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In a world where understanding of Christian mission is changing rapidly, Bishop Geevarghese Mor Coorilos, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) explains what new visions the WCC mission statement will bring to the churches.

A framework and criteria for a new financial and economic architecture will be discussed at an ecumenical conference in Brazil this week. These criteria will embrace ethics and justice to address ecological concerns. The debates at the event will highlight the concerns of millions of people affected by the financial crisis.

"€œIndigenous Peoples, in spite of their debilitating experiences of discrimination, displacement and disempowerment, have sustainable alternatives to many of the world’s problems,"€ said Dr Pusin Tali. These alternatives, he said, are "€œdrawn from their rich traditions of wisdom, based on their deep interactive engagement with the earth."

What are the connections between widespread poverty and ecology? Seventy-five scientists, activists, philosophers and theologians are meeting from 26 to 30 September at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, in Kolympari, Greece, to understand the intertwined dynamics of economic development and environmental sustainability.

More than 10,000 users have signed up for an online theological library supported by the World Council of Churches (WCC) that offers worldwide access free-of-charge to thousands of full text articles, dissertations and other documents covering theology and ecumenism.

By Marcelo Schneider (*)

After a four year interval the World Council of Council (WCC) and the Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue (CID) in Tehran, Iran, have recommenced their meetings for bi-lateral dialogue.

Citing the European churches’ “strong commitment over the past century to the ecumenical movement and fellowship in Europe,” WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit urged their direct engagement in the current financial and social crisis in and beyond Europe.

By Naveen Qayyum (*)

The participants of a World Council of Churches (WCC) sponsored hearing on the misuse of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have urged the Pakistani government to “take realistic and solid steps to stop abuse of the blasphemy law that are causing massive human rights violations.”

“No state should take away the right of its citizens to debate a law that affects them gravely. Therefore, there is a growing need of dialogue on the blasphemy law and its negative impacts on religious minorities in Pakistan,” said I.A. Rehman, veteran human rights activist and director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a side event at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

While accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan have once again captured the news headlines, Bishop Samuel Azariah, moderator of the Church of Pakistan, hopes for the Pakistani government to consider repealing the controversial clause in the Pakistan Penal Code which, he says, invokes misuse of the blasphemy law.

At a place called Antietam, 23,000 soldiers died in the bloodiest day of the American Civil War. More than 150 years later, 20 different religious traditions will gather on this battlefield in Maryland, United States as part of the 2012 International Day of Prayer for Peace commemorations to share prayers and songs of peace. Â

“The misuse of blasphemy law is contrary to the vision of Pakistan as a moderate and democratic country,” said Mohammad Tahseen, in a public hearing on the “Misuse of blasphemy law and religious minorities in Pakistan” organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed great “regret” on the making of the film “The Innocence of Muslims”. He called the film an “an insult to the heart of the Muslim faith” and “to all peoples of faith.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary has hailed the appointment of Dr Tarek Mitri as the United Nations secretary general’s special representative in Libya, a decision announced on 12 September at the UN Security Council meeting.

Recent debates on the role of Christian communication are being impacted by a communications statement released in May by the World Council of Churches (WCC), the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and the Korean Host Committee for the WCC 10th Assembly.

The question of who is your enemy is one that touches everyone in the world particularly in a place like Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina which suffered a devastating civil war nearly two decades ago.

South Africa, Australia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, French Polynesia (Maohi Nui), Pakistan, Syria and Myanmar have provided the subjects for statements and minutes of concern voiced by the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) as part of public issues actions during a recent meeting of that governing body at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolympari, Greece.

Some 22 representatives of the major Asian associations of theological schools came together recently in Indonesia to discuss challenges for training of ministers and lay people in Asian churches and to set goals for a new forum on theological education.