News in brief Latest AIDS figures: Church advocates call for renewed action, not complacency
Revised figures for the HIV epidemic which drop the estimated number of people living with HIV worldwide to about 33 million have been welcomed by church workers active in the response to HIV and AIDS around the world as a sign of hope and a challenge to keep promises. The Ecumenical Advocacy...
21. November 07
Churches rush aid to Bangladesh cyclone victims
Churches in Bangladesh have launched a massive relief effort for victims of the devastating cyclone that has claimed thousands of lives along the country's southwestern coast. Read the featured article by ENI.
15. November 07
Greed, overproduction and over-consumption are sinful, say African Christians
A severe reminder "of the wealth that was built and sustained on the continued extraction and plunder of Africa's resources as well as on the exploitation of Africa's people" was addressed to Christians in the global North by the participants in the African ecumenical consultation "Linking poverty, wealth and ecology" last week.
3. October 07
WCC congratulates Metropolitan Mar Irenaeus, new head of the Mar Thoma Church
On the occasion of Dr Joseph Mar Irenaeus' enthronement as Malankara Mar Thoma Metropolitan on 2 October 2007, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia extended the Council's "hearty congratulations, prayers and best wishes".
28. September 07
Philippine government is not curbing extrajudicial killings, WCC says
Measures implemented by the Philippine government in regard to extrajudicial killings in the country will not prevent these, affirmed the World Council of Churches (WCC) at the UN Human Rights Council's 6th session held in Geneva from 10-28 September 2007.
28. September 07
US Christian leaders met Iranian president Ahmadinejad
In an effort to promote dialogue as an alternative to a possible military confrontation between Iran and the United States, the World Council of Churches (WCC) co-sponsored a discussion between Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and nearly 140 people of faith from across the United States.
20. September 07
"Our globalized world is in great need of unity," Riccardi says
"We still believe strongly in the work to achieve unity, because it is God’s commandment to us and because our globalized world is in great need of unity," said Prof. Andrea Riccardi speaking at the World Council of Churches (WCC).
Remembering ecumenical leaders
The WCC mourns the deaths of Claire Randall and Rev. Kim Dong Wan.
19. September 07
Living Letters to the US - join the visit!
"We’re living letters. And we believe we’re stamped and sealed with love, comprehension and peace." Blogging on the road, Brazilian theologian Marcelo Schneider uses these words to describe his experience as part of a Living Letters delegation currently visiting the United States as part of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV).
14. September 07
WCC congratulates Patriarch Daniel, newly elected head of the Romanian Orthodox Church
“Most sincere congratulations” were expressed to the newly elected head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Daniel, by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia.