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Four weeks of negotiations on nuclear weapons came to a close on Friday 22 May, as the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ended without a formal agreement. Despite the outcome, a bright new prospect towards a world without nuclear weapons has emerged in the form of a Humanitarian Pledge, now endorsed by 107 states, which promises “to fill the legal gap for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons”.

It was a peace hike inspired by the biblical story of Emmaus, crisscrossing part of the Holy Land, following the footsteps of Jesus.

WCC general secretary Olav Fykse Tveit preached at the 7 May ecumenical service in Washington, D.C.’s National Cathedral commemorating the centennial of the Armenian genocide.

“Nuclear weapons are incompatible with the values upheld by our respective faith traditions”, representatives of some 50 Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish organizations said on 1 May. The inter-religious statement came in a joint call to the 191 governments participating in the world’s largest disarmament treaty. The call, co-sponsored by the WCC, was made during civil society presentations to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York City.

Amidst intimidation, illegal arrests, disappearances, torture and killings in Tanah Papua resulting from tensions between the Indonesian authorities and the Papuan pro-liberation groups, churches seek justice, peace, dignity and security for the Papuans.

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

The WCC mourns the death of Leopoldo J. Niilus, former director of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), renowned lawyer, peace negotiator and author of several writings on human rights and international affairs.

An influential document full of hopes and aspirations, having received worldwide acclaim for highlighting the struggle of Palestinians against oppressive Israeli occupation, continues to seek a future after its fifth anniversary was celebrated in December last year.

A court decision in the Dominican Republic annulling the citizenship of an estimated 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian ancestry has been strongly criticized by church leaders, including the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Challenged by Christians from Brazil to strive for greater respect for religious and cultural diversity, churches are reflecting together on the gospel of John as they celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Experiences of death and expulsion faced by some 750,000 Palestinians in 1948 are the subject of an exhibition titled “The Nakba” and hosted by the WCC at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The Arabic word Nakba means “catastrophe.”

To build just and sustainable peace, engaging churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society, the WCC has launched an Ecumenical Peace Advocacy Network (EPAN), aiming to turn its “pilgrimage of justice and peace” into concrete action.

The WCC Executive Committee has expressed deep concern over recent developments in the United States following the Grand Jury’s decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown.

Volunteers for the WCC Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel have urged the European Union to take more effective actions against the illegal settlements, demolitions and forced displacement in the occupied territory controlled by the Israeli authorities.

Members of the WCC's Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network met in the Netherlands to develop a new statement with the working title "Gift of Being: Called to be a Church of All and for All". The new document is founded on the premise that persons with disabilities experience marginalization both in societies and in the church communities themselves.

Erik Lysén, director of International Affairs at the Church of Sweden, a member church of the WCC, has called the recognition of Palestine an important step towards the peace process.

Around 400 people met at the Temple de la Fusterie in Geneva, Switzerland to participate in an inter-religious vigil on 20 August expressing solidarity with the persecuted religious communities in Iraq during this time of conflict in the country.

At the Central Committee meeting of the WCC, leadership of the Council’s consultative bodies was announced. These bodies will steer through the work of the WCC in accomplishing the call from its 10th Assembly to engage in a “pilgrimage of justice and peace”. The WCC assembly was held in the Republic of Korea in 2013.

It is time for the U.S. to condemn Israeli bombardment of civilian centers and the blockade just as strongly as it has condemned indiscriminate rockets from Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups into Israel, say several church groups in a letter to President Barack Obama.

When Dr Ulysses Burley III visited Palestine and Israel six months ago, he came away with an even stronger determination to work for social justice, wherever and however he can.