It was with "deep sadness" that the World Council of Churches (WCC) received news of the "tragic accident in which Pope Petros VII, Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa and other members of the Patriarchate, including bishops, priests and lay staff, lost their lives".

Celebrating peace when the world is at war, when both Iraqis and Americans still are dying in Iraq, when civil war and genocide threatens thousands in the Sudan and again in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, may seem like an exercise in futility. But the truth is that it is when the world is at war that we need voices and prayers for peace even more.

The general secretaries of eight regional ecumenical bodies and of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have sent a letter to UN secretary-general Kofi Annan "reaffirming the deep desire" of their organisations and member churches "to support the United Nations" and the person of its secretary-general "at this critical time on the world scene" .

Maya, 20 years old and Lior, 18, have lived their whole lives in Israel. They are part of the same people, have a common history, have gone to the same kinds of schools. Yet they have chosen two very different paths in life. While Maya was polishing her boots at a military base in Gaza, Lior was demonstrating against the Wall. But both women share a common dream that there will be peace between Israelis and Palestinians someday.

Churches representing over 550 million Christians world-wide have been invited for the first time to mark 21 September as an International Day of Prayer for Peace.

+ Ecumenical leaders discuss future of ecumenism + WCC hosts Indigenous leaders to UN caucus + Churches to celebrate International Day of Prayer for Peace + WCC general secretary to visit churches in Canada

Three heads of churches in Jerusalem - Roman Catholic patriarch, Michel Sabbah, Lutheran bishop, Munib Younan, and Greek Melkite archimandrite, Mtanios Haddad - visited three predominantly Muslim Palestinian communities on 2 August, showing their support and appreciation for the work of the members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).

"Your mere presence in Malaysia is a powerful statement against (…) the rhetoric of hate and distrust that is so prevalent in the world today," Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Bin Haji Ahmad Badawi today told over a hundred church representatives from all over the world gathered in Kuala Lumpur.

The WCC has forcefully denounced the series of bombings which targeted Christian churches in Iraq on 1 August 2004.

Middle Eastern church leaders have condemned attacks on Iraqi churches and called for solidarity following bombings at churches yesterday.