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Even though flood survivors are displaced in some 2,000 relief camps across Kerala in south India, many of them observed the indigenous Malayali festival of Onam on 25 August in whatever way they could. The traditional festival, for thousands, carried an even more poignant meaning because the holiday celebrates the return of joy to the land: the story of the return of King Mahabali, considered to be a very kind and generous ruler, during a “golden period” in Kerala.

As Kerala, the southern state of India, nicknamed “God’s Own Country,” battles one of the worst flood disasters in a century, various religious communities have opened their doors to help homeless people.

At a consultation in Seoul on December 7-11, participants from churches throughout northeast Asia shared insights on diakonia and how vital it is to the nature and mission of the church.

“The Amazon, the green heart of the Earth, is mourning and the life it sustains is withering,” begins a statement released by the World Council of Churches Executive Committee as it met in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November.

«L'Amazonie, le cœur vert de la Terre, pleure et la vie qu'elle entretient dépérit»: c'est par ces mots que commence une déclaration publiée par le Comité exécutif du Conseil œcuménique des Églises à l'occasion de sa réunion à Amman, en Jordanie, du 17 au 23 novembre.

At a meeting in Auckland, New Zealand from 1-3 August, the Pacific Conference of Churches released texts on climate change and nuclear weapons, and issued calls to action related to human rights and other issues.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, met with church leaders and politicians in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand last week. The meeting occurred almost one year after his latest visit to the region. On request of the church leaders a meeting took place with political leaders to discuss follow-up on the Paris Agreement, peace in the Middle East and on the Korean Peninsula, and the challenges the region is facing.

Friday evening when the leaders of the G20 states will be meeting in Hamburg and discussing global economic, social, environmental and political issues, the churches in Germany are inviting people in Germany and all over the world to a common peace prayer.

El viernes por la tarde, cuando los líderes de los Estados del G20 se reúnan en Hamburgo para debatir asuntos económicos, sociales, medioambientales y políticos mundiales, las iglesias de Alemania invitan a los habitantes de Alemania y del mundo entero a una oración común por la paz.

Athena Peralta is dedicated to observing and encouraging people who are defending their livelihood and defending creation across the world. “There is so much injustice in this world that it is really something beautiful to learn about and be able to accompany, even in tiny ways, struggles of communities and churches,” she said.

The Church of South India, Green Anglicans and other groups are sharing creative ways to observe a “carbon fast" during the Lenten season. A carbon fast challenges people to examine their daily actions and reflect on how they impact the environment. The carbon fast campaigns are designed so that, over Lent, people can take small steps to reduce carbon dioxide output with the hope of helping the environment and bringing the world one step closer to a sustainable existence.

On 17-23 November, the Executive Committee of the WCC met for the first time ever in China. The visit was hosted by the China Christian Council and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is a Protestant church in the People's Republic of China, as well as one of the largest Protestant bodies in the world.

Du 17 au 23 novembre, le Comité exécutif du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE) s’est réuni pour la toute première fois en Chine, à l’invitation du Conseil chrétien de Chine et du Mouvement patriotique des Trois autonomies. Le Mouvement patriotique des Trois autonomies est une Église protestante de la République populaire de Chine, ainsi que l’une des plus grandes organisations protestantes au monde.

While meeting in Nanjing and Shanghai, China, from 17-23 November, the WCC Executive Committee issued a statement on climate justice that reiterates the urgent concerns of churches in relation to climate change, and calls on all states to fulfill the commitments of the Paris Agreement.

Réuni à Nanjing et Shanghai, en Chine, du 17 au 23 novembre, le Comité exécutif du Conseil œcuménique des Églises a publié une déclaration sur la justice climatique dans laquelle il réitère sa vive inquiétude concernant les changements climatiques, et appelle tous les États à respecter les engagements de l’Accord de Paris.

“As a professor of economics and economic ethics with a theological background, and as dean of the GEM school, I can say that pluralistic economics – getting new prominence as an international student initiative – is an attempt to challenge neo-liberal monolithic economics. It is time for new thinking about economics”, stated Prof. Martin Büscher, first chair for economics and business ethics at the Institute for Diakonia and Management at the Protestant University of Wuppertal/Bethel, Germany, at the conclusion of the Governance, Economics and Management School held in Hong Kong on 22 August-2 September.

«En tant que professeur d’économie et d’éthique de l’économie ayant suivi des études de théologie, et en tant que doyen de l’École GEM, je peux dire que l’économie pluraliste – une initiative internationale étudiante qui suscite un intérêt croissant – est une tentative de remettre en question une économie néolibérale monolithique. L’heure est venue de repenser l’économie», a déclaré le professeur Martin Büscher, premier titulaire de la chaire d’économie et d’éthique des affaires à l’Institut de diaconie et de gestion (IDM) de l’Université protestante de Wuppertal/Bethel, en Allemagne, à la fin de l’École de gouvernance, d’économie et de gestion (GEM) qui s’est tenue à Hong Kong du 22 août au 2 septembre.

The globalization of the world economy has not been an even process, and in many ways governance for the protection of capital has overtaken governance for the protection of human well-being. A recent Ecumenical School on Governance, Economics and Management for an Economy of Life addressed this very asymmetry.

An economic system based on over-consumption and greed has become firmly rooted in today’s world and it is high time to change this paradigm by working for a new financial and economic architecture. The WCC together with the WCRC now convenes a first ever Ecumenical School on Governance, Economics and Management for an Economy of Life, in Hong Kong SAR.

Le monde actuel est régi par un système économique s’appuyant sur la surconsommation et la cupidité et il est grand temps de changer ce paradigme en œuvrant pour une nouvelle architecture financière et économique. Le COE réunit en ce moment à Hong Kong, en collaboration avec la CMER, la toute première École œcuménique de gouvernance, d’économie et de gestion pour une économie de la vie.