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With a focus on the legacy of nuclear testing and climate change, the World Council of Churches (WCC) completed a pilgrimage visit to the Marshall Islands on 16-24 November.

A photo exhibit, “Every Picture Tells A Story,” opened in the Ecumenical Centre on 29 November, showcasing the work of Most Rev. Dr Martin Modéus, archbishop of the Church of Sweden and primate of Uppsala.

Eigentlich hätte sie in Africa stattfinden sollen. Die Erste Vollversammlung des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) war in Europa gewesen (Amsterdam), die Zweite in Nordamerika (Evanston, USA), die Dritte in Asien (Neu-Delhi). Und die Hoffnungen waren groß, dass Afrika der nächste Gastgeber-Kontinent für den Rat sein würde. Aber es gab Bedenken wegen Gewaltakten und militärischer Konflikte in Afrika in den 1960er Jahren, von der Biafra-Region in Nigeria bis Sansibar und Eritrea, von Algerien bis Mosambik und Rhodesien. Also wurde die Vierte Vollversammlung zurück in die „Sicherheit“ Europas gebracht, nach Uppsala in Schweden. In einer Ironie des Schicksals rollten einen Monat nach dem Ende der Vollversammlung sowjetische Panzer in Prag ein.

By rights, it should have been Africa. The World Council of Churches’ (WCC) First Assembly had been held in Europe (Amsterdam), the second in North America (Evanston, USA), the third in Asia (New Delhi). Hopes were raised that Africa would be the next continent to host the council. But questions arose concerning acts of violence and military conflicts in Africa throughout the 1960s, from the Biafran region in Nigeria to Zanzibar and Eritrea, from Algeria to Mozambique and Rhodesia. And so the Fourth Assembly returned to the “safety” of Europe, to Uppsala in Sweden. In one of history’s ironies, Soviet tanks would roll into Prague one month after the assembly’s close.

An interfaith statement developed at Stockholm+50, “Faith Values and Reach - Contribution to Environmental Policy,” was signed by representatives of various faith-based organizations and Indigenous cultures across the world, including the World Council of Churches, and directed to the governments, UN entities, civil society, and all stakeholders of the “Stockholm+50” processes.

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.