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Bishop Munib Younan will participate in an inter-religious service of prayer for peace to be held at the Vatican on Pentecost Sunday 8 June.

An urgent call for protection of human rights, peace and security in the Middle East and South Sudan was recently issued by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA at its first Christian Unity Gathering from 18 to 20 May in Washington, D.C.

The weekend meeting of Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople holds significance for global churches and the ecumenical movement beyond the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC.

Churches in the United States, including member churches of the WCC, have called on the Obama administration to open up a high-level dialogue with Cuba aimed at normalizing relations between the two countries.

After bombings on 21 May in the northern Nigerian city of Jos, in which more than one-hundred people have been killed, “heart-felt sorrow and condolences” have been expressed in a joint statement by the WCC general secretary and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan.

Observing Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on 17 April, the WCC general secretary expressed solidarity with some 5000 Palestinian men, women and children, languishing in Israeli jails.

In his Easter reflections, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called this year an “opportunity for shared testimony to the Resurrection” since churches from both eastern and western traditions of Christianity will celebrate Easter on the same day, Sunday 20 April.

The WCC general secretary has expressed deep worry over a court decision in Egypt, where 529 people have been sentenced to death in one of the largest trials in the history of the country.

APRODEV, an association of European development agencies related to the World Council of Churches, has urged the European Union to develop a long-term strategy to reconnect Gaza to the West Bank.

Joining his voice to those of the churches in Palestine and Israel, the WCC general secretary has expressed “grave concern” about a law recently passed by the Israeli parliament.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said that “fervent prayer offered by Christians around the world” was answered with release of Greek Orthodox nuns kidnapped by rebels in the Syrian Christian town of Maaloula.

“The immediate end of the suffering of the people in Syria must now be the focus for all parties in the Geneva 2 talks,” WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in a meeting today, 14 February in Geneva with members of the Syrian opposition. And “this includes all parties in the conflict,” he added.

Strong concerns were expressed by the WCC Executive Committee over the increasing number of internally displaced persons and the on-going conflict in South Sudan in statements adopted by the committee on 12 February, during its meeting in Bossey, Switzerland.

The WCC Executive Committee, currently meeting in Switzerland, is working to translate the mandate of the WCC 10th Assembly into strategic plans and visible actions, focusing on the churches’ efforts toward a “pilgrimage for justice and peace”.

A statement from churches around the world urging an end to the armed conflict in Syria, ahead of the Geneva 2 talks scheduled to take place on 22 January was presented to Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations-Arab League joint representative for Syria, by the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit today in Geneva, 20 January.

With the Geneva 2 talks on Syria scheduled for 22 January, some 30 church leaders from Syria and around the world gathered a week ahead of time at the headquarters of the WCC in Geneva, Switzerland, and called for substantial action be taken at the talks to end the armed conflict.

“’God of life, lead us to justice and peace’ has become a prayer around the world.” These were words of Dr Wedad Abbas Tawfik about the theme of the WCC 10th Assembly. She shared her experiences and hopes for social and political stability as a Coptic Christian in her country, Egypt.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has congratulated the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for recognition of its life-saving work on elimination of chemical weapons, especially in Syria, through the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2013.

Nine volunteers with the WCC's Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel have met with European Union officials, urging them to honour recently issued guidelines on grants and loans to Israeli settlements.

Church leaders from Syria, Russia, the United States and European nations have called a political solution the only way towards peace in Syria. This stance was shared in a communique they issued following their meeting with Kofi Annan, former United Nations general secretary, and Lakhdar Brahimi, UN-Arab League joint representative for Syria.