Search results

Participants from across the ecumenical membership of the WCC gathered from 28 to 29 October for a Women and Men’s Pre-assembly programme preceding the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea. The WCC has had a long tradition and commitment to gender justice and advocacy for a just community of women and men in church and society, a commitment which began at the first WCC assembly in 1948.

Final preparations are underway for the opening of the 10th Assembly of the WCC, to be held in Busan, Republic of Korea.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has conveyed his best wishes and prayers for Rev. Dr Antje Jackelén on her appointment as archbishop of the Church of Sweden. A Lutheran pastor, and bishop in Lund in southern Sweden, Jackelén is the first woman to hold this position.

The WCC held its first Youth Virtual Conference titled “Live your Faith!” on 12 October, offering young Christians from around the world an opportunity to reflect on issues of concern for their communities, including eco-justice, migration and peace.

Migrants are reduced to mere commodities, traded and exchanged in the global market, according to a declaration issued by churches calling for an end to this gross violation of human dignity. The declaration was issued on the occasion of the Second United Nations High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in New York City, USA.

A delegation of the leadership team of the International Council of Christians and Jews was welcomed by the World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, during their visit to the WCC offices in Geneva, Switzerland.

The WCC is working toward the revival of “Thursdays in Black”, a campaign against sexual and gender-based violence. The emphasis is pertinent to the theme of the WCC’s upcoming assembly: “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.

During a visit to Rome the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called on the churches to be congregations of peacemakers. Tveit also met with Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church as part of his participation in an event sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed “sadness, horror and concern” over the death of more than one hundred African migrants, who were on a boat en route to Europe which sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on 3 October.

In order to build on its work for the protection of climate refugees, the WCC joins an innovative campaign “Postcards from the Frontlines” aiming to achieve urgently needed recognition and protection for climate refugees around the world.

As part of the preparations for the upcoming WCC assembly in Korea, young delegates to the event recently got together in Geneva to strategize on making youth contributions to the assembly and to the WCC youth programme more meaningful – envisioning a “youth pilgrimage for justice and peace”.

A three-day WCC consultation has featured diverse perspectives from Asia, Africa, Middle East and Europe on the politicization of religion and how this phenomenon contributes to discrimination and persecution of religious minorities around the world.

Work for the rights of religious minorities should be done in the spirit of universalism, said the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, in his opening address at a WCC consultation.

At a recent event in Geneva, 120 members of migrant communities representing various local churches were given an orientation to the WCC assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea. The event featured reflections on justice and peace issues, especially in relation to migrant workers.

“Justice and peace now!” was a call made by the participants of the Asia-Pacific Students and Youth Gathering in the Philippines. They affirmed their role in revitalizing the ecumenical movement, aspiring to be “seeds of hope, catalysts of genuine and lasting peace that is based on justice”.

A seminar has marked the strengthening of relationships between the WCC and the Global Christian Forum, affirming their distinctive and complementary roles in the quest for Christian unity.

Organized by the WCC with the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches and the Cantonal Reformed Churches of Berne, Jura and Solothurn, a recent conference gathered theological reflections on migration, a concern which remains at the heart of many current church debates.

Hopes for strong expressions of women’s concerns for life, justice and peace at the WCC's upcoming assembly were expressed at the 90th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) - Woman’s Guild, held recently in Kenya.

Members of migrant and local churches in Geneva will get to experience the life and spirit of the WCC 10th Assembly in their own city on Saturday 14 September.