The newly elected Pope Benedict XVI will meet with the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, from 12-14 June 2005. The announcement was made yesterday in a press conference at the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in Athens, Greece.

AGIOS ANDREAS, Greece (AP) -- Mainstream Christian churches must adapt to the powerful forces of the new century--including the rise in African and Asian congregations and tensions with the Muslim world--or risk losing their relevance and ability to help shape world affairs, religious leaders said Tuesday.

About 700 representatives from churches and mission bodies from all over the world gathered Wednesday for the second day of the historic conference

AGIOS ANDREAS, Greece (AP)-- Christian churches must set aside differences and adopt less confrontational approaches toward other faiths in an age of mobile populations and strains between the West and the Islamic world, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church told a global religious conference Tuesday.

ATHENS, Greece (AP)-- Christian leaders, theologians and religious activists from around the world gathered Monday for a meeting to assess some of the most serious challenges for the faith, such as growing rifts between churches and African congregations ravaged by AIDS.

The most widely representative global gathering of Protestant, Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical and Orthodox Church leaders concerned with the 21st century mission of the world's 2.5 billion Christians begins today.

ATHENS (ENI)— The leader of Greece's Orthodox church pledged on May 10 to join forces with Christians of other denominations to promote dialogue and common witness — despite opposition from some Orthodox church members and clergy.

If Christians are to be heard speaking truthfully in a fast-changing, plural world they must repent of domineering attitudes and emulate the self-giving, non-violent love of Jesus Christ. That was the heart of the message presented today by the general secretary of the World Council of Churches to participants at the Athens global mission conference.

About 700 representatives from churches and mission bodies from all over the world gathered for the opening of the first Conference on World Mission and Evangelism of the 21st century Tuesday.

Athens (ENI). The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, on Tuesday urged churches to rethink their ideas about mission in the face of a global shift in Christianity from the northern to the southern hemisphere.