The endowment of two new scholarship funds geared towards facilitating studies at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches (WCC) was celebrated at the graduation ceremony for the 61st session of the institute's Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies on 3 February.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has called on the international community to cancel Haiti's foreign debt.

In a congratulatory letter to Bishop Irinej (Gavrilovic) of Nis, who was elected patriarch by the holy assembly of bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Friday, 22 January, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed " extraordinary joy" at the news of the election.

In a 13 January solidarity letter to the churches in Malaysia, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed deep concern and profound sorrow about recent attacks against church buildings in the country following a controversy over the right of Christians to use the term "Allah" to refer to God.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed condolences and solidarity with the people of Haiti after the earthquake there and has called for prompt support in the relief efforts.

During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010, Christians throughout the world will be listening together to the promise and commission that are part of Christ's final words before his ascension: "You are witnesses of these things."

The WCC general secretary paid tribute to Prof. Charles Birch, who recently died. Charles Birch was courageous and prophetic in using his knowledge and enormous gifts as an eminent biologist and a theologian.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, wrote a letter to Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, saying that the WCC was "saddened and distressed to receive the news from Uganda regarding a proposed law against homosexual individuals […], which also proposes the death penalty to be meted to homosexual individuals who are HIV positive".

World Council of Churches general secretary, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, said the endorsement by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem of the “Kairos Palestine” document “adds integrity, authority and force to the message of the document.”

As the excitement of the Copenhagen climate change talks subside, the time for matching reality with expectations has begun. From the perspective of the World Council of Churches (WCC) the outcome of the negotiations unfortunately did not match expectations.