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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.

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.

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.

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.

Churches in the United States, including member churches of the WCC, have called on the Obama administration to open up a high-level dialogue with Cuba aimed at normalizing relations between the two countries.

In an ecumenical harvest, a spate of European and North American church bodies are entering agreements recognizing each other’s baptisms.

The WCC Executive Committee has condemned the use of drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles saying that they pose “serious threats to humanity” and the “right to life” while setting “dangerous precedents in inter-state relations”.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has been globally celebrated this year with prayers, reflections, ecumenical services and events focusing on Paul’s question in Corinthians 1 “Has Christ been divided?” a theme for this year’s prayer materials, prepared by the Canadian churches.

Migrants are reduced to mere commodities, traded and exchanged in the global market, according to a declaration issued by churches calling for an end to this gross violation of human dignity. The declaration was issued on the occasion of the Second United Nations High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in New York City, USA.

While condemning all use of chemical weapons in Syria, the WCC general secretary said that “we must do everything possible to starve the fire of war rather than feeding it with further deadly armaments.”

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed condolences following the death of Brother Jeffrey Gros, recalling his significant contributions to Christian unity and ecumenical dialogue as a Catholic theologian.

Arrests of Palestinian civilians and vandalism of their homes at the hands of Israeli military forces is not a new phenomenon in the West Bank. Natalie Maxson, a volunteer for the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel speaks from her experience of meeting a family in Azzun faced with a similar situation.