Feature story
The 2025-2026 course was coordinated by Professor Dr Angeliki Ziaka, Programme Executive for Interreligious Dialogue and adjunct professor at Bossey. She spoke at this year’s graduation, held 16 July, for seven students from different countries and representing the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions.
Ziaka said: “This year’s programme focussed on our common home, the Earth, and on the responsibility that religious communities bear in responding to today’s environmental crisis."
“Through the teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, we explored the theological foundations that call us to learn from one another and take care of creation. We reflect on humanity’s vocations not as owners of the earth, but its stewards.”
She said this vision resonates deeply with the WCC’s Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action, which calls “churches and faith communities to work together for ecological justice and the flourishing of all creation.”
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Tree planting ceremony in the garden of Bossey by the students.
Peter Kenny/WCC
Greetings were offered by Dr Andrej Jeftic, Director of WCC’s Faith and Order Commission who represented Rev Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, the programme director of Unity, Mission and Ecumenical Formation. Ms. Athena Peralta, director of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, and by Sheik Hafid Ouardiri, cofounder and director of Geneva-based Fondation de l'Entre-Connaissance who present also spoke at the occasion.
Peralta said: “The World Council of Churches launched the Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action in response to the climate emergency, which is putting in peril our communities and our only planetary home.
“It is a home that we all share, regardless of faith traditions. And I think the exchanges that this seminar has initiated and deepened have only underlined how our faith traditions call us to transformed relationships with each other and with the Earth.”
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Photo:
Peter Kenny/WCC
In a common statement produced by the students at the end of their course, they stated “As people identifying as part of the three Abrahamic faith traditions, we call for the continued development of eco-theological frameworks that move beyond anthropocentric models of domination to address the anthropogenic crisis faced by all creation.
“Although our traditions differ in how they express their theology, they align in affirming that human beings bear responsibility for protecting the environment and preserving the conditions necessary for life.”
Rev. Fr Dr Lawrence Iwuamadi, academic dean of the WCC’s Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, highlighted the broader significance of the programme.
He said: “This programme reaffirms the mission of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey as a place where learning, encounter, and cooperation flourish.
“Participants leave not only with academic knowledge, but also with the inspiration and practical tools to promote dialogue, mutual understanding, and shared responsibility within their own communities.”
The graduation ceremony concluded with a tree planting ceremony to make this significant moment.
This year’s graduation of participants in the 2025–2026 Certificate of Advanced Studies in Interreligious Studies programme was significant as it is the 80th anniversary of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey and10 years that what previously began as Building an Interfaith Community later evolved into the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Interreligious Studies following its accreditation through the Faculty of Theology, University of Geneva in 2016.
Learn more about the WCC's Ecumenical Institute at Bossey
Bossey students visit WCC offices in Geneva (WCC news release, 15 July 2026)
