The Seventh General Assembly of the Caribbean Conference of Churches ( CCC ) is currently in session in Panama City . The official opening ceremony was scheduled for Friday morning at the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Cathedral Santa Maria de Antigua. The Assembly ends Thursday, June 16.

The Roman Catholic Church, through the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC), is a founding member of the CCC and is being represented at the Assembly by delegates from the various Archdioceses and Dioceses from the Dutch, English and French-speaking Caribbean of which the AEC is comprised.

Among the several delegates from various denominations attending the Assembly will be the following representatives of the AEC: Archbishop Kelvin Felix of Castries ; Bishop Donald Reece of St John's-Basseterre; Msgr Christian Pereira of Port of Spain ; and Msgr Herbert Panton of Montego Bay .

Also participating in the Assembly will be Dr Everard Johnston, Dean of Studies at the Seminary of St John Vianney and the Ugandan Martyrs. Dr Johnston has been invited to the Assembly as a resource person for theological matters.

Brother Paschal Jordan OSB of Mora Camp, Bartica has composed the Assembly Song and is responsible for the daily worship sessions during the Assembly. The bible study sessions will be led by Dr Ofelia Ortega, a World Council of Churches (WCC) Commissioner from Cuba .

The theme of the General Assembly is Healing and Transformation – given in Christ, fulfilled through the Spirit .

The CCC is the recognised Regional Ecumenical Organisation (REO) of the Caribbean and one of the major development agencies at work in the Caribbean today.

The organisation is currently comprised of 34 member Churches in 33 territories across the region. In striving to be faithful to its mandate – “ Promoting Ecumenism and Social Change in Obedience to Jesus Christ and in Solidarity with the Poor ” – the CCC has been serving the peoples of the Region for over three decades, operating in all four linguistic constituencies of the region, viz the Dutch, English, French, and Spanish-speaking territories.

The Assembly, which is the top policy-making body of the CCC , meets every five years and is an important event in the life of the ecumenical movement of the region. The last assembly was held in Havana , Cuba .

The Assembly is also a time for delegates, in light of the CCC 's mandate and the contemporary context of the region, to evaluate the work of the organisation over the last period between Assemblies and to elect a new Board to run its affairs over the next five-year term.