ki
Yo
.
Stans (oe.the
Worlq Council of Churches
Sixth ASSEMBLY
at
24 July - 10 August 19283
Vancouver B.C.,
Canada
Aegis
Tocument
PR2.2
e
REPORY OF TEE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
DCLUEGATICN TO THLE MARSHALL ISLANDS
May 20 to June 4,
1983
Team Members
Kara L.
COLE,
Chairperson:
-Counecil
Thomas
B.
Administrative
United Meeting and member,
COCHRAN,
cf
Ph.D:
the Churches
Nuclear
Secretary of
the
Friends
Board of Governers, National
of Christ,
Physicist
USA.
serving
as
a Senior
Staff
Scientist fOr the Natural Resources Defense Council,
Wasnington,
D.C.
3Saiteke NABETARI: General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of
Churches.
B.
David WILLIAMS, Jr.: Associate Director for Peace Issues, National
Council of the Churches cf Christ, USA, until recently
Coordinator of the Church and Society Program, Pacific
Conference of Churches.
I.
INTRODUCTION
Continuing concern expressed by the Pacific churches,
through the
Pacific Confcrence of Churches, plus requests from the Marshall
Isiands caused the WCC tu consider sending this small delegation. A
final decision was made in consultation with leaders of the United
Church of Christ in Yhe Marshalls and the Roman Catholic Church
there. The team was hosted and its basic local itinerary suggested
by a local ecumenical planning committee comprised of leaders from the
United Church and
the Catholic Church.
The purposes of the visit were: (i) to assess the residual radiation
problem as an environmental and health hazard; (ii) to study the
social and human cost of the US military presence; (iii) to consult
with the churches of the Marshalls regarding these questions; and
(iv) to explore with the churches, in the context of the WCC's
standing concerns
for
peace
and disarmament,
for mobilizing the commitment of
these issues.
long-term strategies
the churches around the world on