On 15 December, Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches paid a visit to His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of the Antioch and All the East at the patriarchal residence in Balamand, Lebanon.
An interfaith consultation held 12-16 December in Beirut, Lebanon, offered the chance for participants from different traditions to share their vision for social and religious cohesion in Iraq, assessing the current context and envisioning the way forward.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, in a public statement, expressed grave concern over recent developments in Palestine and Israel, which indicate “a deteriorating situation in the region, emblematic of the many ways in which the ongoing military occupation of the Palestinian territories obstructs achieving a just peace among the people of the Holy Land, and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it which have resulted in further restrictions on the space for civil society action in the region.”
As the 2021 World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel approaches, the World Council of Churches invites people and churches all over the world to pray, advocate, and stand in solidarity with people in the Holy Land.
With families in East Jerusalem facing growing threats of forced evictions and displacement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) will convene a webinar on 20 September to shed light on key issues at stake, currently and historically.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed solidarity with the people and churches of Lebanon on the anniversary of the explosion in Beirut that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands, and has left the whole nation still coping with the trauma and economic fallout.
During National Ecumenical Prayers for Peaceful Elections in Zambia, held 1 August, religious and civic leaders gathered in-person and online to pray for peaceful elections in the nation, which has been coping with a rise in violence during the lead-up to 12 August voting.
As tension grows in the long-running regional dispute over a giant dam built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, one of the Nile River’s main tributaries, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary, Rev. Prof. Dr. Ioan Sauca appealed to all WCC member churches in Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan and around the world to pray for a peaceful solution to the problem.
The Middle East Council of Churches, based in Beirut, Lebanon, has been the convener for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2022 drafting group. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican have now published the material in several languages.
In a letter to the UN Security Council, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed grave concern over the impending expiry on 10 July of the resolution allowing cross-border humanitarian assistance to North West Syria.
Gathered on 24 June as part of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee meeting, representatives from churches and ecumenical organizations in the Middle East took stock of old and new challenges in the region where Christianity itself originated, reflecting on the contributions Middle Eastern Christians can make at the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly.
This was the question African representatives to the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee asked themselves. More than 30 representatives of churches and WCC staff members from Africa met as part of the WCC central committee meeting held online from 23 – 28 June 2021.
Zambia’s founding president, Kenneth Kaunda, passed away at the age of 97. He led his country for 27 years and championed Africa's struggles against apartheid and HIV.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee expressed solidarity and accompaniment in prayer to churches and people in the Holy Land, in a statement published 20 May.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee is inviting the ecumenical fellowship and all people of good will to join in a live-streamed prayer for the Holy Land on 20 May at 16:30 CET.
World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed mounting concern and profound grief at the rising toll of people killed and injured in the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine.
World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed great sorrow on hearing the news of the loss of many lives caused by the disaster at the Lag B'Omer festival in Israel.
The film “Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege),” directed by Abdallah Al-Khatib, received the prize of the Interreligious Jury at the 52nd Festival Visions du Réel Nyon, held 15-25 April.
Patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem shared Easter greetings of hope with Christians around the world. “This past year has been a time of great sorrow for all the world,” the message reads. “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions have suffered serious illness, with many succumbing to death.”