WCC launches online library for theology and ecumenism

Geneva–The World Council of Churches (WCC) launched on Sept.23 the first online digital library covering theology and ecumenism, called GlobeTheoLib, saying it will help close the information gap between North and South.

"The time has come to launch a new model of ecumenical sharing of theological resources in order to prepare world Christianity for the 21st century," said WCC general secretary the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit in a statement.

The library, which will initially contain nearly half a million articles, represents "a key to social development, church development and the integrity of the churches’ witness," said the Rev. Dietrich Werner, of WCC’s program on ecumenical theological education, at the launch at the WCC’s headquarters in Geneva.

The library can be accessed at http://www.globethics.net/gtl and uses the electronic platform of Globethics.net, a Geneva-based organization that manages a digital library on ethics containing more than 650,000 documents.

GlobeTheoLib is available free of charge to registered users and will offer resources in ecumenism, biblical and church studies and contextual theologies, Werner said. He added that it will help promote the sharing of theological perspectives between fast-growing churches in the global South and established churches in the North.

It could become "the richest source for theological knowledge in our times," said Ivan Zhelev Dimitrov of the Conference of Orthodox Theological Schools.

GlobeTheoLib will accept documents in any language, but user languages are currently English, French, German, and Spanish. There are plans to add Greek, Russian, Indonesian, Chinese, Arabic and Portuguese, organizers said. Christoph Stuckelberger, executive director of Globethics.net, said the theological library offers "new possibilities for international networking, exchange and digital sharing."