Document
Across the world today, countless communities live under the shadow of war and conflict. The scale of human suffering is staggering and still growing. In 2024 alone, an estimated 160,000 people were killed in organised violence, while more than 123 million were forcibly displaced, the highest number in recorded history. Millions more live with injuries, grief, and trauma. Yet numbers alone cannot convey the true weight of what is unfolding.
We face not only crises of violence, but crises of health, dignity, and humanity. In Iran, reports of more than 160 schoolchildren killed by a single missile have left communities shattered. In Kabul, the deaths of over 400 patients in a drug rehabilitation centre after an airstrike exposed the fragility of those already on society’s margins. In Gaza, starvation has moved beyond warning to daily reality. In Sudan, the collapse of maternal and child health services leaves women and infants without even the most basic care. Years of conflict in Ukraine, Russia, and eastern DRC have devastated health systems, destroying or occupying facilities and rendering much of the infrastructure inoperable.
These are not isolated tragedies. They are interconnected signs of a world in which the essential conditions for life, health, food, safety, and trust, are being systematically dismantled. Too often, leaders prioritise power, profit, and selective political narratives over the long-term well-being of their people.
Health as a sign of God’s Reign
The healing ministry of Jesus Christ shows that health is central to reconciliation, concord and peace. Amid such suffering, concord, which in the Old Testament is the vision of “Shalom- Salaam- Shlomo” (in Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic), calls us to a deeper understanding of peace. Shalom- Salaam- Shlomo is not merely the absence of war, as health is not just the absence of disease. Shalom- Salaam- Shlomo and healing can both be described as a process by which that wholeness is restored in bodies, relationships, and communities: right relationship with God, with one another, and with creation. The prophet Isaiah envisions a world where “they shall not hurt or destroy… for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord…” (Isaiah 11:9). This vision stands in stark contrast to our fractured reality. Conflict and war reverse these signs of life. Hospitals are destroyed. Health workers are displaced, targeted and killed. Treatment for chronic disease is interrupted. Livelihoods vanish. Epidemics spread. Entire populations are traumatised.
Conflict is not only a geopolitical failure but also a spiritual crisis: a breaking of sacred relationships and mutual accountability with each other. In this crisis, we risk taking the role of Cain in Holy Scripture, characterised by ungratefulness, envy and murder.
“Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’
He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’”
(Genesis 4:9)
Globally, an estimated 22% of people living in conflict-affected settings suffer from mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder- suffering that extends far beyond the individual and weakens the social fabric itself. Health in these contexts is both a casualty of war and a pathway toward restoration.
When the World Turns Away
There is another, quieter crisis spreading alongside the violence: the erosion of empathy and truth. As suffering intensifies, many turn inward, consuming selective narratives that reduce complex realities to partisan slogans. Human lives become abstracted through political filters. Compassion becomes conditional. In this climate, the suffering of others is not only distant but also distorted, denied, or ignored. This loss of empathy fragments our shared humanity, allowing injustice to persist and the unacceptable to become normal.
Healing as Reconciliation
Our faith calls us to resist fragmentation. As the Apostle Paul writes, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18). This ministry includes the healing of bodies through care and service; the healing of minds through accompaniment and psychological support; the healing of memories through truth-telling and lament; and the healing of relationships through dialogue, justice, and reparative action. Health ministries, in this sense, are also ministries of peace and reconciliation: they can rebuild what war has broken – and yet healing is always a sign of grace.
The Role of the Church: Living Signs of Shalom- Salaam- Shlomo
In some of the world’s most fragile contexts, churches and faith-based communities remain among the last institutions standing. They continue to serve, accompany, pray and advocate for those in need. The church is called to:
- Stand with the vulnerable and displaced. “He defends the cause of the orphan and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving them food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:18)
- Speak truth to power. “Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed.” (Jeremiah 22:3)
- Provide holistic healing—physical, mental, and spiritual; following Jesus’ ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing: “He cured every disease and every sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23–24)
- Build bridges across division. “For he is our peace… that he might create in himself one new humanity… thus making peace.” (Ephesians 2:14–16)
- Provide safe spaces where homes are lost. - “I have said this to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution but take courage: I have conquered the world!” (John16,33)
In living out this witness, the church becomes a visible sign of Shalom- a reminder that another way of being is possible. As Isaiah foresees: “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares… nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:4)
A Prophetic Call: Wake from Our Slumber
The scale of suffering in our world leaves no room for indifference.
We cannot retreat into comfort while others struggle to survive.
We cannot accept narratives that distort truth or devalue human life.
We cannot normalise a world where children die, the sick are abandoned, and the displaced are forgotten.
The cries from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Sudan, Ukraine, and beyond are not distant echoes; they are urgent appeals to our shared humanity. This is a moment for awakening- from moral complacency, from selective attention, from the illusions that numb compassion.
To walk the path of Shalom- Salaam- Shlomo is to see clearly, feel deeply, and act justly.
It is to affirm that health, peace, and dignity are not privileges for a few, but the birthright of all. It is to hear the voices of the vulnerable- and to respond consistently.
The suffering is real. Let us allow ourselves to be moved by it.
Together, let us choose the hard, necessary work of healing our fractured world.
WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing
