The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Patriarch Abune Paulos, one of the presidents of the WCC, has spoken out forcefully in favour of peace and reconciliation in a region beset by conflicts.

A brief visit by World Trade Organization (WTO) director-general Pascal Lamy to the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on Thursday 29 June gave World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Samuel Kobia an opportunity to share ecumenical concerns on economic justice and international trade, and for Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) board member Richard Fee to present religious leaders' petitions for justice in trade negotiations, with/to the...

A multi-religious prayer service and a debate on ethical dilemmas in micro-disarmament are being organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) within the framework of the UN Review Conference on the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons taking place in New York from 26 June - 7 July 2006.

"Ecumenical cooperation in evangelism should regain a high and visible priority" in the World Council of Churches (WCC), said a group of mission specialists participating in a seminar held at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey from 6-12 June.

Former top United Nations weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix, now the chair of The Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC), is scheduled to present the WMDC's report at the World Council of Churches (WCC) during a ceremony at the Ecumenical Centre on Thursday evening 15 June 2006.

As part of his three-day-visit to the World Council of Churches (WCC), the primate of the Church of Greece, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, visited the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey on 29 May 2006, and announced the establishment of a new scholarship fund to support studies in ecumenism at the Institute.

Receiving news of the earthquake in Indonesia on 27 May, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia assured both WCC member churches there and the country's president of the WCC's sympathy and solidarity.

A pioneer in public health, promoting the role of churches in health, healing and wholeness, Dr Eric Ram, who died on 23 May in the USA, was active in promoting the human, social and cultural rights of marginalized peoples, and of low- and middle-income countries within the international community.

Patriarch Theophilos III, head of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, was received by the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia today at the WCC headquarters in Geneva in their first official encounter since he was elected in 2005.

Mr Huibert van Beek, until recently the WCC staff person responsible for the organisation's relationships with member churches, received a high Dutch distinction in honour of the Queen's birthday on 27 April 2006. Van Beek was named Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau. He received the distinction because of his "exceptional meritorious service to the (world church) community".