The World Council of Churches (WCC) has welcomed the initiative by the seven most industrialized nations (G7), which pledged this past weekend to write Haiti's debts with them off. In a letter from the WCC general secretary, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the WCC also asked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions to follow the G7 example and make sure financial support to Haiti is "grant-based and...

Cries of Anguish; Stories of Hope - a series of online Lenten study resources on the struggle to end violence against women will be launched 15 February during a prayer service at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

pief.oikoumene.org is a new website launched by the Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum geared to providing a springboard for advocacy, public education, and mobilization.

The endowment of two new scholarship funds geared towards facilitating studies at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches (WCC) was celebrated at the graduation ceremony for the 61st session of the institute's Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies on 3 February.

The role of the church in building just peace was highlighted last week in Addis Abba, Ethiopia where three World Council of Churches (WCC) advisory groups met to recognize the culmination of the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) and the forthcoming International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) scheduled for May 2011.

"God’s grace and Your Holiness’ genuine commitment has made Your first year as Spiritual Head of the Russian Orthodox Church a blessed and fruitful period, a year of great achievements in all fields of life of the Russian Orthodox Church," wrote WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in a letter to Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia on 1 February.

The Continuation Committee on Ecumenism in the 21st Century, coordinated under the auspices of the World Council of Churches and composed of 15 representatives drawn from diverse churches and Christian organizations, met in Rome to formulate questions for broad discussion on future pathways toward unity.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has called on the international community to cancel Haiti's foreign debt.

As churches and church related organizations mobilize resources to bring immediate relief to the people of Port-au-Prince, they are also advocating for the international community to waive Haiti's foreign debt while building a more sustainable future for the country.

In a congratulatory letter to Bishop Irinej (Gavrilovic) of Nis, who was elected patriarch by the holy assembly of bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Friday, 22 January, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed " extraordinary joy" at the news of the election.