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The WCC has congratulated Rev. Dr Carlos Emilio Ham on becoming president of the Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cuba. Ham, a pastor of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba, served the WCC as programme executive in various areas from 2001 to 2013.

In a statement issued on 13 February, the WCC has welcomed the ceasefire agreement for eastern Ukraine negotiated in Minsk and announced yesterday.

The Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan’s diocese of Wau has developed a course titled “Reconcile - Moving Forward in Peace”, inviting people to be peace-builders this Lenten season.

The WCC has extended congratulations former staff members Mathews George Chunakara and Young-Cheol Cheon who have been appointed to new positions leading two ecumenical organizations in Asia.

The WCC mourns the death of Leopoldo J. Niilus, former director of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), renowned lawyer, peace negotiator and author of several writings on human rights and international affairs.

With aspirations to learn and contribute to the work of the WCC inter-religious dialogue and cooperation department, Matias Ikkala from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has commenced working this week as a WCC intern.

The WCC has congratulated Urmas Viilma on becoming the new archbishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Archbishop Viilma, a member of the WCC Central Committee, was consecrated in his new position in a ceremony held in Tallinn, Estonia on 2 February.

An influential document full of hopes and aspirations, having received worldwide acclaim for highlighting the struggle of Palestinians against oppressive Israeli occupation, continues to seek a future after its fifth anniversary was celebrated in December last year.

A court decision in the Dominican Republic annulling the citizenship of an estimated 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian ancestry has been strongly criticized by church leaders, including the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Former German President Richard von Weizsäcker, died on 31 January. He was 94. “The WCC remembers with deep gratitude Dr Richard von Weizsäcker for the gifts he brought to his church, the wider ecumenical movement and the world,” wrote the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, in a letter to von Weizsäcker’s wife Dr Marianne Baroness von Weizsäcker.

Serious death threats to human rights defenders, many of them church leaders, have been made by a paramilitary group in Colombia. The WCC, among other international organizations has called on Colombian government to protect their lives.

Outcomes, disappointments, as well as encouraging signs from the United Nations Climate Change Conference and the Peoples Summit held late last year in Lima, Peru, were discussed at length by representatives of faith communities.

Churches and religious leaders are at the forefront of efforts to mobilize action for a legally binding agreement on world’s climate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris at the end of 2015. The motivation of the WCC for its role in this arena is summarized in the title of its environmental programme: Care for Creation and Climate Justice.

Thousands of people are planning to embark on a pilgrimage of climate justice – either on foot or on bicycles – in many parts of the world.

During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, officials of the Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation team of the WCC and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue met in Rome.

Attacks in Niger, resulting in the destruction of more than 70 churches and the killing of an undetermined number of people, were strongly condemned by the WCC. These events have come as repercussions following the Charlie Hebdo attack and the “Je suis Charlie” campaign in support of the controversial French weekly publication.

The WCC and its member churches expressed deep concern over reports of widespread violent demonstrations in Kinshasa since 19 January.

In the light of current global realities, representatives of the World Evangelical Alliance and the WCC met from 20 to 21 January to explore and discuss possible areas of future cooperation.

Challenged by Christians from Brazil to strive for greater respect for religious and cultural diversity, churches are reflecting together on the gospel of John as they celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.