Rev. Dr Curtiss Paul DeYoung, co-chief executive officer of the Minnesota Council of Churches, helped convene the team of authors for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity materials. Below, he reflects on the challenges and hopes the team brought to the table as they composed the text.
The World Council of Churches (WCC), in letters to Colombian president Gustavo Petro and to Colombian peace commissioner Danilo Rueda, expressed the WCC’s support and solidarity for peace-building in Colombia—and confirmed the WCC’s representation in the dialogue process between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) in response to an earlier invitation.
Located in the Flores neighborhood of the City of Buenos Aires, for almost 50 years the Argentine Commission for Refugees and Migrants has carried out committed work in favor of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
As a group of three laureates of the “National Human Rights Award in Colombia” engaged in meetings with diplomats and United Nations representatives in Geneva, a tray lunch event was organized on 8 June at the Ecumenical Centre by the World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance to offer the delegation the opportunity to share about the deterioration of the peace process in the country and the importance of international solidarity.
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.
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 Perkins School of Theology Alumni/ae Council selected Dr Evelyn L. Parker as the 2021 recipient of the Perkins Distinguished Alumnus/a Award. The award recognizes Perkins graduates who have demonstrated effectiveness and integrity in service to the church, continuing support for the goals of Perkins and Southern Methodist University, outstanding service to the community, and exemplary character.
In a 13 July letter to the United Nations Security Council, the Diálogo Intereclesial por la Paz en Colombia (DiPaz), an interchurch platform for dialogue for peace in Colombia, called on the international community to urge the Colombian government to resume the full implementation of the peace agreement and strengthen channels of dialogue to resolve societal issues.
The United Church of Christ, at a 14 June event entitled “UCC at the United Nations: Growing New Connections to Create a Just World for All,” explored how to strengthen global advocacy by journeying with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and other partners.
The World Council of Churches (WCC), with an open letter and prayer, shared its hopes for peace on the eve of the first summit between the U.S. and Russian presidents, which will take place in Geneva on 16 June.
476 million indigenous people live around the world, of which 11.5% live in our Latin American region. In these years that we are going from the COVID 19 pandemic in our territories (indigenous or tribal at the Latin American level), the presence of many extractive companies, mainly uranium and lithium, has increased, land traffickers and among other monoculture companies with fires for the cultivation of oil palm, logging, putting vulnerable peoples at greater risk than what is already experienced.
A World Council of Churches (WCC) pilgrim team engaged in online visits to indigenous communities on Standing Rock, 25-28 May. The WCC delegation stood in solidarity with the local indigenous communities, particularly along the shore of the Missouri River (Lake Oahe), in their struggle for justice, including water justice.
Rev. Gloria Ulloa, World Council of Churches president for Latin America and the Caribbean, is in Cali, Colombia, with a delegation of DiPaz, the country’s main ecumenical peacebuilding platform. The group is having direct grassroots contact with the conflicts currently taking place. Ulloa and others hope to bring to light testimonies of peoples and communities usually forgotten by the big media.
Below is Ulloa's latest description on the ground.
The World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Anglican Communion, World Methodist Council, Latin American Episcopal Council and World Association for Christian Communication, in a letter sent 18 May, urged Colombian president Iván Duque Marquéz to stop the spiral of violence that is doing terrible harm to the civilian population.
A World Council of Churches Pilgrim Team will be visiting indigenous communities on Standing Rock, particularly along the shore of the Missouri River (Lake Oahe), with portions of visits open to the public online on 25-28 May.
In a 17 May letter to the Ecumenical Forum of the Churches in El Salvador, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca and ACT Alliance general secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria wrote that they are following the political developments in El Salvador with great concern.
“It is with great concern that we are following political developments in El Salvador that undermine democracy and the rule of law in the country”, said Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches.
"We pray that the God of life will lead El Salvador to peace and justice”, added Sauca.
An international online seminar, “Brazilian Tragedy: A Risk to Our Common Home?” brought religious, social and human rights leaders together with prominent experts on 4-6 May to discuss how the process of deconstructing democracy in Brazil in recent years has led the country to multiple crises.
“Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a matter of fundamental principle, an essential step towards healing, reconciliation and reparation, and – most importantly – a vital measure for the prevention of genocide today and in the future,” wrote Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a letter to United States President Joe Biden on 21 April.
