There was a notable irony to Tutu's Tower of Babel reference, as WCC delegates from around the world donned earphones and dialed in their interpreters.

But that was not the end of the story, said Tutu. God had a plan "to recover the primordial harmony and unity of all things." Tutu then moved through the Biblical record, showing the movement of God through Israel and culminating in the coming of the Christ, that everything might be brought into unity. "And so at the birth of the Church of this Christ, there was a reversal of what had happened at the Tower of Babel."

Tutu said that at Pentecost, people who could not understand one another could hear the good news in their own language. This, he said, was the birth of the Church, the embodiment of Jesus Christ who "broke all barriers between peoples. Ethnic, political, socio-economic, gender barriers have been transcended," said Tutu.

The human family According to Tutu, this act of Jesus Christ set in motion a unity that knows no boundaries. In fact, although Christ is the one who initiates this unity, allegiance to Christ is apparently not a necessary prerequisite for entering into this unity. "Jesus, it appears, was quite serious when he said that God was our father and that we belonged all to one family, because in this family all, not some, are insiders. None is an outsider - black and white, yellow and red, rich and poor, educated and not educated, beautiful and not so beautiful, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, all belong, all are held in a divine embrace that will not let us go - all, for God has no enemies."

Tutu then applied his theology of inclusiveness to an ethic of inclusiveness. Borrowing a phrase from Karl Marx, he said "the ethic of family prevails - from each according to their ability, to each according to their need." Tutu then decried the fact that some of us spend "obscene amounts of budgets of death and destruction" when others do not have enough food to eat, clean water or affordable health care.

"We will not, we cannot win a war against terror as long as there are conditions of poverty and squalor, ignorance and disease that make God's children, members of our family, desperate" Tutu said.

Church unity The key toward re-establishing that primordial unity that God intends for all his creation is the unity of the church, Tutu said. He recalled the film, The Defiant Ones, in which two convicts who are manacled together escape from prison. Having fallen into a ditch, they learn that neither can make it to the top without the other. "The only way they can make it is together, up, up, up and out," said Tutu, who offered this image as a parable for the church.

Suggesting that the unity of the human family is dependent on the unity of the church, and the unity of the church is, in large degree, dependent on the unity of the World Council of Churches, Tutu said, "A united church is no optional extra. A united church is indispensable for the salvation of God's world."

Unity beyond church In a press conference that followed his address, Tutu emphasized his key point: "We believe in one family, and in our quest for this one family, the WCC is crucial." Tutu congratulated the WCC for being "one of the foremost forums for interfaith dialogues, an activity that must be taken even more seriously today."

"I have said that God is not a Christian," said Tutu. "Some people chewed me up for saying that, but I believe it. Some like to think that we Christians have the duty of protecting God. But I wish these people could meet the Dalai Lama. He is a holy person, incredible. We are the ones who keep trying to put limits on God, but God gives the incredible gift of grace."

A reporter asked Tutu if there are any limits to plurality and diversity when seeking unity. "God is the God of all," replied Tutu. "We are too prone to excommunicate. God welcomes all of us . Today we Christians have moved a long way toward understanding that we don't have a corner on the God market. Once we said that all who are not Christians are pagans . We must do away with social apartheid in the world. Religion is like a knife. You can use it for cutting a sandwich or to kill."

A repeated theme Inter-religious dialogue is high on the priority list for this 9th General Assembly of the WCC. During his opening remarks, Aram I, moderator of the WCC, urged delegates to think beyond the walls of the church and consider the possibility of "the hidden Christ" in other religious traditions. The moderator's suggestion was seconded by Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, who urged the WCC to find new models through which Christians could see in the eyes of non- Christians "a reflection of what we see," even if they do not identify that vision in Christian terms.

Throughout the assembly meeting, non-Christian spiritualists and those who practice "indigenous peoples" traditions have been provided seminar space and "ecumenical conversation" opportunities, in order for delegates to learn how they communicate with the spirit world and to engage them in inter-faith dialogues.

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