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The WCC executive committee released a statement lifting up in prayer the people and churches of Ethiopia.

“The unbearable toll of lives lost, and the impact on the affected communities and nations, must engage the concern, solidarity and action of the international community and all people of goodwill, to stem the bloodshed and to confront the brutal ideologies behind such atrocities,” wrote Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, interim general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), on 3 November, as he commented on the violent extremist attacks in western Ethiopia, Kabul and Vienna.

World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed horror at the news of a brutal attack on schoolchildren at the Mother Francisca International Academy in Kumba, Cameroon, on 24 October. Unidentified gunmen killed at least eight children in their classroom with guns and machetes, while 12 others were injured.

In Cameroon, hundreds of people are praying for peace, and they are also singing, dancing, marching, and listening to reflections led by people of faith who are calling for a ceasefire — now.

In a letter to UN officials, the World Council of Churches (WCC) urges an end to violence and the violation of human rights in Cameroon.

A pastor has shared firsthand information regarding a dire situation in Cameroon. The pastor’s name and other details are being withheld in an effort to increase security yet still communicate candidly.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) offers its congratulations to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2019. Since his election as Prime Minister in April 2018, Mr Ahmed has championed an impressive programme of positive and inspiring reform initiatives, and played a decisive role in the reconciliation of the two synods and fostered unity of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The achievement which this award particularly recognizes is his leadership in bringing an formal end to the twenty-year long fratricidal conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

As global and regional ecumenical organizations, churches and mission societies met in Wuppertal, Germany from 7-9 September, they discussed the deteriorating situation affecting the Anglophone communities and regions of Cameroon.

Dr. Nigussu Legesse shared in the joy a year ago when the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church declared an end to a 27-year-old schism that had torn it apart. That rapprochement set in motion a series of events that are taking him back to his homeland.
Legesse was then World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive and convener for Africa.
After more than 10 years at the council, he is moving back to Addis Ababa as executive director of the Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Associations.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed shock and dismay at the news on 6 November of the kidnapping of 79 students and three staff, including the principal, from the Presbyterian Secondary School, a boarding school in Bamenda, in the northwest region of Cameroon.

Escalating violence in Cameroon, including graphic violence against women and children, has drawn condemnation from the World Council of Churches.

The 54th meeting of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) began today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, marking its yearly regional focus on Africa. During the meeting CCIA members are discussing the commission’s previous work and its outcomes focusing on Middle East, as well as setting strategic directions for activities until 2021.

Patriarch Abune Matthias of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church offered a special greeting at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 10 February, commending the success of global ecumenical work while acknowledging the grave crises tearing the world apart.

After recent reports of widespread violent demonstrations in Addis-Ababa and other parts of Ethiopia, local church leaders and members of the WCC joined in a call for peaceful dialogue and restraint on all sides.

The African continent bears witness to the tragic consequences of the manipulation of religion to incite violence. Yet it is also the home of untold instances of the power of religious leaders and actors to exert a positive influence, said panellists at an international meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today.

Deeply concerned for migrants in many regions, especially those “driven to undertake journeys of desperate risk and danger”, the WCC Executive Committee has declared: “All members of the international community have a moral and legal duty to save the lives of those in jeopardy at sea or in transit, regardless of their origin and status.”

A prayer service paying tribute to the Ethiopian Christians killed by the Islamic State last week was organized in Geneva, Switzerland, by the WCC and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

In a solidarity letter to Abune Mathias, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a member church of the WCC, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the WCC general secretary expressed deep shock over the recent killing of more than 20 Ethiopian Christians in Libya by the so called Islamic State.