At the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, leaders from five historic centres of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean region met in early September to discuss matters of regional and global concern. In addition to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Orthodox churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Cyprus were represented.

For churches in Africa, the Old Testament has historically occupied a prominent place in theological thinking. “Our theology is constructed with the image of God in the Old Testament,” reflects Charles Klagba, theological consultant for the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa.

“The Pacific is a region that displays many warm and strong expressions of peace,’’ WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in a speech to the Pacific Conference of Churches 50th anniversary celebration held in Samoa this past week.

In a gala commemoration of a half-century of Christian witness, the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) has returned to the Malua Theological College in Samoa where its first representatives assembled in 1961.

Christians and Muslims, together with leaders of other world religions, should cooperate in “rallying people to form alliances for peace and reconciliation with justice,” according to the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has joined in a call to observe Thursday 1 September through Tuesday 4 October 2011 as a time for prayer, reflection and re-dedication regarding care for and just use of God’s gifts in nature.

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has extended his sympathy to United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon following the 26 August bombing of UN offices in Abuja, Nigeria. The suicide car-bombing is reported to have left at least 23 persons dead and dozens wounded.

Government interference in church affairs in the Pacific nation of Fiji has been identified as a matter of profound concern by the WCC general secretary.

For seven days last week the streets and squares of Madrid, Spain, were overrun by more than a million young people from all over the world. They gathered for the 26th World Youth Day, a youth-oriented event of the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC was represented by three members of its Echos Commission on Youth in the Ecumenical Movement, Diana Fernandes Dos Santos of Brazil, Mikael Giødesen of Denmark and Nikos Kosmidis of Greece.

Celebration of the 175th anniversary of an 1836 reformation in the historic Malankara church in India featured a keynote address on 20 August by WCC general secretary Olav Fykse Tveit. The speech was given at the headquarters of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar in Kerala. Among those attending the event were Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Old Catholic church leaders.