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Peace-building initiatives and housing and education issues will be highlighted when a team of ecumenical representatives from around the world visits churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society movements in Israel and Palestine from 7 to 14 March.

Roughly one in ten women attending the 53rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women is part of Ecumenical Women, an international coalition of churches and ecumenical organizations.

The contribution and role of churches in reconciliation processes around the world were highlighted by an international ecumenical panel of experts at a public hearing held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 19 February.

Some Norwegian church leaders want a five-year moratorium on oil and gas exploration on Norway's continental shelf in the North Sea, in particular off the Lofoten archipelago north of the Arctic Circle. The proposal is controversial, according to an ENI article of 23 February.

Conflicts in Congo and Gaza, recognition of the International Year of Reconciliation, the impact of the global economic crisis on the WCC budget and an update on the election of a new general secretary were topics of discussion and action by the WCC Executive Committee which met in Bossey, Switzerland, 17 to 20 February 2009.

As the season of Lent draws near, the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) invites Christians to mark the occasion with reflection and action on water justice.

In a pastoral letter to the faithful in his diocese, Roman Catholic Bishop Luc Bouchard of St Paul in Alberta, Canada decried that "the integrity of creation in the Athabasca Oil Sands" - the largest reservoir of crude bitumen in the world and the largest of three major oil sands deposits in Alberta - "is clearly being sacrificed for economic gain."

Representatives of churches in Iraq confirmed their commitment to work together with all Iraqi citizens for reconciliation and rebuilding peace in the country.

In Haiti, "the deadliest form of violence is extreme poverty, and the grimmest insecurity is food insecurity," according to a Living Letters team who visited the Caribbean nation on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC) last November.

By Jonathan Frerichs (*)

Individuals, groups, churches and councils of churches from Kenya to Sweden to the United States to Australia are carrying out hundreds of advocacy actions involving Christians concerned about the Gaza crisis, especially the collective punishment of the people of Gaza, and the need for a just and lasting peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

Reiterating its call for a ceasefire in Gaza, the World Council of Churches has appealed to Christians everywhere to pray for peace and to advocate with their governments for a just peace in Israel and Palestine.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has condemned "the violence against Gaza" and called on "governments in the region and abroad" to seek the protection of "those who are at risk [...] on both sides of the border".

Peace is a way of life, says Rev. Dr Geiko Müller-Fahrenholz, and it is the mission of the churches to bring up new generations of Christians to live out God's peace in all aspects of their lives.

They are called Pueblo Nuevo (new town), Bella Flor (beautiful flower), Nueva Esperanza (new hope), El Tesoro (the treasure). Names that clearly show what "humanitarian zones" mean to the people who live there. Hundreds of families displaced by violence in Colombia's rural areas are trying to rebuild their lives in these zones while at the same time demanding the return of their land.

For the first time, the All Africa Conference of Churches gave prominent space to the water and environmental crises at its general assembly in Maputo, Mozambique, 7-12 December .

"Enough is enough! The Colombian people want and deserve peace." With this message, members of a Living Letters team began their journey home after visiting this South American country on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in early December.

Equal participation and shared responsibility in society are at the basis of a peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, stated participants at an inter-religious symposium in Tehran, Iran last week. They highlighted the value of learning from each other's faith and criticized "irresponsible media".

"And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)