is characterised as a view which "distort(s) the interpretation of the Word of God" and "damage(s) intra-Christian relations".<ref name="mnd2">{{cite web | url= http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/middle-east-peace/statement-on-christian-presence-and-witness-in-the-middle-east | title= Statement on Christian presence and witness in the Middle East | work= World Council of Churches and The Middle East Council of Churches International | date= 2013-05-25 | access-date= 2015-02-21 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150207040331/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/middle-east-peace/statement-on-christian-presence-and-witness-in-the-middle-east/ | archive-date= 2015-02-07 | url-status= dead }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=In this context, what is a source of concern is that Islamic fundamentalisms are giving rise to a counter reaction of other religious fundamentalisms, the most dangerous of which is Jewish fundamentalism which exploits the Islamic fundamentalist phenomenon to justify before western societies the distasteful aberrations of Zionism in Palestine. |author=WCC working paper, Lebanon, May 2013<ref name="mnd">{{cite web | url = http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/middle-east-peace/ME_conference_working_paper.pdf | title = Middle East Council of Churches International & Ecumenical Conference "Christians in the Middle East: Presence and Witness" | work = World Council of Churches | date = 25 May 2013 | access-date = 2015-02-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924091644/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/middle-east-peace/ME_conference_working_paper.pdf | archive-date = 2015-09-24 | url-status = dead}}</ref>}}

Frank Chikane, moderator of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC), was criticised for using the term 'demons' to describe advocacy for Zionism in 2021.<ref name= "alg">{{cite web | url = https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/02/10/church-official-declares-war-on-israel-and-its-supporters/| title = Church Official Declares War on Israel and Its Supporters | work = The Algemeiner | date = 10 February 2021 | access-date = 2021-02-17}}</ref>

On January 4, 2023, World Council of Churches general secretary [[Jerry Pillay]] joined the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and all the churches of the Holy Land in condemning the desecration of the historic Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-condemns-desecration-of-historic-protestant-cemetery-in-jerusalem |title=WCC condemns desecration of historic Protestant cemetery in Jerusalem |work=World Council of Churches |date=4 January 2023 |access-date=2023-01-04}}</ref>