Life and Work Movement

In the history of 20th century Christian ecumenism, the Life and Work movement represents the attempt of Protestant, Anglican, Old Catholic and Orthodox churches to reach consensus on the practical role of ecumenical faith in society, as a counterpart to the Faith and Order Movement, which concerned itself with doctrinal issues. Life and Work began…

Peace Aims Group (PAG)

William Paton, a British ecumenist active in the International Missionary Council (IMC), gathered a working group, mainly composed of church leaders, academics and persons with close connections to the British Government to study The Responsibility of the Church for the International Order. The group operated from 1940 until 1944 under the name ‘Peace Aims Group’…

Commission on a Just and Durable Peace (CJDP)

In October 1940, John Foster Dulles proposed to the Federal Council of Churches (FCC), an ecumenical association of Christian denominations in the United States, the establishment of an commission to Study the Bases of a Just and Durable Peace, which was created in January 1941 with Dulles as its chairman. The main aim of the…

Freiburg and Kreisau Circles

The Freiburg and Kreisau Circles (Freiburger und Kreisauer Kreise) were two German networks of academics, nobility, and politicians who resisted the Nazi regime through the clandestine production of blueprints for an alternative political order and the organisation of plots to thwart the government, such as the July 20, 1944 attack aimed at taking Hitler’s life….

European Movement Congress of The Hague

Beyond the circles of government, the cause for European integration was enthusiastically pushed by different transnational European Movements with the joint organization of the Congress of Europe. With over 800 participants, this Congress had been the kick-off of a public debate about the future of Europe. The International Committee of the Movements for European Unity…

Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA)

American ecumenists pushed soon after the end of the Second World War for the creation of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA). This idea was accepted at a meeting of the Provisional Council of the World Council of Churches in February 1946 and in August 1946 it was founded during the International…

Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA)

Set-up as a businesslike organization headed by former car salesman Paul G. Hoffman, the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) was responsible for overseeing the implementation of the European Recovery Program (ERP). It was created following the singing of the Economic Cooperation Act in April 1948. Besides a headquarter in Washington, the ECA had a field office…

Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe

The Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, now known as Parliamentary Assembly, was one of the two main organs of the Council of Europe. The Consultative Assembly met for the first time on the 10th of August 1949 and consisted of parliamentarians from the various member states. The Council of Europe was founded in…

The President’s Committee on Foreign Aid

The President’s Committee of Foreign Aid (1947-1948) was a committee within the United States Department of Commerce tasked with determining the limits within which the United States of America could safely and wisely extend economic aid to Western Europe. It was created after Secretary of State George C. Marshall had taken the initiative to offer…