In 2005, for the second year running, churches representing over 560 million Christians world-wide are being invited to mark the UN International Day of Peace, 21 September, as an International Day of Prayer for Peace.

While anti-semitism is a sin, not every critique of Israeli policies qualifies as anti-semitism, Samuel Kobia told a Jewish-Christian gathering on Sunday, 24 July.

Reacting to the verdict of a Libyan court which has condemned to death six foreign health workers, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has asked H.E. Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi, Leader of the Revolution, to spare their lives on humanitarian grounds.

A new group of 18 ecumenical accompaniers last week joined four others staying on in Israel and Palestine from the previous group within the framework of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). The new arrivals bring the total number of ecumenical accompaniers now on the ground to 22.

Grace and peace to you on this Feast of Pentecost 2005, in which we celebrate the many gifts of God’s Spirit!

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia today congratulated WCC staff member Dr Tarek Mitri on his appointment as minister of environment and administrative development in Lebanon's transitional government.

Leaders of several Christian and ecumenical organizations met on 13 April with representatives of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to request a change in the international rules and practices that govern trade.

Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, archbishop of Cape Town, is invited by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to speak at a high-level session at the opening of its public symposium on 20 April, 11:00-13:00 at the Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland.

Alarmed by new political developments affecting the status of Jerusalem, the WCC's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs called in an open letter today for "an open and inclusive Jerusalem, a city of shared sovereignty and citizenship, a city of two peoples and three faiths, of Christians, Muslims and Jews".

Churches and church-related organizations around the world are leading events during the Global Week of Action on Trade, 10-16 April 2005.