In pastoral letters to His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew, His Beatitude Hieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, and the Evangelical Church of Greece, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay conveyed sincere sympathies as wildfires raged across the land.
As a search continued for missing migrants after a fishing boat capsized off the coast of Greece, the World Council of Churches (WCC) conveyed prayers to the families of victims, and to the churches in Greece and elsewhere that are responding.
The world’s Orthodox Christians drew together in prayer, in small groups, in cathedrals and churches, or at home with loved ones, ringing a traditional Orthodox Easter greeting in an especially challenging year: “Christ is risen! Indeed, Christ is risen!”
A dozen global and regional religious organizations released an advocacy statement on the situation of migrants and refugees in Europe that defines their calling as Christians to “welcome the stranger,” and urges the creation of a world in which “we become human together.”
Christian organizations representing 2 billion people—about one-third of the world's population—have released a statement on the dire situation of migrants and refugees in Europe, and they are demanding a more compassionate approach.
Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece offers reflections from an Orthodox perspective on the current plight of refugees, both in Greece and beyond, and how churches can help with both relief efforts and long-term wellbeing.
Church leaders from Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark signed a statement demanding that we take “human responsibility” for refugees on the border between Turkey and Greece.
A German delegation comprised of representatives of municipalities, church leaders and prominent civil society organizations recently visited the Greek island of Lesbos, already hosting tens of thousands of migrants and displaced people, and was on site when the news of the opening of the Turkish border was announced and the first new arrivals were appearing.
Archbishop Job of Telmessos, who serves as permanent representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the World Council of Churches (WCC), met with the WCC News and describes receiving an extraordinary gift from Pope Francis on 29 June.
Dealing with people on the move is crucial to the work of the Church in the 21st century says Greek Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia and Filadelfia. More than 31,000 irregular migrants arrived in Greece by sea in 2018 and almost 17,000 arrived by land, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The 8th International Conference of Orthodox faculties, just held in Thessaloniki, Greece, is expected to contribute to the interpretation and reception of the 2016 “Holy and Great Council” of the Eastern Orthodox churches.
As the Holy and Great Council commenced this week in Crete, Greece, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit attended celebrations of Pentecost with the Orthodox community, offering his prayers and support.
His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew arrived in Crete on 15 June, pledging to proceed with the Holy and Great Council, the long-planned meeting of Orthodox Churches there.
Sitting in a tent at the Souda camp, on the island of Chios in Greece, a Pakistani family of 12 recalls the lives they had in their home country. They had everything except safety. Muhammed and his wife, Asia, along with their 10 children, fled their home country in search of a place where they weren’t constantly fearing for their lives.
Women and children figure prominently as refugees in mass movements of people in recent months and their rights will be at the forefront of a summer school organized in Greece by the Conference of European Churches.
The Evangelical Church of Greece has been helping immigrants for more than 20 years, but has grown its effort to unprecedented levels in the past few years, months and even every day.
Following the EU-Turkey refugee agreement, effective 20 March 2016, the Greek islands are again a changed place. Where refugees have arrived in great numbers in the past years, and where they have engaged a whole community of local, national and international aid workers and volunteers, the situation is now dramatically different.
Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece met on the Greek island of Lesvos on 16 April to demonstrate their concern for the situation of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers who have come to Europe fleeing from situations of conflict and, in many cases, daily threats to their survival.
The heads of two German Protestant churches and the moderator of the country’s Reformed Alliance say the situation for refugees on the border between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is intolerable and more European aid is needed.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ioannis Amanatidis from Greece met with WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit on 8 April 2016. Amanatidis expressed the Greek government’s warm thanks for the WCC’s cooperation and solidarity with Greece, and requested continued support for Greece’s efforts to face an unprecedented refugee crisis.