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The Christian Conference of Asia gathered over 100 participants representing seven religions including Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, Bahai, Hindu and Sikh to meet with the participants of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace Reference Group to discuss relevant issues about religion and their implications to the Asian society.

“Our churches are directly involved in upholding the dignity and rights of people and communities in Asia irrespective of their religious or faith identities”, said Matthews George Chunakara, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, at the opening of the annual meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace Reference Group, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on 4 March.

In a recent interview for Christian Conference of Asia News, four ecumenists from regional and international conciliar fellowships from Asia, North America and the WCC, responded to questions about the role and challenges of ecumenical councils and the importance of conciliar unity in a changing ecumenical and ecclesial context.

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 35th General Assembly of the Church of Christ in Thailand was opened with a worship service led by CCT moderator Rev. Dr Thawesak Mahachavaroj at the Lotus Hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

General secretaries and other high-ranking national church leaders from nine Asian countries gathered in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 4-7 September to pave the way for a coherent and well-coordinated Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace (PJP) Asia Focus-2019.

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.

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.

As many Buddhists prepare to observe Vesakh on 29 April - a day commemorating the life and legacy of Gautama Buddha - WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit extended his greetings to Buddhists across the world.

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.

A group of 25 evangelism practitioners, scholars and church leaders from Orthodox, Pentecostal and Protestant perspectives gathered in Bangkok, Thailand from 26 November to 1 December to reflect on evangelism at a time when religious faith is often accused of - and guilty of - stirring up intolerance, suspicion and even violence.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) joined the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and Responsibility to Protect (UNOGPRtoP) and other partners to host a meeting on Fostering Inclusive Societies in South Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, 29-30 November.

The genuine human cost of peace-making was made apparent to a group of international guests and Pakistani nationals gathered at the Christian Study Centre (CSC) Rawalpindi 5-8 November as part of a Jubilee celebration held to mark 50 years since its founding.

The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), on 11-12 July, held an international consultation on “Towards Revitalising the Ecumenical Movement in Asia.” The gathering of 60 church and ecumenical leaders was organised by the CCA at its headquarters in Chiang Mai, Thailand as a prelude to its Diamond Jubilee celebration.

Reconciliation was once primarily seen as a message of the church but is now used by secular leaders trying to establish peace in communities torn by conflict and war, the WCC president for Africa, the Rev. Mary Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, has said at a major Protestant gathering in Germany.

Eighteen representatives from theological institutions in Asia met in Bangkok, Thailand, from 17-20 April at a consultation on “Ecumenical Theological Education and Contextual Theologies in Asia” convened by the Ecumenical Theological Education department of the WCC with the support of the Foundation for Theological Education in South East Asia, and in collaboration with theological associations and institutions in Asia.

Eighteen women theologians from Africa and Asia began a journey of reflection and action around the theme “Women’s Mentoring for Ecumenical Leadership” in a 20-22 April consultation in Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting was convened by the WCC department on Ecumenical Theological Education and supported by the Foundation for Theological Education in Southeast Asia.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed sadness on 16 February with the news of a bomb attack on the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine in Sindh province, Pakistan.

Religious leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region met in Bangkok on 6 and 7 December to develop a regional strategy for the prevention of incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes. Religious leaders and actors from thirteen countries took part in the meeting from the Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim faiths. The meeting was organised by the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect in collaboration with the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Religious leaders, scholars and representatives of faith based organizations from the Asia-Pacific region will meet on 6 and 7 December 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand, to discuss the role of religious actors in preventing and responding to incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes, and develop a regional plan of action for the prevention of incitement.