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As Sweden prepares for a visit from His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch and Antje Jackelén, archbishop of the Church of Sweden, signed a joint editorial for Swedish media.

“The church is a global network,” reads the joint editorial. “It has a presence around the world that is almost unsurpassed by any other organisation or movement.”

The Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Church of Sweden have signed a joint pledge related to climate justice.

The message urges action on the unprecedented negative effects of climate change. “As we observe the Season of Creation, we renew the call for our churches to work together for the sake of Earth and to build collaborations wherever possible, both with other communities of faith and with diverse agents in our civil society,” the text reads. “Now is the time for science, politics, business, culture and religion - everything that is an expression of human dignity - to address together this critical issue for our time.”

At a well-attended showcase in Stockholm, Sweden, yesterday afternoon, the Ecumenical Water Network took a step further towards achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 by bringing together faith actors with key people from the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector.

Rev. Henrik Grape is the coordinator of the World Council of Churches Working Group on Climate Change.

Bishop Ingeborg Midttømme, from the Church of Norway, serves at the diocese of Møre, in the northwestern part of the Scandinavian country. She is also a board member of Norwegian Church Aid. Over the past years, she has been an active participant in international events that focus on the global agenda on sustainable development, such as the United Nations annual climate conferences.

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).

Protecting children from any kind of violence has always been and should remain an essential message of Christianity, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has told a gathering at the World Council of Churches (WCC) for World Children’s Day.

The voices of young people will ring through the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 21 November as part of global celebrations for World Children’s Day linked to other events involving the World Council of Churches (WCC) in different places.

Dr. Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC Central Committee, offered a speech entitled “A Clarion Christian Call to Justice and Peace: Ending Global Inequality and Climate injustice” at the Justice Conference in Oslo, Norway on 9 November.

Fifty years after its assembly in Uppsala, Sweden, decisively turned to public engagement, the WCC still seeks to engage and address issues of public concern and the common good.

Ten years after the near-collapse of the world’s economy, what has changed? Not much, says the WCC, and certainly not enough.

In its continuing efforts to outlaw nuclear weapons, the WCC has issued public support for French Polynesia’s petition to the UN for redress for ongoing effects of nuclear testing there.

Jesus was a healer, and from his first followers to now, in all ages and regions, Christians have been distinguished by their compassionate, often heroic, work for health and healing.

Citing the latest studies from the United Nations, the WCC has sounded the alarm about immediate measures needed to prevent or mitigate the worst damage from climate change.

“We look forward to working closely with you in the fulfillment of people’s hopes and needs worldwide to the glory of the one God”, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a message of greeting to Birgitte Qvist-Sørensen, elected moderator of the governing board of ACT Alliance, on 31 October, in Uppsala, Sweden.

Thirty years ago, the founders of the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women were searching for ways to not only help women across the globe seek justice but also highlight their contributions to churches and the world.

Three weeks have now passed since this year’s edition of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden was wrapped up and delegates from all over the world headed home, inspired to “float” the issues, as the WCC Ecumenical Water Network chairperson, Bishop Arnold Temple from Sierra Leone, put it.

“Water is a gift of God, a gift of creation, and it is necessary for survival,” said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, introducing through a video message a World Water Week public showcase on “Water and Faith: Acting in Partnership to achieve SDG 6” in Stockholm, Sweden.

On Thursday, 30 August, the World Council of Churches will co-organize a showcase at the World Water Week in Stockholm in partnership with Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) Global Water partnership (GWP), Church of Sweden, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Swedish Institute Alexandria (SIA), where high level faith leaders and water management experts will gather to share wisdom and perspectives on one of today’s most urgent environmental issues: How to ensure access to safe drinking water resources throughout the world.

A “Water and Faith” day will be held on 30 August in Stockholm, Sweden, offering many opportunities to explore how faith-based groups can act in partnership with the public and private sectors to achieve water justice for all people.