In a public statement focused on the Holy Land, the WCC central committee expressed “deep solidarity with the member churches and Christians of the region in their life and work, keeping the Christian faith and witness in the Holy Land alive and vibrant, as well as with all people in the region.”
Um Ismail, in her 50s, loves her children fiercely and wholly, as mothers do all over the globe. But for Um Ismail, who lives in the Khan Al-Ahmar Bedouin community, finding enough water for her ten children plunges the family daily into near catastrophe.
In a response to false reporting in Germany on Israel and Palestine, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reiterated the WCC’s history of denouncing antisemitism and, at the same time, responding to the experiences and suffering of Palestinians.
As the 2022 World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel approaches in September, the World Council of Churches (WCC) invites people and churches all over the world to pray, advocate, and stand in solidarity with people in the Holy Land.
In a recent visit to the United States, a group of four laureates of the “National Human Rights Award in Colombia” engaged in meetings in Washington and New York City with government officials, diplomats, and United Nations (UN) representatives. They spoke of the deterioration of the peace process in the country and the importance of international solidarity.
Following an 11 April statement of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressing grave concerns over announced police restrictions on Holy Fire Saturday, the World Council of Churches (WCC) strongly condemned such measures restricting access to places of worship as violations of religious freedom in the Holy Land.
While Christians around the globe prepare to celebrate Easter, high holidays for Muslims and Jews—Ramadan and Pessach—are also being celebrated at the same time period in 2022. At this confluence of sacred celebration, the very sacredness of Jerusalem is especially evident for locals and visitors alike. But the sacredness of the Holy City and its inhabitants is increasingly threatened by consequences of the ongoing occupation, such as discrimination and violence.
Over hundreds of years, Sami El-Yousef’s ancestors have participated in the Holy Fire procession, carrying a banner representing one of the 13 oldest Christian Orthodox families in Jerusalem.
Father Issa Thaljieh can’t imagine living anywhere but the place where Jesus was born. He has been a Greek Orthodox parish priest at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem for a decade.
For Samira Dajani-Budeiri, the very soil on which she stands in Sheikh Jarrah is sacred. Her home and the ground on which it stands is wrapped in memories of her parents, her neighbors—and her wish to live in peace and dignity.
The following feature story is part of a series that continues this year’s Easter Initiative, which offers a glimpse into the daily lives of Palestinians, Muslims and Christians, living in and around Jerusalem, some of the challenges they face, and what gives them hope. The concept of sacredness underscores these stories. Below, Sheikh Maher Assaf’s story, set in Bethlehem, speaks to the sacredness of worship, and how freedom of religion is key to achieving peace.
The following feature story is part of a series that begins this year’s Easter Initiative, which will offer a glimpse into the daily lives of Palestinians, Muslims and Christians, living in and around Jerusalem, some of the challenges they face, and what gives them hope. The concept of sacredness underscores these stories. Below, Yacoub Rajabi’s story speaks to the sacredness of human dignity—and the sacredness of life itself.
World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reiterated calls for the release of two Syrian archbishops, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi, who were kidnapped near Aleppo, Syria in April 2013.
After heads of churches in the Holy Land voiced their objections to a proposal to expand Jerusalem Walls National Park to include property owned by several churches in the city, Israel's Nature and Parks Authority announced on 21 February that it was backing down from the plan.
World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca called on the Palestinian Authority to investigate recent attacks on Christians in the West Bank, and to ensure justice and dignity for all citizens. “The WCC call follows two attacks last week against Christians in the Nablus and Bethlehem areas,” said Sauca.
One hundred and thirty Jewish volunteers planted 400 olive trees last week in Palestinian villages, continuing their work even following at least one violent attack.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) supports a renewed call issued by interreligious leaders from the United States for the prison at Guantanamo Bay to be closed, and for justice for those being held.
When Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells, African Descent Lutheran Association national president, reflects on his experience as one of 18 participants from around the world to participate in the United Nations' Fellowship Programme for People of African Descent, he thinks of it as a unique opportunity to advocate for racial justice.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, in a public statement, expressed grave concern over recent developments in Palestine and Israel, which indicate “a deteriorating situation in the region, emblematic of the many ways in which the ongoing military occupation of the Palestinian territories obstructs achieving a just peace among the people of the Holy Land, and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it which have resulted in further restrictions on the space for civil society action in the region.”
