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World Council of Churches Statement on the Escalation of Violence in the Middle East

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, on behalf of the global fellowship, expressed grave concern regarding the recent escalation of violence in the Middle East following the first direct confrontation between Iran and Israel.

15 April 2024

General Secretary

WCC statement on Decree of XXV World Russian People's Council

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, on behalf of WCC member churches, said that the WCC cannot reconcile the Decree of the XXV World Russian People's Council describing the conflict in Ukraine as a “Holy War.”

12 April 2024

General Secretary

Bossey student reflects on “the joy of discovering the other”

Radu Constantin grew up in the small hamlet of Cioatele, in northeastern Romania, a village he describes as “religious people, very involved in the church life.”

11 April 2024

Priest pictured looking at a row of icons inside a stone building.

Orthodox Patriarchate Seminary in Jerusalem urges “know your neighbor”

Mount Zion, located just outside the current walls of the Old City, via Zion Gate, is of great importance to Christians because this is the area of Dormition Abbey, the Cenacle (the traditional spot for remembering the Last Supper and washing of the Apostles’ feet), and where the Holy Spirit descended upon them in the event of Pentecost.

10 April 2024

Roundtable advances children's rights in climate litigation

Recent years have witnessed a seismic shift in the global landscape of climate litigation, with youth activists taking center stage in the fight for environmental justice.

09 April 2024

Voice of churches vital during UN women’s rights talks

As the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) drew to a close, a look back shows that, this year, the World Council of Churches (WCC), through its Ecumenical Office to the United Nations, brought many voices to the table to speak on gender equality, women's rights, and empowerment.

28 March 2024

WCC commissioner Kevin Maina shares perspectives from UN Environment Assembly

Kevin Maina, a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development and a representative of the Anglican communion, shares his experience as a participant of the United Nations Environment Assembly's sixth session (UNEA-6) in Kenya.

27 March 2024

Churches in South Sudan appeal for support during worsening humanitarian crisis

Churches in South Sudan are appealing for humanitarian assistance, amidst fears that the consequences of climate change, macro-economic shocks, and the war in Sudan could sink the country further into the worst humanitarian crisis since independence.

26 March 2024

Picture of leg of a child walking down steps made of car tyres.

Healing must start with the kids: “what kind of adults are they going to become?”

The stretch of time since 7 October 2023 has been described in many ways—and Robi Damelin’s words are “a real test of your belief systems.”

21 March 2024

Background document

Advocacy Outline - WCC-EAPPI Easter Initiative 2024

As we witness the ongoing violence and injustice in the Holy Land and seek to stand in solidarity with its peoples struggling to find peace, the 2024 WCC-EAPPI Easter initiative lifts up the call to roll away the heavy stone of violence, war, and occupation, pain, and suffering, and to remind the world of what is needed to bring about peace, and to transform swords into ploughshares.

21 March 2024

WCC Programmes

Image of rubble after a bomb hits the ground.

Words of steadfastness ring from the rubble

“We won’t leave Gaza as long as there is a standing church.”

“We will not be the last Christians living in Gaza.” “

“We lost everything, but we can’t lose our mission and our belonging to this place dear to our hearts.”

“Christianity started here and will continue to be here.”

These are the words people are uttering as Nader Abu Amsha, executive director of Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches (DSPR-MECC), tries to help them simply survive the next day.

21 March 2024

Background document

#ZacTax for Gender Justice

Zacchaeus Tax (ZacTax) is an ecumenical campaign by churches, seeking a transformed global tax system that acts like the biblical character Zacchaeus, delivering equity and making reparation for historic and structural injustice.

15 March 2024

WCC Programmes

Priest dressed in white clothes presiding over a church service inside a stone church.

As the world order breaks down, “Jerusalem is to start again”

Father Frans Bouwen, a priest in the Catholic church who has been living and working for ecumenism in Jerusalem since 1969, has a stark description of the situation in Palestine and Israel today.

14 March 2024

WCC climate commission moderator: “Let us be the ones to show that there is a will”

Moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development Archbishop Rev. Julio Murray Thompson, in a WCC video interview, reflects on the challenges the commission is facing, how it will build partnerships, and ways in which it will involve young people.

07 March 2024

Image of Dr Mathews George Chunakara, new moderator of World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of Churches on International Affairs

International affairs commission moderator reflects on complex role of churches in building peace

Dr Mathews George Chunakara, new moderator of World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of Churches on International Affairs, reflects in a WCC video interview on the role of churches in peace-building and working for justice, and the challenging tasks ahead for the commission.

07 March 2024

Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of Jerusalem statement on the recent attack on crowds gathering to receive humanitarian aid

02 March 2024

Ecumenical movement

WCC statement for 2nd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

23 February 2024

General Secretary

What can churches do to prevent modern slavery?

Jackline Makena Mutuma is clergy with the Methodist Church in Kenya and a student at the Ecumenical Institute at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, where her current research is related to the intersection of modern day slavery and global warming. She was also recently elected as one of the vice moderators of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order. In a WCC interview, she reflects on the urgent issue of preventing modern slavery.

22 February 2024