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As mob violence took over the US Capitol on 6 January, churches in the USA spoke out against the threat against the integrity of democracy.

Después de un extraordinario semestre de estudios en el Instituto Ecuménico de Bossey, los estudiantes comienzan ahora a vislumbrar la Navidad, y una época para compartir entre una comunidad ecuménica diversa.

For the people of Nigeria, 2020 was a gruelling year as they faced the COVID-19 pandemic,  the continuing scourge of the extremist militant group Boko Haram, extrajudicial killings, and violent responses to popular protests against police brutality and other social and economic issues.

After an extraordinary study semester at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, students are now beginning to glimpse towards Christmas, and a season of sharing among a diverse ecumenical community.

Olive farming should be a peaceful activity, but for many Palestinian farmers the harvest season is a time of tension, violent attacks, and destruction of precious olive trees. Farmers in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territories face a barrage of such threats from nearby Israeli settlers.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has brought on what many are calling a “shadow pandemic” of gender-based violence, African faith leaders are amplifying their call for increased action for prevention and support for those affected.

When a group of Cameroonian religious leaders from both English and French-speaking communities, both Christian and Muslim, met to discuss the crisis in the Anglophone western provinces of Cameroon, they committed themselves to being "diplomats of peace.”

What does it mean to plant an olive tree? For people in the Holy Land, and in many other regions, this act of love bears deep cultural, spiritual, and economic meaning. In 2019, UNESCO established 26 November as World Olive Tree Day.

With the “16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence” international campaign beginning on 25 November, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is encouraging member churches and all people of good will to reflect—and act—on the link between the household of God, and the urgent need to make our homes safe and loving spaces.

Church leaders in Africa are continuing to call for a peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in northern Ethiopia, as agencies warn of a humanitarian crisis in the region.

Through four years of collaboration with the Effata Secular School in Togo, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy programme has introduced students and teachers to Thursdays in Black, towards a world without rape and violence, helped them better respond to HIV, and offered a safe space to discuss responsible sexual and reproductive health.

“Just as you cannot live without water, olive oil is the same for us—and the olive tree is our life,” explains a smiling Abu-Issa under an awe-inspiring 13-meter olive tree. Its umbrella of branches extends over the al-Walaja hills, just north of Bethlehem.

When Rev. Dr Antje Jackelén became its first female archbishop in 2014, a major milestone was reached in the history of the Church of Sweden. It took 850 years and 69 male predecessors to get there. Jackelén also happens to be the first immigrant, at least in modern times, to occupy the highest chair of her church. That, however, she regards as a coincidence of lesser significance. For her, as a devoted Christian, the baptism matters more than the passport.   

You may miss the cry of the tortured Christ on the cross, carved by the Brazilian artist Guido Rocha, if you do not look carefully at your right hand side as you enter the dark-wooden chapel of the monastic Community of Grandchamp, a hamlet near the Lake of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland.