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Fourteen church leaders and activists from Canada, India, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States, embarked on a Pilgrim Team Visit to the Philippines from 9-13 August. They listened, learned and bore witness to the escalating human rights crisis in the country. The visit was convened by the World Council of Churches in partnership with the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.

The Obispo Maximo of the Philippine Independent Church, Fr. Rhee Millena Timbang, released a pastoral message on 3 August celebrating the 117th anniversary of the church.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the loss of Bishop Barnabas D. Mondal, know for his support of theological education in South Asia, and for being the first national bishop and the former moderator of the Church of Bangladesh. He passed away on 29 June in Dhaka.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned the massacre earlier this month of 14 farmers by police officers in Canlaon City, as well as Manjuyod and Santa Catalina towns in Negros Oriental in the Philippines. The WCC also renewed its call for the government of the Philippines to end the culture of impunity and to ensure full investigation and accountability for all such killings.

From 29 January to 1 February, 30 representatives from various faith traditions gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh for a workshop on “Interfaith Reflections on Just Transitions: Linking Climate and Economic Justice”. The workshop was organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Council for World Mission and was hosted by the National Council of Churches in Bangladesh.

Pilgrims coming from Germany, Italy and Norway ended their journeys for climate justice on 7 December upon arrival at the St Stephen’s Church in Katowice, Poland, where the United Nations (UN) climate conference is underway. They were warmly welcomed by the delegations of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) that are attending the 24th Conference of Parties of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24).

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit sent a message of condolence to the family and church community of Bishop Nibaron Das, chairman of the Bangladesh Methodist Church. Das passed away on 23 November.

Rev. Dr Yam Kho Pau, a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and immediate past general secretary of the Myanmar Baptist Convention (MBC), passed away on 25 November in Yangon.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit “received with joy” the news of the verdict which has resolved the long pending case of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman convicted and sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws in 2010.

“The seeds of peace come from the ground.” That is the vision that Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana, former director of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation at the World Council of Churches and now president of OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership, tries to follow with his organization.

Each year students from all over the world arrive at Bossey near Geneva for a three-month language training course to pave their way for ecumenical studies that follow on straight after. “The title captures the goal of the course,” says Father Lawrence Iwuamadi, the Nigerian priest who studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and is academic dean of the Ecumenical Institute.

Bishop John Victor Samuel, age 87, one of the pioneers of the Church of Pakistan and a towering ecumenical stalwart, passed away in Multan, Pakistan on 30 August. His funeral was held in Multan on 2 September.

Whether as individual believers or as a community, it is our collective task to advocate for Christian unity, says Melanio L. Aoanan from the Philippines. A clear vision for religious and ecumenical theological education is needed that is relevant in the 21st century.

Dr Erlinda N. Senturias, from the Philippines, gives thanks that WCC has created safe spaces for the churches to talk about HIV and AIDS. She asks that the ecumenical movement continue to be a beacon of support for this ongoing journey of health and healing.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) joined the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church (UMC) as well as United Methodist bishops in the Philippines in appealing to the government of the Philippines for assistance and cooperation in extracting three United Methodist mission personnel from the country.

Noting “the worsening human rights situation and increasing violence and impunity” in the Philippines, WCC’s central committee has expressed its alarm and outrage, pointing particularly to the role of the government there.

Since a small scholarship got her involved in the ecumenical movement, Sana Jennifer’s future has been staked out. She started as a bishop’s secretary and office administrator at the Diocese of Raiwind, Church of Pakistan, in Lahore three years ago and was appointed youth programme coordinator this year.

It is time to revitalize the Asian ecumenical movement to respond to contemporary realities in Asia, according to Mathews George Chunakara, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, in the article that opens the latest issue of The Ecumenical Review, the quarterly journal of the WCC.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemned an attack at a church in Pakistan that killed at least eight people and injured dozens of others. Tveit expressed sorrow for the lives lost in the suicide bomb and gun attack.

While meeting in Amman, Jordan, from 17-23 November, the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee issued a statement on the detention of Bishop Carlos Morales and the situation in Mindanao, Philippines.