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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.

The current issue of The Ecumenical Review, a quarterly journal of the WCC, takes as its theme “Vatican II in Retrospect.”

The vision of Christian unity accompanied by respect for diversity has inspired this year’s prayer materials produced in Brazil for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Metropolitan Dr Gennadios of Sassima, vice-moderator of the WCC Central Committee, has been honoured with the title of “Doctor honoris causa” from the University of Athens, Greece.

As the WCC promotes the vision of a “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, four students from the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland, share their understanding of justice and peace and how they embarked on a pilgrimage of their own.

In a shared recognition of the need to promote inter-religious dialogue in a world faced with conflicts often fuelled by religion, on 13 January the secretary general and officials from the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue visited the WCC offices and met with the general secretary of the WCC, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Professor John Mbiti, theologian and former director of the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey of the WCC has recently become the first African scholar to translate the entire Christian New Testament from Greek to Kikamba, a local Kenyan language.

Attacks last week on French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, along with attacks on Paris police and shoppers at a Jewish grocery there, triggered vigorous reflections on freedom of expression, religious values and the role of churches in a WCC Communications Forum.

The WCC has expressed deep shock over the attacks by extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, which is said to have cost the lives of more than 2,000 people, including children used in suicide bomb attacks.

Reacting to news of the deaths of twelve persons in an armed attack on the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches Georges Lemopoulos said: "The fatal attack that has taken place today in Paris against the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo is an attack on human life, human dignity and the human rights of all."

The newly published issue of Current Dialogue is now available online. Along with key documents from the WCC 10th Assembly, the issue includes several strong pieces addressing some thorny issues in contemporary inter-religious encounter and dialogue, including the recent Malaysian prohibition of Christian use of the name Allah for God, the relationship of ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue, the particular difficulties in dialogue among the Abrahamic traditions, and the limits of dialogue itself.

The world is giving itself a kind of Christmas gift this year, a serious gift and one that is long-overdue. On 24 December 2014 an international law to regulate the global trade in armaments and ammunition enters into force.

A flood of Advent contributions from congregations and individuals, as well as member churches and ecumenical partners, has been one of the greatest joys for the new WCC income manager, Doug Chial, just three months in to the job.

Following the positive developments in relations between Cuba and the United States announced yesterday by their governments, the WCC general secretary expressed his gratitude for the process.

Following the massacre of dozens of students and staff in Peshawar on 16 December, the WCC general secretary extended sympathies to those bereaved or wounded, offering prayers for the victims and their families, for their communities.

A WCC representative joined a representative of the Moscow Patriarch to visit churches in Ukraine and to encourage efforts toward peace there.

The WCC general secretary met this week with representatives of youth organizations to discuss priorities, challenges and common concerns related to youth in the ecumenical movement, as well as possibilities for collaboration.