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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.

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).

Churches across southern Africa are publicly saying #EnoughIsEnough,” with many denominations and congregations continuing to issue strong statements, arrange special prayer events, and speak out against rising levels of violence.

Both the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) have been discussing gender justice and how to keep the momentum going on the unprecedented public demand for change.

After a visit to Israel and Palestine on 21 February through 1 March, a delegation of South African and African-American church leaders, released a Group Pilgrimage Statement on Israel and Palestine.

World Council of Churches leaders spoke on the theme “Hospitality: On a Pilgrim’s Way of Justice and Peace" at a symposium on 23 August at the Protestant Theological University Amsterdam.

Les dirigeants du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE) ont pris la parole autour du thème «L'hospitalité sur le chemin de la paix et de la justice», et ce, à l'occasion d'un symposium organisé le 23 août par l'Université théologique protestante d'Amsterdam.

In a plenary presentation given at the 11th All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) Assembly in Kigali, Rwanda, on 5 July, World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Isabel Apawo Phiri offered “An Overview on the Imperative of Diakonia for the Church.”

Dans une présentation plénière donnée lors de la 11e Assemblée de la Conférence des Églises de toute l’Afrique (CETA) à Kigali, au Rwanda, le 5 juillet dernier, la secrétaire générale adjointe du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE), Isabel Apawo Phiri, a donné «Une vue d’ensemble de l’impératif de la diaconie pour l’Église».

World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Isabel Apawo Phiri offered a keynote speech on ecumenical diakonia during the Africa Diaconia and Development Conference.

Isabel Apawo Phiri, secrétaire générale adjointe du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE), a présenté un important discours sur la diaconie œcuménique à l’occasion de la conférence sur la diaconie et le développement en Afrique.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit spoke on “The Oneness of the Ecumenical Movement” at the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) 11th General Assembly, being held in Kigali, Rwanda from 1-7 July.

À l'occasion de la 11e Assemblée générale de la Conférence des Églises de toute l'Afrique (CETA), qui se tient du 1er au 7 juillet à Kigali (Rwanda), le pasteur Olav Fykse Tveit, secrétaire général du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE), s'est exprimé sur «L'unité du mouvement œcuménique».

Most South Africans know of Brigalia Bam as chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), where she served from 1999 to 2011. Previously secretary general of the South African Council of Churches, and already an IEC commissioner, she was chosen by then-President Nelson Mandela from the list of parliamentary nominees for this critical role. In a country that had recently been on the brink of racial civil war, she guided South Africans with humour, tolerance and impartiality along the path of inclusive democracy.

In 2018 we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches. In order to create a lively firsthand account of the ecumenical fellowship and of our shared journey, member churches have contributed stories of people, events, achievements and even failures, all of which have deepened our collective search for Christian unity. This story was written by Olle Eriksson, a Namibian who worked for 35 years (1968 – 2003) with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia, Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission and Lutheran World Federation.

Les minorités blanches ont gouverné trois pays du sud de l’Afrique pendant de nombreuses années, y compris après l’indépendance de la plupart des anciennes colonies africaines. Des guerres sanglantes et acharnées ont fait rage pendant 20 à 30 ans avant que le Zimbabwe (anciennement Rhodésie) et la Namibie (anciennement Sud-Ouest africain) n’obtiennent leur indépendance en 1980 et 1990 respectivement, ainsi qu’avant la prise de pouvoir de la majorité en Afrique du Sud en 1994.

The huge impacts of businesses on the communities in which they operate often bring benefits, but companies can disregard and even harm people’s rights in pursuit of economic gain. The WCC, ACT Alliance and the Lutheran World Federation hosted a side event at the 6th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva on 28 November, in this context.

Reconciliation was once primarily seen as a message of the church but is now used by secular leaders trying to establish peace in communities torn by conflict and war, the WCC president for Africa, the Rev. Mary Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, has said at a major Protestant gathering in Germany.