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The WCC has congratulated Rev. Dr Carlos Emilio Ham on becoming president of the Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cuba. Ham, a pastor of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba, served the WCC as programme executive in various areas from 2001 to 2013.

A court decision in the Dominican Republic annulling the citizenship of an estimated 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian ancestry has been strongly criticized by church leaders, including the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Following the positive developments in relations between Cuba and the United States announced yesterday by their governments, the WCC general secretary expressed his gratitude for the process.

After a concerted examination of the evidence presented at the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons and two earlier conferences, 44 of the states present called for a ban on nuclear weapons. The host government Austria added momentum with a specific, cooperative pledge to “fill the legal gap for the prohibition of nuclear weapons” and eliminate them.

“Churches in Japan are true witnesses of Jesus Christ through their words and deeds. Their strength even in a minority situation is impressive. Their voices in critical times are significant for Japan, paving a way towards justice and peace,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC during his visit to member churches of the WCC in Japan.

A statement issued by the 4th Global Inter-religious Conference on Article 9 has been received with appreciation by the WCC.

At the 4th Global Inter-religious Conference in Tokyo, Japan, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed grave concern at the Japanese government’s initiative to reinterpret or change Article 9 of the Japanese constitution.

Inspired by the theme “a pilgrimage of justice and peace” – a call issued by the WCC 10th Assembly in 2013 – a conference in Germany affirmed the commitment of working together with churches in South Korea and Japan towards a “common journey of spiritual renewal and prophetic calling” for a “just peace” in the region.

Scattered throughout the recent history of Indigenous Peoples are national treaties, declarations and laws that languish in obscurity or are brushed aside and ignored.

Although climate change is often thought of as something external to an individual person, it is interwoven with personal spirituality, as well. This was the conclusion of a panel of three faith leaders during a session at the Interfaith Summit on Climate Change held on 22 September.

A set of recommendations advocating the rights of stateless persons was presented by a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation at the First Global Forum on Statelessness organized by the UNHCR and Tilburg University in The Hague, Netherlands.

To give visibility to the voices of stateless people in our society as well as to strategize together in how to support protection of their rights, a consultation was held by church organizations in Den Dolder, the Netherlands, in preparation of the UNHCR First Global Forum on Statelessness to be held from 15 to 17 September in The Hague.

Representatives from the WCC and Japanese churches meet with second in command of Japanese government about nuclear dangers and maintaining peace clause in constitution.

It was nearly 70 years ago on 6 and 9 August 1945 that the atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These are tragedies that are to be remembered and must never happen again, Isabel Apawo Phiri, associate and acting general secretary of the WCC, said.

In a statement “Towards a Nuclear-free World”, the Central Committee of the WCC recommended ways for churches to work to end nuclear dangers and respond to the witness of those affected by continuing nuclear tragedies – from Hiroshima in 1945 to Fukushima in 2011 and beyond.

Fr Rex R. B. Reyes, Jr. vividly remembers what he calls “the fateful morning of 8 November” 2013.

As young people help to facilitate the meeting of the WCC's governing body, they are pursuing a collective pilgrimage of their own.

Sexual slavery, resistance and women’s demand for justice were the focus of a recent event hosted by the WCC in Geneva, Switzerland, featuring representatives of the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.

Churches in the United States, including member churches of the WCC, have called on the Obama administration to open up a high-level dialogue with Cuba aimed at normalizing relations between the two countries.

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”.