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The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemns the violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex during the night of Friday 7 May, in which more than 200 people are reported to have been wounded. Reacting to the news, WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca called on Israel to respect the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City in the interest of peace and stability. We also call for all to refrain from further violence, and from provocative and destabilizing actions.”

“We all miss community. But young people miss community a bit more. Our vibrant social lives before the pandemic were replaced by a reality of countless days alone at home.”

Maria Sonnleithner was reflecting on young people whose mental health has been at risk amid COVID-19, even as the strain on the caring adults and churches in their lives has grown exponentially as well.

Rev. Dr Santanu Kumar Patro, registrar of the Senate of Serampore College (University), passed away on 5 May in Calcutta. The news of his death was met with outpourings of grief and gratefulness from students, faculty and friends of seminaries and institutions responsible for theological education in South Asia and beyond.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has made available the collection of global prayers “Voices of Lament, Hope and Courage” in French, German and Spanish, in addition to the English version published in March for a Week of Prayer in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death of Rt Rev. Dr Nyansako-ni-Nku, an ecumenical and visionary leader in the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon.

An international online seminar, “Brazilian Tragedy: A Risk to Our Common Home?” brought religious, social and human rights leaders together with prominent experts on 4-6 May to discuss how the process of deconstructing democracy in Brazil in recent years has led the country to multiple crises.

As of 6 May 2021, the WCC Annual Review 2020 is available for download online. The annual review records many of the WCC’s activities undertaken in 2020 and continuing into 2021.

With well over a year past since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Easter celebrations in 2021 were bound to be unusual. Yet even amid such circumstances, the Ecumenical Institute chapel at Château de Bossey saw students and faculty gather to mark Orthodox Easter last Saturday evening.

Seventy-five students and student mentors from over 15 church universities in Eastern Africa  participated in an online training-of-trainers workshop on challenging toxic masculinities and toxic femininities. The event was hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy (EHAIA) Eastern Africa regional office on 1-2 May. 

“Persons with disabilities as well as other persons in the community see the church as a pillar of support to their complete wellbeing,” said Anderson Gitonga, executive director of United Disabled Persons of Kenya at a virtual dialogue, held 5 May, on promoting mental wellness of persons with disabilities in Kenya during and beyond COVID-19. “There is need for the church to explore further ways to build communities of support within communities to promote mental wellness of persons with disabilities during COVID-19.”

His Eminence the Most Rev. Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan (Metropolitan Emeritus) of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, passed away on the 5 May in Kerala, India. He was 104 years old. Churches and the global ecumenical community are celebrating a remarkable life, lived in full, in service of God and humanity with holiness, humility, humour and helpfulness. His funeral will be held on 6 May.

A webinar on how churches make moral decisions—and what causes divisions—brought a lively discussion attended online by more than 100 people on 29 April.

Basing their remarks on a World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission publication, “Churches and Moral Discernment. Volume 1: Learning from Traditions,” the speakers shared insights from very different church perspectives.