Search results

The World Council of Churches morning prayer on 22 April was focused on Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, solemnly marking the 11th anniversary of the abduction of archbishops of Aleppo.

On 28th August, during a visit with Ambassador Andranik Hovhannisyan, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the UN Office, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with those making efforts to lift the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by reopening the Lachin corridor.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is calling on Azerbaijan for the immediate lifting of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, as more than 120,000 people—including 30,000 children—are suffering under an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed great concern in the wake of a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the northern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines on 27 July.

As the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca congratulated them and expressed solidarity with their ongoing fight for justice and peace.

At a conference to promote freedom of religion and preservation of spiritual, cultural and historical heritage, held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from 8-12 September, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reflected on “Holy Places and our Human Identities.”

As a report on human rights abuses in the Philippines was delivered to the UN by the global group Investigate PH, churches and human rights groups reiterated their concerns over propagation of a culture that allows the abuse to happen.

In a message of solidarity to the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed concern that the human rights situation in the Philippines continues to deteriorate.

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.

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.

Salpy Eskidjian Weiderud, leader of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process, has received an International Religious Freedom Award from the US Department of State. The awards “honor extraordinary advocates of religious freedom from around the world” and will be presented on 17 July in Washington, D.C.

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.

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).

Participants in an international conference on “The Holy Scripture in a Changing World,” held in Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia from 27 September-1 October released a communiqué describing their experience and insights.

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.