Polish Ecumenical Council
- Palace of Culture and Rush Hour in Warsaw
Since 1988 the Evangelical Church of Westphalia (EKvW) has maintained a church partnership with the Polish Ecumenical Council (PEC). At first this may sound unusual, because more than 95% of the Polish population are Catholics. After World War II seven Protestant and Orthodox minority churches joined together in the PEC to improve the representation of their interests. The Polish Orthodox Church is the largest member of the PEC with about 500,000 registered people. The Lutheran Augsburgian Church – with approximately 76,000 members – represents the largest Protestant Church of the PEC.
- Monument showing the Warsaw Ghetto Fighters
The small Reformed Church in Poland with about 3,500 members, the Baptists in Poland counting for more than 20,000 members, the Methodist Church, the Old Catholics and the Mariavite Church are further PEC members. Persisting in a predominantly Catholic country as minority churches poses a particular challenge which requires an Ecumenical co-operation beyond confessional limits. The Polish Ecumenical Council has been facing this task for many years. Furthermore, the PEC has already organised two common European symposiums in cooperation with the Italian and Hungarian partner churches in a joint venture with the Evangelical Church of Westphalia (EKvW). The main preparations of the 3rd European Symposium in 2010 in Westphalia will be carried out by the EKvW.
Information about the Regional Church’s partnerships with Poland may be obtained from Thomas Krieger.
» thomas.krieger@moewe-westfalen