Young ecumenical leaders from Asia have met in Siam Reap, Cambodia to examine how religious traditions can offer resources to overcome religious violence in a changing Asian context.
More than 400 representatives of member churches and partner bodies from 28 countries in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, headed home on 27 May from an exciting week in Jakarta, Indonesia after attending the Christian Conference of Asia's (CCA) 14th General Assembly.
”Truly, I am in the household of God,” began WCC associate general secretary for public witness and diakonia Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri in her keynote speech today at the 14th Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia.
Under the theme “Living Together in the Household of God,” some 440 representatives of member churches and partner bodies from 28 countries gathered on Thursday 21 May in Jakarta, Indonesia, for the opening of the Christian Conference of Asia’s 14th General Assembly.
Amidst intimidation, illegal arrests, disappearances, torture and killings in Tanah Papua resulting from tensions between the Indonesian authorities and the Papuan pro-liberation groups, churches seek justice, peace, dignity and security for the Papuans.
The WCC general secretary has sent a letter to the President of the Republic of Indonesia H. E. Joko Widodo appealing for clemency for the 10 death row prisoners scheduled for imminent execution in Indonesia.
The WCC is inviting young adults from Asian churches to participate in a two-week-long training programme called Youth in Asia Training for Religious Amity. The deadline to submit applications is 31 March.
Participants in a recent WCC consultation in Myanmar have stressed the need to equip churches and ecumenical organizations to build peace, human security and human dignity in order to move beyond conflicts, towards a world of peace.
Rev. Dr Ester Pudjo Widiasih has recently been appointed as programme executive for spiritual life at the WCC. Widiasih, who comes from the Javanese Christian Churches in Indonesia, is experienced in the field of church music and worship.
Scattered throughout the recent history of Indigenous Peoples are national treaties, declarations and laws that languish in obscurity or are brushed aside and ignored.
Amidst the reality of tensions often fueled by religions, a group of Christian, Muslim and Jewish youth has formed a multi-faith community. As part of an interfaith summer course sponsored by the WCC, this community wants to work for the protection of creation – a concern they say is common to all faith traditions.
As the members of the WCC Central Committee return to their home communities, they will continue some key questions related to their pilgrimage of justice and peace.
Imagine a place where young Christians can gather, opening doors to interfaith reflection while working for justice and peace. This is the Metta Karuna Reflection Centre in Siem Reap, Cambodia, founded and operated by Sister Denise Coghlan.
The serene air of the Metta Karuna Reflection Centre in Siem Reap is being stirred up. It is buzzing with the voices of young Christian leaders from Asia who believe that by engaging in interfaith dialogue, they can help bring justice and peace to Asia, a region where religious plurality can be both a blessing and a challenge.
The life of Tun Channareth from Cambodia was changed dramatically in his early twenties. A resistance soldier fighting the Khmer Rouge, Channareth’s legs were shattered when he stepped on a landmine near the border between Cambodia and Thailand.
Exploring realities of multi-religious societies and discovering new ways of working together as faith communities to promote justice and peace, young Christian leaders from Asia have gathered in Cambodia to take part in a two-week training programme called Youth in Asia Training for Religious Amity (YATRA).
A communiqué adopted at a WCC consultation describes human trafficking as a “serious human rights violation” and its consequences are “most horrific results of the economic and social disparities that increase the vulnerability of millions of people”.
In an ecumenical consultation held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, called human trafficking a criminal activity, on rapid increase in the world. Ezeilo said that not a single country or entity has yet been able to stop this practice, and the magnitude of this problem is enormous.
The WCC will hold an international consultation exploring links between migration, human trafficking and modern slavery. The focus of the gathering concerns thousands of migrants faced with violence, abuse and exploitation during their perilous journeys as well as in the countries to which they migrate.
