Search results

The Thursdays in Black campaign for a world free from rape and violence has been intensified in Namibia, bringing awareness of the heightened risk of violence against women and children during the COVID-19 lockdown.

An online memorial service for Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel drew family members, friends, colleagues and students who mourned the passing of the World Council of Churches (WCC) president for Africa. Plaatjies van Huffel, known as a transformative church leader in sub-Saharan Africa, passed away on 19 May.

Un service commémoratif en ligne pour la pasteure Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel a réuni des membres de sa famille, des amis, des collègues et des étudiants qui ont pleuré le décès de la présidente du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE) pour l’Afrique. Mme Plaatjies van Huffel, connue comme responsable d’Église à l’action transformatrice en Afrique subsaharienne, est décédée le 19 mai.

The All Africa Conference of Churches joined many across the world in expressing shock and dismay at remarks from two French scientists during a live interview on the French television channel LCI, suggesting that Africa should be the testing ground for treatment for the coronavirus.

South Sudanese church leaders have welcomed a new cabinet, which the country’s president Salva Kiir Mayardit announced on 12 March.

The unveiling of the cabinet ended months of anxious waiting for a new unity government which was mandated by a 2018 peace pact, known as the Revitalised Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. The government has 34 ministers and 10 deputies.

Les responsables des Églises du Soudan du Sud ont salué la formation d’un nouveau gouvernement, annoncée le 12 mars dernier par le président sud-soudanais, Salva Kiir Mayardit.

La révélation du nouveau cabinet ministériel a mis fin à des mois d’attente angoissée d’un nouveau gouvernement d’union nationale tel que le prescrit l’accord de paix de 2018, baptisé Accord revitalisé sur le règlement du conflit en République du Soudan du Sud. Ledit cabinet est composé de 34 ministres et de 10 vice-ministres.

“The church has lots of roles in removing barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from living a fulfilled life. All are created in the image of God and have equal rights. Sexual and reproductive health is one such right that should not be denied to any woman,” said Rev. Evans Onyemara, general secretary of the Christian Council of Nigeria during a training on empowering women with disabilities on sexual and reproductive health care held at Umuahia, Nigeria from 9-11 March.

Brought together by the South Sudan Council of Churches, women and men are sharing the pain of many years of war and associated gender-based violence in a series of workshops in Kenya and Burundi.

The South African Council of Churches is calling on the De Klerk Foundation to retract and apologize in the wake of a 14 February statement issued by the foundation amplifying the position that apartheid was not a crime against humanity, but a Soviet propaganda ploy.

Christians in Africa have joined in ecumenical celebrations and prayer services to mark the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, observed worldwide from 18-25 January.

Young African clergy, theologians and laypersons are eager to engage with the challenging issues facing their continent and the world. This became clear in a recent essay competition for authors below 35 years by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in partnership with the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC).

Les jeunes membres du clergé, théologiens et laïcs africains sont impatients de s’attaquer aux problèmes complexes qui touchent leur continent et le monde entier. C’est ce qui est apparu clairement lors d’un concours d’écriture destiné aux auteurs de moins de 35 ans et organisé par le Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE), en partenariat avec la Conférence des Églises de toute l’Afrique (CETA).

Gender-based violence and attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa have left communities wondering where to turn. In a visit of solidarity, a World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrim Team visited the nation from 7-12 December.

La violence sexiste et les attaques contre les personnes étrangères en Afrique du Sud ont laissé les communautés désemparées. Dans le cadre d’une visite de solidarité, l’équipe de pèlerins du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE) a rendu visite à la nation sud-africaine du 7 au 12 décembre.

On 9 December, a delegation led by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met with the South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and cabinet ministers in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Le 9 décembre, une délégation menée par le secrétaire général du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE), le pasteur Olav Fykse Tveit, a rencontré le président sud-africain, Cyril Ramaphos, et ses ministres à Johannesburg, en Afrique du Sud.

Members of the media are invited to attend a press briefing on Monday, 9 December 2019, by a high-level delegation of the World Council of Churches, which will be in the country on a social-justice mission to South Africa from 7-12 December 2019.

While lighting candles at a gathering of the All Africa Conference of Churches in Nairobi, church leaders, members of the civil society and youth on Monday launched Thursdays in Black, the global movement calling for resistance to attitudes and practices that permit rape and violence.

Unveiling the campaign, Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki, an African Brotherhood Church leader who is the chairman of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, urged churches to hear and give compassion to women suffering violence without asking questions.

A message released 9 November from the South Sudan Council of Churches reflected that the will for peace is not measured only by deadlines and technical arrangements. “Whether the government is formed on 12th November 2019 or a further extension is agreed, it is a question of the heart and of the political will,” the message reads. “The people of South Sudan have begged their political leaders to find a peaceful way forward, to look beyond political interest, emotional turmoil and historical grievances, and to hold their duty towards the people of the country as a sacred calling which is to be gravely cherished in holy servitude and with deep respect.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the ACT Alliance, in a joint letter to Burkina Faso president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, expressed concern for developments affecting the secu-rity and human rights of many of the nation’s people.