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In an open letter to the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the WCC general secretary expressed “profound distress” over a series of bomb attacks that have occurred within the last week in Pakistan, killing many people including worshippers at the All Saints Church in Peshawar.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed “heart-felt sorrow” at the heavy loss of life from the bombings at the All Saints Church in Peshawar calling it the “single worst loss of life among Christians in Pakistan”.

A three-day WCC consultation has featured diverse perspectives from Asia, Africa, Middle East and Europe on the politicization of religion and how this phenomenon contributes to discrimination and persecution of religious minorities around the world.

“Justice and peace now!” was a call made by the participants of the Asia-Pacific Students and Youth Gathering in the Philippines. They affirmed their role in revitalizing the ecumenical movement, aspiring to be “seeds of hope, catalysts of genuine and lasting peace that is based on justice”.

While reflecting on the theme of the WCC upcoming assembly in Busan, Indian churches stressed the importance of celebrating life in fullness, vibrancy, dynamism and fervour irrespective of caste, creed, colour, class, gender or ethnicity.

The WCC general secretary has expressed sorrow and solidarity with the Buddhist community over the recent bomb blasts at the Mahabodhi temple complex in Bodh Gaya, in the north Indian state of Bihar.

Churches and ecumenical groups urge European Union to raise questions with Pakistan government concerning religious intolerance and persecution of religious minorities there.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed “great sadness” on the passing away of Rev. Dr I. Jesudasan, the former moderator and bishop of the Church of South India and member of the WCC Central Committee from 1983 to 1991.

Talk about peace on the Korean peninsula part of discussions at ecumenical consultation on peace and security issues in Asia.

At the recent World Social Forum, ecumenical voices warned about the grave consequences of extraction of natural resources and mining, which they say generate a tremendous amount of social and ecological debt.

"€œA church has to embrace its sick, go out in the world, and work with its people to heal the communities,"€ said Dr Erlinda N. Senturias from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, in an interview.

Church representatives at a recent Oikotree Global Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa stressed the need to support peoples'€™ movements promoting justice in the economy and ecology, a concern, they say, that lies at the heart of the faith.

The Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, moderator of the WCC Central Committee, was one of the main speakers at the 118th session of Asia'€™s largest Christian convention held in Kerala, India.

Drawing on the Indian churches' experience, churches around the world are celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with a particular focus on justice as integral to the unity they seek.

To make Christian unity a visible part of the call for justice and peace, and inspired by the struggles of Dalits in India, this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity explores the theme, “What does God require of us?” (Micah 6:6-8).

Transformative spiritualities and mission is a significant point of discussion at the pre-assembly event of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) which is currently under way in Manila. Transformative spiritualities are also one of the constituent themes of the CWME statement on mission and evangelism that will be presented to the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Korea in 2013. Dr Rico Palaca Ponce, academic director of the Institute of Spirituality in Asia based in Quezon City, the Philippines, gave an interview on the topic on 23 March.

With more than 200 participants from around the globe, an event of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) starts today in Manila, the Philippines. Its aim is to seek renewed thinking on mission and evangelism, developing a draft of the WCC statement on mission and evangelism that succeeds a statement of thirty years ago.