10. April 08
Danish churches to dialogue with Muslims
Several member churches of the Danish National Council of Churches (DNCC) recently sent a response to a 13 Oct. 2007 open letter from 138 prominent Muslim scholars and leaders to church leaders around the world. The Danish church response was published 10 Apr. in the Danish newspaper, the Christian Daily. The 16 member churches who were signatories to the response said the Muslim letter "represents an important step in the essential dialogue...
10. April 08
Former WCC staff Geneviève Jacques honored in France
Ms Geneviève Jacques, former WCC Programmes Director, has been awarded the Légion d’Honneur by the French Republic for her active solidarity with the peoples of the South.
10. April 08
The WCC mourns the death of Father Vitaly Borovoy
A pioneer of inter-Christian dialogue who played a leading role in the movement for Christian reconciliation and unity, Protopresbyter Vitaly Borovoy, from the Russian Orthodox Church, died on 7 April aged 93.
9. April 08
Sudanese youth and women identify challenges in a war-torn country
Based on a candid assessment of how two decades of war have affected them, Sudanese youth told church leaders what they need most: skills training, jobs and means of participating in shaping their country?s future. Sudanese women, in turn, spoke out about their vulnerability, increased by war and cultural patterns.
7. April 08
Southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir reaffirms willingness to work "side by side" with churches
"We remain committed to work side by side with the churches", the president of Southern Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit told representatives of an international ecumenical delegation in Juba, Southern Sudan, on 3 April 2008.
4. April 08
Sudan: churches at a crossroad
Sudanese churches stand at a crossroads, said the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia. On the one hand, they face a transition from liberation fight to rebuilding their homes and communities. On the other, they live in a country where Islam and Christianity cross paths and the relationship between the two is vital.
1. April 08
Sales park for second hand cars on Christian cemetery illustrates difficulties of Sudanese Christians
In Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, it is hard for Christians to have their own place - even after they have died. The city's Christian cemetery, which has been turned into a sales park for second hand cars, illustrates well the challenges faced by the minority Christian community in the northern, predominantly Muslim part of the country.
1. April 08
Salvation Army and African Instituted Churches welcomed at Forum on Bilateral Dialogues
Christian World Communions as well as the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches sent representatives to the Ninth Forum on Bilateral Dialogues in order to share information on recent bilateral consultations between churches and to discuss the vision of unity expressed in their ecumenical texts.
28. March 08
WCC criticizes Islamophobic film, calls for mutual respect
The movie Fitna, recently released online by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders was criticized as "a clear case of Islamophobia" by Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana, director of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Programme on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation. "Through graphic images the filmmaker depicts violent extremism without any attempt to distinguish it from mainstream Islam. Extremism is a problem for most religions...
28. March 08
Sudanese churches face "tremendous tasks and challenges"
Amid ongoing fighting and humanitarian crises in several regions of Sudan, and risks of failure in implementing the 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between north and south, the Sudanese people and churches face "tremendous tasks and challenges", an international ecumenical team of church representatives was told at the beginning of an eight-day solidarity visit to the country.