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Declaring that “there is no justification in either faith or science for the racism, xenophobia and discrimination that we are witnessing in the world,” the leadership of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee adopted a public statement that condemns these social forces.

The statement was prepared by the Public Issues Committee at the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany.

In a letter to H.E. Zbigniew Rau, OSCE chairman-in-office, and minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca and Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen, general secretary of the Conference of European Churches, jointly appeal for urgent action by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to promote a just and sustainable peace in the Caucasus, following renewed violence in the region in which more than 100 lives have already been lost.

Members of the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification & Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula (EFK) held an informal meeting on 9 September in Karlsruhe, Germany, following the conclusion of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly.

The World Council of Churches invites the global fellowship and all people of good will to join, on 15 August, a prayer for peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.

On International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, being observed 9 August with a UN virtual commemoration, the World Council of Churches (WCC) reiterated its commitment to partnering with Indigenous Peoples to renew creation.

In South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the peace and reconciliation work of pastors, priests and lay Christians remains critical for the people, as the global church and ecumenical groups amplify their concerns over the complex but separate conflicts in the two African countries.

In a joint letter to President Joe Biden, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and ACT Alliance urged that he find ways in which the intended purposes of sanctions can be pursued without harm being inflicted on ordinary Syrians.

In an 8 July letter sent to President Joe Biden, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca appealed for Biden’s attention to the plight of churches and Christians of the Holy Land.

Biden is scheduled to visit Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia on 13-16 July.

As protests grow across the world over the senseless loss of migrants’ lives, the World Council of Churches (WCC) reiterated its call for the right to life for migrants, particularly in the wake of the tragic loss of lives at the Morocco-Spain border as well as in Texas (USA).

Churches in Africa and disabled persons organizations are condemning the use of disabled children as beggars and slaves, amid media reports of cross-border smuggling of the children between Kenya and Tanzania.

Ekaterina E. wears the human face of statelessness every day.“Statelessness is about expulsion from the human community” she says, “for me personally, being stateless means I have been separated from my mother for nearly 30 years now.”

Deploring the illegal and unjustifiable war “inflicted on the people and sovereign state of Ukraine” the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee lamented “the awful and continuing toll of deaths, destruction and displacement, of destroyed relationships and ever more deeply entrenched antagonism between the people of the region, of escalating confrontation globally, of increased famine risk in food insecure regions of the world, of economic hardship and heightened social and political instability in many countries.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee has appointed, by consensus, three new WCC staff leaders: a programme director for Unity and Mission; a programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia; and a director of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism.

On 20 June, World Refugee Day, a World Council of Churches (WCC) webinar will focus on statelessness and the recently addopted “Interfaith Affirmations on Belongingness.”

Offering a churches’ perspective during a dialogue on humanitarian aid on 10 June, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca spoke on the faith and spiritual foundations for helping one another.