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From a photo “exhibition of hope,” to worship resources, to an opportunity for people and churches to share their personal expressions of hope, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is offering an invitation and accompanying resources to celebrate the World Week of Peace in Palestine and Israel on 17-24 September.

At a meeting at the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue in Tehran, Iran on 20-23 August, delegations from the World Council of Churches and the Iranian Shia community gathered, with a sense of warmth and a willingness for deep exchange, for a bilateral dialogue.

Church must be a safe place where sinners are welcome to learn and change, and where the wounded can share their pains and find refuge, says Maria Dous, a medical student from Egypt. In July, she participated in a seminar organized by the Pan African Women’s Ecumenical Empowerment Network at the WCC's Ecumenical Institute Bossey.

For the sake of peace, church leaders in Jerusalem are calling to maintain the historical status quo on the historical designation allowing access to al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyard, as well as other Holy Sites in the city.

For Dr Vahid Sohrabifar from Iran’s city of Qom, attending the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Interreligious Studies at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey was inspiring due to the diversity he encountered on the course.

The World Council of Churches organised in June 2017 a pilgrimage in the Holy Land for eight young Christians from all over the world. Participants said it was a unique experience to discover biblical and spiritual places.

The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) in Egypt is working on an advanced gender approach. In a country which is facing enormous challenges, more than ever a development agency has to be up to date on the needs of the people.

Nayla Tabbara is a Sunni Muslim scholar. Fadi Daou is a Maronite priest and theologian. Both are from Lebanon. Together they have discovered something startling about God.

Writing 100 years after the Balfour Declaration and fifty years after Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories captured in the 1967 War, the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) executive committee lamented the ongoing failure of the parties to seek just peace and remarked on “an indelible stain on the conscience of members of the international community” for their failure to resolve the situation.

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.

The WCC is calling on Christians worldwide to join in prayer for just peace in the Holy Land by taking part in a Pentecost prayer service.

As Berit Hagen Agöy visited St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Cairo, Egypt last week, her sadness was mixed with hope.

Church leaders, led by Pope Tawadros II and Pope Francis, were gathered to pray for the people of Egypt, for unity, for peace and justice in St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, the chapel next to Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral that was bombed in December 2016, now restored.

Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt have taken a significant ecumenical step by signing a common declaration that Roman Catholics and Copts may recognize each other’s baptisms. The agreement is, in the eyes of the World Council of Churches (WCC), a “sign of hope”.

Protecting human freedom and dignity is a vital contribution to peace-building by religious communities, said Ecumenical Patriarch His All-Holiness Bartholomew I as he spoke at the Al-Azhar International Peace Conference on 27-28 April in Egypt.

In a joint communiqué issued on 27 April, delegations from the WCC and the Muslim Council of Elders jointly stressed the importance of valuing diversity, assuring equal rights, and of being able to build mutual relationships with others.

Speaking at the Al-Azhar International Peace Conference on 27-28 April in Egypt, the Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, Pope Francis and WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit address topics of misinterpretation of religious text, the culture of peace in religion, and global peace and how it is affected by poverty, illness and exploitation.

Linked to the 34th session of the Human Rights Council, the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue organized a side event on 15 March exploring "Islam and Christianity, the Great Convergence: Working jointly towards equal citizenship rights". World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit was among the panellists.

The fifteenth of March 2017, marks the sixth year since the start of the Syrian war.
Lebanon, being a small Middle Eastern country facing constant political and national unity challenges with a population of approximately 450,000 Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, has been the shelter for more than 2 million registered Syrian refugees since 2011.

Religious leaders in Cyprus stood together against violence towards women and girls, releasing a first-ever official joint statement on 8 March to mark International Women’s Day.