Press release No. 06-40/e |
8 December 2006 |
NEW EXECUTIVE IN BRUSSELS: NORDIC DIMENSION REINFORCED WITHIN THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY COMMISSION OF CEC
Elina Eloranta has joined the Brussels office of the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) as Executive Secretary on General and Institutional Affairs. She is of Finnish nationality and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. A graduate in Political Science at the University of Tampere, she has also studied and lived in France, Germany, Lithuania and the United States. She holds a degree from a Belgian University in Human Rights. Prior to the appointment she was a visiting researcher at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Her ongoing Ph.D. consists of a study of EU security policy. In the past she has worked as a Social Policy Officer at Eurodiaconia.
Elina is seconded to the Church and Society Commission by the Church of Sweden and by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The establishment of this new position is one of the key elements of a joint 3-year project of the two sponsoring churches and the Church and Society Commission.
Elina Eloranta’s main task within the Church and Society Commission will be to monitor developments in the European Institutions and to inform the CEC member churches at the earliest possible stage. This will enhance the “early warning” capacity of the Church and Society Commission.
The Director of the CEC Church and Society Commission and Associate Secretary General of CEC, Rev. Rüdiger Noll, states: “We are grateful to the Church of Sweden and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland for this secondment. With Elina’s arrival the Church and Society Commission will be able to increase its capacity as a service agency to its member churches. All in our member churches who have an interest in the European Agenda will profit from Elina’s briefings and updates. We are looking forward to an enhanced cooperation with the sponsoring churches in this three-years project”.
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For information:
CEC Office of Communications
Phone +41 22 791 64 85 or 63 25
Fax +41 22 791 62 27
e-mail cec@cec-kek.org
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 125 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all countries of Europe, plus 40 associated organisations. CEC was founded in 1959. It has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg.
