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Rev. Fr Dr Lawrence Iwuamadi is dean of the Ecumenical Institute, the graduate school which opened its academic year this week. Below, Iwuamadi reflects on the arrival of new students at the Ecumenical Institute during this remarkable time.

God’s creation groans in the Amazon forest, a sacred space for 34 million people suffering from the growth of inequality, land invasion, extractivism, relaxation of environmental laws, criminalization and murder of its defenders, and arson orchestrated by agribusiness—all of it made worse by proselytizing.

La Creación de Dios gime en la selva amazónica, un lugar sagrado donde treinta y cuatro millones de personas sufren a causa de la desigualdad creciente, la invasión de las tierras, el extractivismo, la relajación de las leyes medioambientales, la criminalización y asesinato de los activistas medioambientales y los incendios orquestados por las industrias agrícolas. Todo ello, agravado por el proselitismo.

Church leaders and human rights advocates are amplifying calls for justice after the death of Zara Alvarez, a health worker and human rights defender in the Philippines. Alvarez, who was killed on 17 August, worked closely with churches in a common quest for human dignity and rights.

As Rev. Dan San Andres Sr, known as a defender of human rights, was arrested a week after the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act was passed in the Philippines, the World Council of Churches (WCC) joined with the bishops of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in calling for justice.

In a video greeting, WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca offered warm greetings to the Communion of Churches in Indonesia on its 70th anniversary.

Dr Jurjen Zeilstra is a historian and theologian. His biography “Visser 't Hooft, 1900-1985 Living for the Unity of the Church” served as a dissertation in the humanities at the Amsterdam Free University in order to receive the degree of Ph.D. in 2018. Willem Visser 't Hooft led the World Council of Churches (WCC) during its formative stages. Below, Dr Zeilstra reflects on what it was like to study the life of Visser 't Hooft.

In a letter to its European sister organizations, the Council of Churches in the Netherlands reiterated its call to the Dutch government to honour the call from the European Committee regarding the relocation of vulnerable and unaccompanied children from Greek refugee camps. The letter also urges European sister organizations to appeal to their governments to exercise the same human compassion.

Hope, solidarity and a spirit of service are recurring themes in Easter messages received by the World Council of Churches from many of its member churches and partners.

In a letter sent to Caribbean churches, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed gratitude that the disaster did not cause severe damage or fatalities.

As of January 2020, the WCC has relaunched its Sarah Chakko Scholarship Fund. The fund was first established in 1998, at the end of the Ecumenical Decade of Solidarity with Women, aiming to promote the education of women for leadership competencies for the ecumenical movement.

More than 40 church leaders and diakonia specialists from 15 Asian countries participated in training in ecumenical diakonia and development organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 4-7 December.

Más de 40 líderes eclesiásticos y especialistas en diaconía de 15 países asiáticos participaron en la formación sobre diaconía ecuménica y desarrollo organizada por el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) en Chiang Mai (Tailandia) del 4 al 7 de diciembre.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) continues to amplify the voice of the indigenous Papuans in Indonesia, who are oppressed by racism and discrimination.

Concerned about the escalating crisis of violence, racism and discrimination against indigenous Papuans in Indonesia, a side event co-sponsored by the WCC was convened during a fall session of the UN Human Rights Council to discuss patterns that are oppressing and displacing Papuans.

Bernadette Butler, who is from the Bahamas, shared a morning reflection at the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 21 October. She spoke as part of the ecumenical prayer cycle for the people of the Caribbean.

The World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit is gravely concerned by the deteriorating situation in West Papua (the Indonesian provinces of Papua and Papua Barat), especially in light of reports from church partners in the territory that peaceful anti-racism demonstrations by Papuan students have been attacked with lethal force by Indonesian military forces and armed settler militias. In other places we have learned about horizontal violence between Papuans and non-indigenous residents.

As more and more people in the Philippines lose their loved ones to extrajudicial killings, and are falsely accused of crimes by the authorities, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is increasing its support and accompaniment of people fighting for human rights in the Philippines.
On 16 September, concerned colleagues and guests gathered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva to attend an event entitled: “Defending the Sanctity of Life and Dignity of Creation: The Human Rights Situation in the Philippines”. The event gave a platform to four different speakers from victim, human rights and church perspectives.

As of mid-September, the 2019-2020 academic year is officially underway at the WCC Ecumenical Institute at Château de Bossey.

A mediados de septiembre, el año académico 2019-2020 está oficialmente en marcha en el Instituto Ecuménico del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), en el Château de Bossey.

As Bishop Theophilus Rolle, living in the Bahamas, shared initial assessments with the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the WCC in turn called for prayers and solidarity across the world for the people suffering greatly during the storm.