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The theme “Discrimination, Persecution, Martyrdom: Following Christ Together” remained in sharp focus at a Global Christian Forum consultation in Albania. The event from 1-5 November in Tirana gathered some 150 international participants, including representatives of the WCC.

"In COP21 we decide whether the glass is half full or half empty, but the glass must be transparent", tweeted climate activist Yeb Saño at the end of a day full of activities engaging leadership and staff members of the WCC, the Lutheran World Federation and ACT Alliance, at the Ecumenical Centre, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Cardinal Kurt Koch of the Roman Catholic Church, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has granted an interview to WCC News. The conversation took place at the Global Christian Forum in Tirana, Albania where 150 high level leaders and representatives of various church traditions from more than 60 countries gathered to listen and learn from one another and to stand in solidarity with churches and Christians experiencing discrimination and persecution in the world today.

El cardenal católico Kurt Koch, presidente del Pontificio Consejo para la Unidad de los Cristianos, ha concedido una entrevista a Noticias del CMI, un medio de comunicación del CMI. La conversación tuvo lugar en el marco del Foro Cristiano Mundial celebrado en Tirana (Albania), que reunió a 150 dirigentes y representantes de alto nivel de varias tradiciones cristianas de más de 60 países con el fin de escucharse mutuamente y aprender unos de otros, así como de expresar su solidaridad con las iglesias y los cristianos del mundo que actualmente sufren discriminación y persecución.

Today 35 bishops and church leaders from 20 countries gathered in Munich, Germany to discuss the refugee situation and the role of the churches in Europe.

The perplexing yet perennial association of religion and violence was probed this week in an event co-hosted by the WCC, the Journalists and Writers Foundation and the Zurich-based Dialog-Institut.

World leaders will meet at the crucial United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris from 30 November to 11 December. Faith groups around the world are building awareness of the importance of reaching a binding and ambitious agreement at the talks. In October, WCC members have taken part in climate activities in Germany.

An international conference held at the invitation of the Foreign Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Nikos Kotzias, has gathered around 70 prominent religious, political and academic figures in Athens, Greece, this week.

It is raining. It is cold and windy. Autumn is in the air in northern Greece. We have just arrived at the Idomeni refugee camp in northern Greece, on the border between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The fast-approaching winter poses as great a threat to the refugees as do the smugglers. In the worst case, winter means death.

Llueve, hace frío y sopla el viento. El otoño se siente en el aire en el norte de Grecia. Acabamos de llegar al campo de refugiados de Idomeni, al norte de Grecia, en la frontera entre Grecia y la Antigua República Yugoslava de Macedonia. La llegada inminente del invierno supone una amenaza tan seria para los refugiados como los traficantes. En el peor de los casos el invierno significa la muerte.

The United Church of Christ and The United Church of Canada, both members of the WCC, formalized a full communion agreement in a worship service at St. Andrew's United Church, Niagara Falls, Ontario, on 17 October.

La Iglesia Unida de Cristo y la Iglesia Unida del Canadá, ambas miembros del CMI, formalizaron un acuerdo de plena comunión durante un culto celebrado el 17 de octubre en la Iglesia Unida de San Andrés, en Niagara Falls, Ontario (Estados Unidos de América).

Following the burning and demolition of church buildings and the flight of many Christians from their villages in Indonesia, the WCC general secretary has expressed the world fellowship’s support of religious liberty and its solidarity with Indonesian believers as churches assist displaced people and work toward future peace.

Adebayo Anthony Kehinde leads an African group supporting ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Its interfaith campaign is especially significant on the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Japan.

In a recent statement, religious leaders called for an ambitious climate agreement, reminding all governments to commit to emission cuts and climate risk reduction. They promised to continue working for climate justice, including divestment from fossil energy.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed deep concern over the renewed wave of violence in Jerusalem. In a letter to WCC member churches in Palestine and Israel, he expressed solidarity with the churches and peoples of the land, and affirmed WCC’s commitment to justice and peace in Palestine and Israel.

To achieve just peace in the Middle East, “it is very adequate to focus on what would maintain and reinforce the cultural and religious diversity that has distinguished this region for long centuries,” said the WCC general secretary.

“Como comunidad de iglesias del mundo estamos firmemente decididos a apoyar las iniciativas a favor de la paz justa en toda la región de Oriente Medio”, dijo el Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, Secretario General del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI).

Greetings from the WCC were brought to the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church on the Family in the Vatican this week by Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, a Brazilian Lutheran and former moderator of the WCC Central Committee.

Churches continue to play their role in peace building for South Sudan despite the dashed hopes of many in the world’s newest nation, the moderator of the WCC said at a regional meeting.