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The World Council of Churches (WCC) has made new staff appointments during 2024, including three new commission directors. WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay warmly greeted them as they began to serve in their particular ministries.

On the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay lamented the destruction of so many lives and called for an immediate end to the conflict.

As the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting commenced in Davos beginning 15 January, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay urged the gathering to renew its commitment to multilateral cooperation for the longer-term good of all people. 

The forum is convening under the theme “Rebuilding Trust.” 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay denounced the continuing Russian campaign to terrorize the people of Ukraine, “exemplified by yesterday’s missile attacks on several Ukrainian cities which resulted in at least 30 deaths and more than 160 wounded,” he said.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is postponing a planned initial roundtable dialogue meeting on Ukraine, announced WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and Rev. Rita Famos, president of the Protestant Church in Switzerland, and member of the WCC central committee, met with Ambassador Simon Geissbühler, head of the Peace and Human Rights Department at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, on 7 September in Bern.

During the World Council of Churches (WCC) leadership delegation visit to Ukraine in May, an ecumenical prayer service was held in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on 12 May. The service, led by the WCC leadership, WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC moderator Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm and Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, with participation of members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), took place at St Andrew Orthodox Church in Bucha.

World Council of Churches central committee moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm delivered a lecture at the Kitzingen deanery, a regional church district near Würzburg, for the parishes of the deanery as well as for the public. The lecture, entitled “Just Peace through Military Force? Peace Ethical Considerations in Light of the War of Aggression against Ukraine,” was offered on 29 April

During an ecumenical morning prayer held 15 May, the World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and partners observed the UN International Day of Living Together in Peace, holding in prayer many nations across the world facing challenges to living together in harmony.

Against the background of the Russian invasion and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a high-level WCC leadership delegation visiting Ukraine undertook an intensive series of consultations in Kyiv on 11 May 2023, with church leaders, Ukrainian government officials, and others.

A delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) is visiting Ukraine on 10-12 May to renew relations with churches and religious organizations and to explore possibilities of joint efforts to achieve just peace in Ukraine.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shares an Easter message of hope and renewal, reflecting on the moment when Jesus Christ, on the cross cries: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”