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The National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) has published a “2023 Easter Prayer for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula”, an annual observance which carries special significance this year, 70 years after the Korean War ceasefire established by the 1953 Armistice Agreement.

The new surge in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths has drastically increased the need for pastoral care almost everywhere. Brazil and Great Britain are two hard-hit countries, where the pandemic has brought existential questions on the table.  

A webinar held 22 October gave space for persons with disabilities to share their reflections. Entitled “From Lamentation to Transformation,” the event, first in a series of webinars on COVID-19 perspectives, highlighted hope through stories, practical support, and social change as experienced by persons with disabilities.

Thursdays in Black grew out of women’s movements of resilience and resistance to injustice, abuse and violence. In the Pacific region, which has some of the highest recorded rates of violence against women, churches are leading conversations to change attitudes and actions. Domestic violence is prevalent throughout Fiji. According to UN Women’s Global Database on Violence against Women, almost 2 out of 3 women aged 18-64 in Fiji have experienced physical or sexual violence from their intimate partner – almost twice the global average.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) continues to amplify the voice of the indigenous Papuans in Indonesia, who are oppressed by racism and discrimination.

Concerned about the escalating crisis of violence, racism and discrimination against indigenous Papuans in Indonesia, a side event co-sponsored by the WCC was convened during a fall session of the UN Human Rights Council to discuss patterns that are oppressing and displacing Papuans.

“As Christians, we are called every day to generously practice hospitality”, said Bishop Samuel Aguilar, from the Methodist Church of Peru, as he lamented cases of xenophobia, discrimination and violence suffered by thousands of Venezuelans in different parts of Latin America.

The WCC invites applications for a seminar on Youth and Racism Awareness in Asia, to be held in Osaka, Japan on 8-12 September 2019.

The National Council of Churches in India and the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India have announced Dalit Liberation Sunday will be 11 November.

As the worst flooding in half a century struck the southern India state of Kerala, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called for prayers for those affected and for those responding, and expressed his sympathy for those who have lost loved ones in the disaster.

As the anniversary of Korea's liberation and division draws near, churches in Korea and around the world prepare for the Sunday of Prayer on 12 August.

At a Welcome Service on 13 August for the 2017 Annual Conference at the Centenary Methodist Church in Suva, Fiji, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit offered a sermon that reflected on what it means, spiritually and ecologically, to exist in deep water.

Journeying from urban centres and small Pacific islands, mountain ranges and rural towns, more than 170 Indigenous people gathered this week at the mouth of the river that flows from traditional Sami lands. Their conference, “Reconciliation Processes and Indigenous Peoples: Truth, Healing and Transformation,” brought together representatives of more than two dozen Indigenous societies in connection with the WCC Central Committee meetings in Trondheim, Norway.

On the 28th Quadrennial Assembly of the National Council of Churches in India, held in Jabalpur from 27-30 April, Rev. Dr Sang Chang, WCC president for Asia, urged Indian churches to commit themselves afresh to the task of building just and inclusive communities.

Two major crises have marked the months since the WCC called Katalina Tahaafe-Williams to work in Geneva on its migration, indigenous, and multicultural ministry programmes. When she took up the job in October, the European refugee crisis was in full flow. Then in November, terrorists attacked Paris.

Some 200 people from Japanese churches and minority right networks as well as overseas partners, gathered for an international conference on minority issues and mission at the Korean YMCA in Tokyo.

During the 4th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, the WCC, in collaboration with the ACT Alliance and Lutheran World Federation, organized a side-event on “Faith-based organizations’ contribution to the protection of communities’ land rights: lessons learnt and good practices from Africa, Asia and Latin America” at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

Participants in Manilakbazan 2015, called by some the “Lumad caravan”, have come to Manila for a month-long series of activities and protests to bring attention to human rights violations in Lumad communities of the Philippines.

When Rev. Rex Reyes leaves as Christian Conference of Asia president of clergy after two general assemblies and one term as president, the organization loses a humble and very articulate man firmly rooted in the faith.

“From the very beginning, women in the ecumenical movement have been raising the question of who is missing around the table and why,” said Dr Fulata Mbano-Moyo, speaking at the Latin American Congress on Gender and Religion.