Strengthening the link between Christian perspectives and practical action for human rights, a symposium on human dignity and rights took place in the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey on 25-26 April.
"The soldiers went away because you were watching.”
“I am able to herd my sheep near the military base because I feel safe in the presence of ecumenical accompaniers, and settler harassment is much less when you are around.”
“We feel safe when the ecumenical accompaniers are present.”
The World Council of Churches (WCC) released a fact sheet on demolitions in East Jerusalem that serves as a source of credible information for WCC member churches, ecumenical accompaniers, and the media.
“It was with sadness that we received the news of the passing of Prof. Dr Julio Hector de Santa Ana, a reference of ecumenical theology in a liberating perspective,” said Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). De Santa Ana passed away in Geneva, Switzerland, on 17 April.
Six ecumenical accompaniers participated in a Palm Sunday procession from Bethphage on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, entering Jerusalem with hundreds of faithful from around the world—commemorating the journey taken by Jesus some 2,000 years ago.
How do religions represent “others” in their ideas, symbols, and practices? How do religious representations of others influence social cohesion? And what role can young leaders play in engaging with the challenges and the potential found within religious traditions’ representations of “others” to cultivate social resilience?
Students at the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Institute at Bossey are enrolled in a Formation en Théologie Interculturelle course of 8 weekends that began in October 2022 and ends on 27 May 2023 The 14 students, all from French-speaking parts of Europe, reflected on the rewards of their studies.
In the aftermath of the attack against the Gethsemane Orthodox Church on 19 March, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Jerusalem Liaison Office co-organized a solidarity visit to the church.
Below, Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, World Council of Churches (WCC) director of Public Witness and Diakonia, reflects on the relevance of ecumenical diakonia and public witness today.
Can we increase our knowledge of how algorithms work? Can faith-based groups help close the digital divide? A webinar on 9 March, offered a way forward in an area that sometimes seems ruled by untouchable artificial intelligence.
Rev. Sally Azar, of the Lutheran Church in the Holy Land, met with ecumenical accompaniers from Ecuador, Finland, and Norway at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem’s Old City on 3 March.
Alexander Brock, an international development practitioner from Ireland, recently returned from a deployment with the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. On 1 March, he gave an eyewitness account of what it’s like to monitor human rights in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank. He was part of a group of 27 ecumenical accompaniers from all over the world.
Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, World Council of Churches programme director for Unity and Mission, reflects below on mission, theology, and the making of a better world.
The latest issue of Current Dialogue, the journal of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on interreligious dialogue and cooperation, takes as its theme “Healing Wounded Memories through Interreligious Perspective and Engagement.”
Hanna Barag, an Israeli woman who has described herself as a “human rights diplomat” for the organization Machsom Watch, has spent decades observing what happens to Palestinians at checkpoints, and it’s—in a word—“de-humanizing,” she says.
Rev. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus began to teach at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in 2004 and joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 2007. Most recently he served as WCC interim deputy general secretary and Faith and Order director. Below, he reflects on his fondest memories, accomplishments, and hopes.
“It’s okay not to be okay.” That’s the catchy way Denis Pattinasarany, from the Protestant church in the Mollucas, Indonesia, describes one of the most important things he learned at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) joins The United Church of Canada and many other churches and peoples across the world who are mourning the death of Omega Chilufya Bula, a beloved justice leader, sister, elder, pioneer, mentor, friend, and colleague.
Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, Mission of Palestine to Switzerland; and Doa Nofal, second secretary at the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 1 February.
A group of Ecumenical Accompaniers completed their service in Palestine and Israel, handing their ministry over to the next wave, and celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at the same time.
