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The World Council of Churches (WCC) was honoured as a top non-governmental organization for its work during 2021, receiving a third-place Geneva Engage Award on 1 February for effective and inspiring social media outreach and engagement.

Registrations are open for a World Council of Churches webinar on 19 January that will launch the first volume of a major new history of ecumenism produced by a team of academics and scholars coordinated by the Italian-based Foundation for Religious Studies (FSCIRE).

Looking toward the 2022 assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) that will gather around the theme “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,” the latest issue of the WCC journal International Review of Mission focuses on the relationship between mission and unity.

The life and insights of the German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer can shed light on the theme of the forthcoming assembly of the World Council of Churches, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,” writes Keith Clements in the article that opens the latest issue of the WCC quarterly, The Ecumenical Review. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) hosted a Sikh-Christian dialogue on 5 July with the theme “Pursuing Peace in a Pluralistic World” to commemorate the 550th birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak, the first guru of the Sikhs.

Nowadays, any cause can be effectively promoted in a blink of an eye, with a click on a button. At virtually no cost, messages travel fast around the globe through social media and other digital platforms. For good and bad, but mostly for good. Because without it, grassroots movements, such as the Arab Spring, which started in Tunisia in 2010 and ended up toppling several governments, would have had a much harder time rallying support and getting their message across to key audiences.

In 1984 a pastor from Uruguay became the first Latin American to be elected as general secretary of the WCC. The late Emilio Castro (1927 - 2013) left an unmatched legacy of passionate ecumenism behind him. His book “Pasion y compromise con el Reino de Dios”, first published in 2007, has now been translated into English and released in an edited version.

On 26 July at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, there was a marked change in colour at the Interfaith Networking Zone. It was Thursday, and from morning prayers to the evening informal networking, the theme was “black”.

To mark the visit of Pope Francis to the WCC on 21 June, a special online “Virtual Issue” of the WCC’s quarterly journal, The Ecumenical Review, is offering a set of articles about relationships between the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church.

An exhibit entitled “Faith in Gender Justice” will open in the Scottish Parliament on 8 March in conjunction with International Women’s Day.

The WACC-SIGNIS Human Rights Award 2016 has gone to the documentary film Cahier africain directed by Heidi Specogna, who was recognized at an awards ceremony on 19 February in Berlin.

Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), expressed concern and voiced solidarity for the people of Colombia as they confront a recent upsurge of violence.

Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser has been on an ecumenical journey for most of his adult life, which spans 80 years. The former WCC general secretary relates some of this pilgrimage in his newest publication, “The Challenge of Transformation: An Ecumenical Journey.” On 5 February, shortly after Raiser’s birthday, ecumenical experts from different generations, confessions and continents met in Geneva to discuss the newest publication by the man who led the WCC from 1993 to 2003.

"Since 1983 Argentina is enjoying the longest period of democracy in our history – it is a great achievement and that is why we need to take care of it." Pride in the peaceful change from military dictatorship to democracy 35 years ago and concern over recent developments in her country was the message that Estela Barnes de Carlotto brought with her to a meeting in Geneva reinvigorating the friendship between the WCC and the Association of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, of which she is the president.

“The world is calling upon the faith leaders to use their power for justice for the excluded and discriminated against, and for the exploited planet earth,” says WCC deputy general secretary Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri.

"Ecumenical work is not nostalgia nor superficial use of metaphors. It is the hard work we do in mutual accountability to one another,” says WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in his introduction to the WCC Annual Review 2016, which is now available in print and digital form online.

“What contribution can those involved in the interreligious work of the churches offer in the current challenges faced in Europe at the present time?” This was the primary question addressed during a 29-31 March meeting of people working as interreligious officers for various churches in Europe and church-related organizations.