The life of Rev. Dr Rena Joyce Weller Karefa-Smart is being remembered and commended this week by the WCC fellowship after her passing last week. Karefa-Smart was the first Pan African woman to graduate in 1945 from Yale Divinity School. She was a champion for global ecumenism over the course of a long and distinguished career. An attendee of the first WCC Assembly, she was also a procession leader and author of the liturgies at the second WCC Assembly in Evanston, Illinois (USA).

A “Bible App” is making material for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity available on smart phones, computers and tablets as the World Council of Churches (WCC) continues its collaboration with YouVersion.

The division of Cyprus since 1974 is one of the most protracted issues in the hands of the United Nations. Despite recent peace negotiations faltering, hope still exists that the impasse on the unification of the Mediterranean island will be resolved. The Church of Cyprus, a founding member of the WCC, strives for the unity of the island, together with other churches in the country. It recognizes, however, that the challenge is first to heal the wounds caused by the Turkish invasion 44 years ago.