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Today 35 bishops and church leaders from 20 countries gathered in Munich, Germany to discuss the refugee situation and the role of the churches in Europe.

The perplexing yet perennial association of religion and violence was probed this week in an event co-hosted by the WCC, the Journalists and Writers Foundation and the Zurich-based Dialog-Institut.

An international conference held at the invitation of the Foreign Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Nikos Kotzias, has gathered around 70 prominent religious, political and academic figures in Athens, Greece, this week.

In a recent statement, religious leaders called for an ambitious climate agreement, reminding all governments to commit to emission cuts and climate risk reduction. They promised to continue working for climate justice, including divestment from fossil energy.

To achieve just peace in the Middle East, “it is very adequate to focus on what would maintain and reinforce the cultural and religious diversity that has distinguished this region for long centuries,” said the WCC general secretary.

«Notre communauté fraternelle d’Églises du monde entier a à cœur de soutenir les initiatives en faveur de la paix juste dans toute la région du Moyen-Orient», a déclaré le secrétaire général du COE, lors d’un discours prononcé à Athènes.

Expressing shock at the killings in Kuwait, Tunisia and France that took place on 26 June, the WCC acting general secretary Georges Lemopoulos said, “I grieve with those who have lost loved ones, and those who have been injured as a result of these appalling acts, which have marred the month of Ramadan, sacred to Muslims everywhere.”

To promote strong measures against climate change, the WCC and the Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment and Human Rights organized a side event to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Dialogue with Judaism challenges Christians to think more deeply about their own identity and faith, according to panelists at a forum during the German Protestant Kirchentag, a church convention that brought almost 100,000 people to the city of Stuttgart.

Le dialogue avec le judaïsme incite les chrétiens à mener une réflexion plus approfondie sur leur propre identité et leur propre religion, selon des experts réunis lors d’un débat organisé pendant le Kirchentag, convention des Églises protestantes allemandes, qui a rassemblé près de 100 000 personnes à Stuttgart, dans le sud du pays.

The WCC has hailed news of a resumption of talks between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders on the longstanding division of the island of Cyprus.

Should robots make life and death decisions? Religious leaders are asked to tell governments “Never”.

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.

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."

Réagissant à la mort de douze personnes lors d'une attaque armée perpétrée dans les bureaux parisiens de Charlie Hebdo, Georges Lemopoulos, secrétaire général intérimaire du Conseil œcuménique des Églises, a déclaré:«L'attaque meurtrière qui a été perpétrée aujourd'hui à Paris à l'encontre du journal satirique Charlie Hebdo est une attaque perpétrée contre la vie humaine, la dignité humaine et les droits humains de toutes et tous.»

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.

After a concerted examination of the evidence presented at the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons and two earlier conferences, 44 of the states present called for a ban on nuclear weapons. The host government Austria added momentum with a specific, cooperative pledge to “fill the legal gap for the prohibition of nuclear weapons” and eliminate them.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby generously granted an interview on the subject of “the pilgrimage of justice and peace” last week in São Paulo, Brazil. His visit to Brazil was part of a personal journey that has taken Welby to 31 Anglican provinces around the world since his enthronement as archbishop in 2013.

A recent meeting of representatives from ecumenical organizations, Catholic, Evangelical and Pentecostal churches in Strasbourg, France has promised to address more effectively discrimination, persecution and violence faced by Christians around the world. This theme will be explored in depth through an international consultation to be held in 2015.

Réunis à Strasbourg (France), des représentants d'organisations œcuméniques et d'Églises des traditions catholique, évangélique et pentecôtiste ont promis de s'attaquer plus efficacement à la discrimination, à la persécution et à la violence auxquelles sont confrontés les chrétiens à l'échelle de la planète. Ce thème sera étudié en profondeur à l'occasion d'un colloque international qui se tiendra en 2015.