Catholicos of all Armenians elected chairman of World Council of Churches

Head of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II was elected Chairman of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Holy See of Etchmiadzin said in an official statement, posted in Facebook.

It said Catholicos Karekin II was elected unanimously in the South Korean city of Busan at the 10th assembly of the WCC for the next eight years. The presidium of the WCC includes eight people. Their mission is to encourage interfaith and ecumenical relations, human rights, justice and peace, the statement says.

The eight WCC presidents are:

• Africa: Rev. Dr Mary Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa
• Asia: Rev. Prof. Dr Sang Chang, Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea
• Europe: Archbishop Anders Wejryd, Church of Sweden
• Latin America and Caribbean: Rev. Gloria Nohemy Ulloa Alvarado, Presbyterian Church in Colombia
• North America: Bishop Mark MacDonald, Anglican Church of Canada
• Pacific: Rev. Dr Mele'ana Puloka, Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga
• Eastern Orthodox: H.B. John X Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East
• Oriental Orthodox: H.H. Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians