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A House panel in the United States Congress advanced a decades-long effort to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves by approving legislation, commonly referred to as H.R. 40, on 15 April that would create a commission to study the issue. The “40” refers to the failed government effort to provide 40 acres (16 hectares) of land to newly freed slaves as the Civil War drew to a close.

It's the first time the House Judiciary Committee has acted on the legislation.

Speaking during a webinar hosted by the United Church of Christ, panelists from the World Council of Churches (WCC) underscored the importance of churches’ involvement in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the wake of rising anti-Asian violence and hate speech in the USA, religious leaders and ecumenical coalitions in the nation are calling for an end to the violence—and the xenophobia and discrimination that undergird it.

In the month of March, the World Council of Churches is encouraging its fellowship and partners to join the Lott Carey “31 Days of Prayer for Women’s Empowerment,” which is also the 9th Anniversary Global Women’s Prayer Guide. The guide features 31 days of prayer for incarcerated women and girls around the world.

A special prayer service for those who work at the US Capitol offered an online space on 15 January in which to reflect, lament and hope for transformation in a troubled nation.

In a letter sent to World Council of Churches (WCC) member churches in the United States, WCC interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed the renewed and strengthened solidarity of the WCC amid the violence and lawlessness currently challenging the nation.

As violence mounted in Washington, DC on 6 January amid the ongoing election-related tensions in the USA, World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed “grave and mounting concern” at the latest developments.

Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith is senior associate for Pan African and Orthodox Church Engagement at Bread for the World. She also serves on the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee. She recently participated in a rally and march in Washington, DC, where thousands gathered to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington in 1963 that included Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream" speech.

The National Council of Churches (USA) is inviting churches across the country to ring their bells on 30 July for 80 seconds—one for each year of Congressman John Lewis’s life.

Throughout 2020, the World Council of Churches (WCC), together with the National Council of Churches in Korea, has been observing a Global Prayer Campaign,“We Pray, Peace Now, End the War.” As part of the campaign, the WCC is sharing personal stories and interviews that inspire others to work for peace. The story below features the perspective of U.S. war veterans, all of whom are also featured in video interviews.

August 2020 will mark 75 years since the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - attacks which devastated those cities and killed or injured several hundred thousands of people. Many more suffered for years afterwards, from having been exposed to the deadly radiation released into the air and water on those days.

A Joint Ecumenical Peace Message for the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War was publicly delivered on 22 June during a live-streamed event. Co-sponsored by churches and councils of churches around the world, especially from countries that participated in the Korean War, the message describes the Korean War as an “appallingly destructive conflict” after which no peace treaty was ever concluded.

In a lively online discussion entitled “Breaking Down the Walls,” the Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church explored the racial injustices in our society, how racism plays a role in the Indian American community, and what Orthodox Christians can do.
Sunil Kurian, an attorney who resides in Philadelphia (USA) moderated the discussion, saying: “These are troubling times. We as Orthodox Christians must break down the walls of racism that separate us.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned violence, racism and police brutality in the US, following the death of George Floyd, a black man who was unarmed, at the hands of a police officer.

The National Council of Churches (USA) has joined with other humanitarian and human rights organizations in writing the US Congress to urge that obstacles keeping nongovernmental organizations from addressing the “devastating potential for COVID-19’s spread” within the nation of North Korea be removed.

In a joint letter to US president Donald Trump, the World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, and National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA have urged the US to lift crippling sanctions against Iran that are greatly impeding response in that nation to COVID-19.

Pacific islands experience lasting impacts of the 50 years of nuclear testing and the region has become a global hotspot of climate change, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) learned in its meeting this week in Brisbane, Australia.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) co-convened a workshop on 28 January to plan faith-based support for the 25-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action, a comprehensive international instrument for addressing the full range of issues faced by women globally.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned an attack on a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi´s home north of New York City, on 28 December, stabbing and wounding five people. Several state and local officials have described the location of stabbing as a synagogue.