South African Pillay new general secretary of WCC
The University of Pretoria Presbyterian church historian received more votes than the Syro-Malankara Elizabeth Joy of Churches Together in England; she would have been the first woman to hold that office.
Position previously vacant for a long time
The post of Secretary General has been vacant since April 2020. The Norwegian Lutheran Olav Fykse Tveit did not run again after two five-year terms; he has been Presiding Bishop of the Church of Norway since May 2020. At that time, the Romanian Orthodox priest and deputy secretary general Ion Sauca (66) was appointed acting general secretary.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) was founded in 1948. According to its own statements, 352 member churches belong to it, which together live around 580 million Christians from Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other traditions in more than 120 countries. There is close cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church, which is not a member.
Pillay is an ecumenical and internationally renowned pastor, professor and general secretary of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in South Africa. He has many years of leadership experience. In 2018 he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Pretoria. He holds a PhD in Missiology, Church History and the New Testament from the University of Cape Town (2002) and an Honorary Doctorate in Theology from the University of Debrecen.
First nomination by a woman
Originally from India and based in London, Joy was the first woman to be nominated for the post of Secretary-General. For the first time, an (oriental) orthodox church was also taken into account: the Malankara Syriac orthodox church, one of the introductory churches whose tradition refers to the apostle Thomas.
According to their teaching, Joy cannot be a priestess, and even within the WCC member churches, an ordained minister or even bishop as general secretary would (still) be unthinkable.