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The Archive of the Christian Student Movement of Cuba (MECC) is part of the Archives of Christian Churches and Organizations in Cuba (CCOC). It consists of documents of the Movimiento de Estudiantes Cristianos de Cuba (MEC), an affiliate of the World Student Christian Federation, on the organization’s history, activities, and relations with related organizations between 1960 and 2018.
The Archive of the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cuba (SETC) is part of the Archives of Christian Churches and Organizations in Cuba (CCOC). It consists of documents of the Seminario Evangélico Teológico of Matanzas, Cuba, from its foundation in 1946 to the present. It includes a.o. foundational documents, periodicals, correspondence, materials from distinguished professors and documents of the Conferencia Cristiana por la Paz, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Archives of Christian Churches and Organizations in Cuba (CCOC) encompass three distinct archival collections: Archives of the Presbyterian Church in Cuba (Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba, IPRC); Archive of the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cuba (Seminario Evangélico Teológico, Matanzas, Cuba, SETC); and Archive of the Christian Student Movement of Cuba (Movimiento de Estudiantes Cristianos de Cuba, MECC), an affiliate of the World Student Christian Federation. These collections offer numerous possibilities for researchers interested not only in the history of Protestantism and Christian education but also provide windows onto Cuban history, society, and culture.
The Archives of the Presbyterian Church in Cuba (IPRC) are part of the Archives of Christian Churches and Organizations in Cuba (CCOC). This recently enlarged collection makes available for research the records of the Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba (IPRC) and predecessor Presbyterian churches and missions in Cuba. It includes a wide range of materials that are indispensable for the study of the Presbyterian Church in Cuba, and more broadly, the study of Protestantism in Cuba.
The World Council of Churches Archives Online offers access to the unique archival materials of the World Council of Churches Archives, such as the collection from the WWII period, the documents on the Relations with the Roman Catholic Church, and the Dialogue with People of Living Faiths. Those collections include personal correspondence of notable scholars, theologians and politicians, as well as newspaper articles, press clippings, press releases, telegrams, minutes, manuscripts and personal notes held by the WCC in Geneva.
The following collections are scheduled to be made available digitally in the following years: Correspondence of the General Secretariat, the Program to Combat Racism, a.o.
Already published in the series:
World Council of Churches Online: World War II Era Records
World Council of Churches Online: Relations with the Roman Catholic Church
World Council of Churches Online: Dialogue with People of Living Faiths
The following collections are scheduled to be made available digitally in the following years: Correspondence of the General Secretariat, the Program to Combat Racism, a.o.
Already published in the series:
World Council of Churches Online: World War II Era Records
World Council of Churches Online: Relations with the Roman Catholic Church
World Council of Churches Online: Dialogue with People of Living Faiths
The CIDOC Collection
• 3,163 monographs and 576 periodicals
• Ca. 3.7M digital pages (grayscale)
• Coverage: ca. 1830–1970
• Languages: primarily Spanish but also Portuguese. Some Latin, English, French, and Italian
• Full-text search functionality
• Item-level MARC21 catalog records available
Until recently it was impossible for sociologists, anthropologists, historians of attitudes and social psychologists to develop the study of religion in modern Latin America into a field of teaching and research. The documents pertaining to the colonial period are, of course, preserved and often well edited. But the publications of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that deal with local devotions and syncretist rituals, religious iconography and poetry, and the pastoral campaigns of the various churches and sects, remained unnoticed until the early 1960s, when Ivan Illich began to collect them in the CIDOC Library of Cuernavaca, Mexico. Under the care of Valentina Borremans the collection grew, and is still growing vigorously after having become part of El Colegio de México. Reproduced from a wide range of libraries throughout Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, this vast and invaluable collection is now available in fully searchable digital format for the first time.
This collection was scanned from microform (48,000 microfiches and 12 reels).
• Ca. 3.7M digital pages (grayscale)
• Coverage: ca. 1830–1970
• Languages: primarily Spanish but also Portuguese. Some Latin, English, French, and Italian
• Full-text search functionality
• Item-level MARC21 catalog records available
Until recently it was impossible for sociologists, anthropologists, historians of attitudes and social psychologists to develop the study of religion in modern Latin America into a field of teaching and research. The documents pertaining to the colonial period are, of course, preserved and often well edited. But the publications of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that deal with local devotions and syncretist rituals, religious iconography and poetry, and the pastoral campaigns of the various churches and sects, remained unnoticed until the early 1960s, when Ivan Illich began to collect them in the CIDOC Library of Cuernavaca, Mexico. Under the care of Valentina Borremans the collection grew, and is still growing vigorously after having become part of El Colegio de México. Reproduced from a wide range of libraries throughout Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, this vast and invaluable collection is now available in fully searchable digital format for the first time.
This collection was scanned from microform (48,000 microfiches and 12 reels).
World War II Era Records of the World Council of Churches
Historical background
The documents in this collection form a subset of the World Council of Churches archives dating from 1932 to 1957. They were assembled hurriedly and in a very provisional form during the “dark days” of the war by an administration just being born and still in the making. Under such chaotic conditions, some elements were inevitably lost and the original order of the records was difficult to reconstruct. Yet a dramatic story is revealed here, the story of the fledgling ecumenical movement’s thought, policy, and activities in the face of the power of Nazi Germany.
The ecumenical movement represents the effort of churches divided for centuries to re-establish contact with each other, to rediscover their common heritage, to explore possibilities for collaboration, to react in situations of crisis, and to find a new place within society by participating in the foundation of a new world community. To achieve these ends, the churches founded many organizations, including the International Missionary Council in 1910, the Life and Work movement in 1925, and the Faith and Order movement in 1927. In 1938, the Life and Work and Faith and Order movements came together to form the World Council of Churches, which was officially inaugurated in Amsterdam in 1948. Today the World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of churches from different traditions: Orthodox (Oriental and Eastern Orthodox), Anglican, Old Catholic, most mainline Protestant churches (Moravian, Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist), the historic peace churches (Mennonite, Quakers, Church of the Brethren), and some evangelical churches (like Baptist and Pentecostal). Although the Roman Catholic Church is not a member, it participates as a member of the Commission on Faith and Order and sends official observers to all major meetings, such as the general assemblies.
During the Second World War, the World Council of Churches in Process of Formation was instrumental in smuggling several hundred Jews across the borders into Switzerland, actively helped by courageous and inventive young French workers affiliated with CIMADE (Comité Inter-Movement Auprès Des Evacués). Reflecting on this era, Dr. W. A. Visser ‘t Hooft, then General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, wrote "… as I look back on these attempts to help the Jews during the war years, I feel far from proud. I know that I should have done a great deal more."
Not all the sources testifying to this period have been preserved, but what remains is gathered in this collection.
Sections
In 2013 the WCC Archives moved in the newly arranged "Espace Archives", located in the west wing of the former Library premises in the backyard of the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva. The WCC Library united its collections at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, near Geneva. The WCC archives are divided into many different sections, reflecting the various bodies that have been active in the ecumenical scene during the 20th century. The records of the International Missionary Council and the General Correspondence Archives of the World Council of Churches’ General Secretariat, previously published on microfiche by BRILL/IDC Publishers, are examples of such sections.
The present collection is the first collection from the WCC that is made available electronically. Originally on microfiche, the collection covers the period from 1932 to 1957. The documents consist of newspapers, press clippings, press releases, telegrams, correspondence, minutes, manuscripts, and personal notes. The boxes are organized by 16 countries, mostly European (Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Yugoslavia), but also the United States of America, Colombia, and Israel, as well as China and Indonesia. Records relating to Germany account alone for thirty boxes.
Scholarly relevance
These archives have been studied by historians of the Bergier Commission, a commission set up to investigate the role of Switzerland during the Second World War, and many individual scholars. The collection includes correspondence and personal letters of such notable individuals as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, George Bell, Hans Schönfeld, Karl Barth, James McDonald, Georges Casalis, Adolf Freudenberg, Martin Niemöller, Otto Dibelius, Gerhart Riegner, Marc Boegner, and Willem Adolf Visser 't Hooft. The archives document not only the issues and events of the War, but also the beginning years of the World Council of Churches.
The material in this collection is of high value for researchers from different disciplines, such as political and historical sciences as well as church history, theology, ethics, and ecumenical studies. Churches from different parts of the world, like China, Israel, or Colombia, might find material here that help to interpret their own history, by original documents from their own offices and individuals as well as by documented views from other churches and ecumenical bodies.
As Dr. Visser 't Hooft wrote: "The war came. And at first it seemed as if it would at least mean that the clock of ecumenical history would be definitely set back. The staff became smaller and smaller. Many plans had to be cancelled. But right in the midst of war the tide turned. What new contacts between the churches lost in frequency, they gained in intensity and depth. The war did not weaken the council. On the contrary."
Pierre Beffa (former Director of the World Council of Churches Library), revised by Fernando Enns, Professor of (Peace-) Theology and Ecumenical Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
See also: World Council of Churches Online: Relations with the Roman Catholic Church
This publication came about with support from the Kenneth Scott Latourette Fund, Yale Divinity School Library.
Historical background
The documents in this collection form a subset of the World Council of Churches archives dating from 1932 to 1957. They were assembled hurriedly and in a very provisional form during the “dark days” of the war by an administration just being born and still in the making. Under such chaotic conditions, some elements were inevitably lost and the original order of the records was difficult to reconstruct. Yet a dramatic story is revealed here, the story of the fledgling ecumenical movement’s thought, policy, and activities in the face of the power of Nazi Germany.
The ecumenical movement represents the effort of churches divided for centuries to re-establish contact with each other, to rediscover their common heritage, to explore possibilities for collaboration, to react in situations of crisis, and to find a new place within society by participating in the foundation of a new world community. To achieve these ends, the churches founded many organizations, including the International Missionary Council in 1910, the Life and Work movement in 1925, and the Faith and Order movement in 1927. In 1938, the Life and Work and Faith and Order movements came together to form the World Council of Churches, which was officially inaugurated in Amsterdam in 1948. Today the World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of churches from different traditions: Orthodox (Oriental and Eastern Orthodox), Anglican, Old Catholic, most mainline Protestant churches (Moravian, Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist), the historic peace churches (Mennonite, Quakers, Church of the Brethren), and some evangelical churches (like Baptist and Pentecostal). Although the Roman Catholic Church is not a member, it participates as a member of the Commission on Faith and Order and sends official observers to all major meetings, such as the general assemblies.
During the Second World War, the World Council of Churches in Process of Formation was instrumental in smuggling several hundred Jews across the borders into Switzerland, actively helped by courageous and inventive young French workers affiliated with CIMADE (Comité Inter-Movement Auprès Des Evacués). Reflecting on this era, Dr. W. A. Visser ‘t Hooft, then General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, wrote "… as I look back on these attempts to help the Jews during the war years, I feel far from proud. I know that I should have done a great deal more."
Not all the sources testifying to this period have been preserved, but what remains is gathered in this collection.
Sections
In 2013 the WCC Archives moved in the newly arranged "Espace Archives", located in the west wing of the former Library premises in the backyard of the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva. The WCC Library united its collections at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, near Geneva. The WCC archives are divided into many different sections, reflecting the various bodies that have been active in the ecumenical scene during the 20th century. The records of the International Missionary Council and the General Correspondence Archives of the World Council of Churches’ General Secretariat, previously published on microfiche by BRILL/IDC Publishers, are examples of such sections.
The present collection is the first collection from the WCC that is made available electronically. Originally on microfiche, the collection covers the period from 1932 to 1957. The documents consist of newspapers, press clippings, press releases, telegrams, correspondence, minutes, manuscripts, and personal notes. The boxes are organized by 16 countries, mostly European (Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Yugoslavia), but also the United States of America, Colombia, and Israel, as well as China and Indonesia. Records relating to Germany account alone for thirty boxes.
Scholarly relevance
These archives have been studied by historians of the Bergier Commission, a commission set up to investigate the role of Switzerland during the Second World War, and many individual scholars. The collection includes correspondence and personal letters of such notable individuals as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, George Bell, Hans Schönfeld, Karl Barth, James McDonald, Georges Casalis, Adolf Freudenberg, Martin Niemöller, Otto Dibelius, Gerhart Riegner, Marc Boegner, and Willem Adolf Visser 't Hooft. The archives document not only the issues and events of the War, but also the beginning years of the World Council of Churches.
The material in this collection is of high value for researchers from different disciplines, such as political and historical sciences as well as church history, theology, ethics, and ecumenical studies. Churches from different parts of the world, like China, Israel, or Colombia, might find material here that help to interpret their own history, by original documents from their own offices and individuals as well as by documented views from other churches and ecumenical bodies.
As Dr. Visser 't Hooft wrote: "The war came. And at first it seemed as if it would at least mean that the clock of ecumenical history would be definitely set back. The staff became smaller and smaller. Many plans had to be cancelled. But right in the midst of war the tide turned. What new contacts between the churches lost in frequency, they gained in intensity and depth. The war did not weaken the council. On the contrary."
Pierre Beffa (former Director of the World Council of Churches Library), revised by Fernando Enns, Professor of (Peace-) Theology and Ecumenical Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
See also: World Council of Churches Online: Relations with the Roman Catholic Church
This publication came about with support from the Kenneth Scott Latourette Fund, Yale Divinity School Library.