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Friday evening when the leaders of the G20 states will be meeting in Hamburg and discussing global economic, social, environmental and political issues, the churches in Germany are inviting people in Germany and all over the world to a common peace prayer.

"The people of Colombia need and deserve peace, particularly now", said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, commenting on the outcome of the referendum held in Colombia on 2 October.

“We all sin against the Holy Spirit if we ignore climate change”, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, during the opening day of the 24th Pentecostal World Conference, in São Paulo, Brazil, on 7 September. “We have to remind ourselves that the Holy Spirit is the life-giver, active in creation from the very beginning till today. The Holy Spirit sustain us and all creatures every day”, he said.

“Peace is not just a ceasefire. Peace is not just the silencing of arms. Peace is education. Peace is figuring out how to coexist and how to build together.”

To raise awareness on the work of churches and church-related organizations engaged in peace-building efforts in Colombia, the WCC and Caritas Internationalis are promoting an event in New York on 18 August.

The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), at its meeting in Trondheim, Norway, 27 June 2016, has elected a new executive committee with 11 new members.

In a statement adopted by its Central Committee meeting in Trondheim, Norway, the WCC “welcomes the news of the historic bilateral ceasefire agreement concluded by the government of Colombia and the FARC-EP in Havana on 23 June 2016.”

Forty years after the Soweto uprising, leaders of churches in conflict-torn countries gathered in South Africa to study the ways of peace and reconciliation.

A global gathering in the German city of Halle has called on churches to be inspired by the tradition of the Reformation to become agents of transformation.

Last Sunday, the “Twin Consultation” on “Reformation – Education – Transformation” wrapped up at the Francke Foundations in Halle, Germany. Held six months after the first consultation in São Leopoldo, Brazil, the five-day session in Halle became a vibrant meeting point and a juncture between different religious contexts from the global North and South.

On March 24, Argentina commemorated the 40th anniversary of the military coup that lasted until 1983 and constituted a deep trauma in Argentina’s national history. Local member churches of the WCC and ecumenical organizations expressed their solidarity with the victims and stressed the importance of keeping the memory alive.

On the world scale of countries with plentiful water, Brazil comes out in the top league. It has 12 percent of the world’s fresh water supplies. Yet Magali do Nascimento Cunha does not see her country scoring so well when it comes to water and sanitation distribution.

On 23 March, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, expressed his concern about the current social and political turmoil in Brazil, calling upon Christian churches and all sectors of Brazilian society “to uphold democratic principles, to respect fundamental human rights, and to ensure freedom of expression and opinion for all”.

“Recognizing Colombia’s ownership of the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement,” the UN Security Council decided on 25 January to establish a 12-month political mission of unarmed international observers, responsible for the monitoring and verification of the laying down of arms in the country.

Representatives of more than 150 faith-based organizations gathered in Bogota, Colombia on 5 November to discuss their role in the peace process in that country. The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Interior and drew participation from the WCC.

The WCC has welcomed the historic announcement made by the Colombian government and the FARC revolutionary force agreeing to a framework for ending 50 years of internal conflict in the nation and addressing issues of justice and reparations to the victims.

Interview with the WCC general secretary, who is currently in Brasilia, about violence committed in the name of religion, human rights and climate justice in Brazil.

A worship service on 30 August at the Pentecostal Cathedral of Curico, Chile, featured participation from the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and the WCC president for Latin America and the Caribbean Rev. Gloria Ulloa. Christian unity and ecumenical aspirations remained in focus at the service attended by more than 1,300 people.

“Join the pilgrimage of justice and peace! Stand up for the creation that is threatened, for justice and peace, so that people may gain hope so that life will flourish. The most severe threat to basic human rights here in the next decades will be the dramatic effects of climate change. This is what eco-justice means.” This was a message the WCC general secretary conveyed at a public event of the Argentina Chancellery.

WCC support for churches’ struggles during the years of dictatorship in Argentina was praised by Aldo M. Etchegoyen, bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina.