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The Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (WCC) met in Lyon, France for its annual plenary session from 2-5 September. The group released a communique focusing on migration and peace building, outlining areas for theological reflection and cooperation.

As the Waldensian Methodist Synod met in Torre Pelisse in the north of Italy, the assembled delegates received a letter from Pope Francis, who expressed warm greetings.

“I pray for each of you that you may experience the Holy Spirit in these days of encounter, prayer and reflection,” wrote Pope Francis. “Please allow me to join in your prayer that the Lord would deepen the ecumenical spirit among Christians and lead our churches into a growing communion with each other.”

The 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace is convening in Lindau, Germany, this week. The multi-religious gathering is being organized from 20-23 August in partnership with the Foundation Peace Dialogue of the World Religions and Civil Society.

Virag Kinga Mezei is a Hungarian intern for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. With a passion for human rights, she regularly engages in discussions while also getting training through the WCC on mechanisms that lead to the achievement of racial and social justice.

As the Worship Assembly Planning Committee had its first meeting in Baden, Germany from 5-11 July, prayer was at the forefront for becoming the heartbeat of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th assembly in Karlsruhe in September 2021.

The Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz hosted an international conference on “The Many Faces of Jesus Christ: Contextual Christology in a New World Come of Age.” Meeting from July 4-6 on the university campus, the conference brought together 20 scholars from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America to listen to and debate new developments in Christology from around the world. Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal and Reformed theologians made presentations on Christology, as reflected in theological writings, poetry, art, music and murals, and lived experience.

Conversations at the World Council of Churches (WCC) exhibition booth at the Kirchentag showed there is a growing interest in ecumenical movement among German churches. The topics of a particularly high interest were the Thursdays in Black campaign and studies at the Ecumenical institute in Bossey.

The Protestant Church in Germany and Palermo (Italy) Mayor Leoluca Orlando have issued a joint declaration calling for a European distribution mechanism for boat refugees.

Currently there is no Europe-wide distribution mechanism to accommodate refugees rescued in the Mediterranean in the European Union. The declaration calls for a political emergency solution this summer, and urges a group of European Union member states to act as a “coalition of the willing” and develop a sustainable migration policy.

The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) was featured in the DW Global Media Forum held 27-28 May in Bonn, Germany. More than 2,000 media professionals, policymakers, and movers from politics and civil society, culture and education, business and science – representing 140 countries – attended the conference.

“Open a European humanitarian corridor,” urged Italian Protestant churches and the Community of Sant’Egidio in a letter to Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte.

After a large fire broke out on 15 April at the Notre Dame cathedral, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed shock over the damage to one the most famous landmarks in Paris, and the seat of the archbishop of Paris.

Unity, justice and peace – three values held together in love – are the focus of the WCC Staff Planning Days on 9-12 April. Led by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the gathering maps the WCC’s critical contributions in a world full of challenges.

A group of churches from Germany’s west inspired by the quest for justice and peace presented an ecumenical exhibition showing how “Peace takes a different way” at the World Council of Churches in Geneva.

A conference in Berlin has recalled how in 1989 an ecumenical assembly mobilised dissent in the former East Germany in the run-up to a peaceful revolution that led to the collapse of communism and the end of the Berlin Wall.

Archbishop of York John Habgood, a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee from 1983 to 1991 and moderator of Church and Society from 1983 to 1990, died on 6 March at the age of 91. A scientist and philosopher, Habgood was regarded as one of the most outspoken clerics of his time.

Last week a delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) led by Metropolitan Prof. Dr Gennadios of Sassima, vice-moderator of the WCC Central Committee and moderator of the Assembly Planning Committee, and Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, visited Karlsruhe, Germany, where the WCC 11th Assembly will be held in September 2021.

The Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy, Italian Episcopal Conference, Waldensian Board, and Community of Sant’Egidio signed a joint declaration, entitled “Let’s remain human,” that encourages a spirit of humanity and solidarity towards migrants.

As it concluded its meeting in Cyprus, held from 9-16 January, the WCC Assembly Planning Committee released a report to the WCC Executive Committee detailing building blocks for the 11th WCC Assembly, to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2021.

A special locomotive bearing the motto of the 2019 Kirchentag, Germany’s biggest regular Protestant festival, will travel the length and breadth of the country as a “rolling ambassador” for the event that takes place this year in June in the western German city of Dortmund.

Shortly after Sea-Watch saw a legal victory in being allowed to rescue stranded migrants, the moderator of the Waldensian board expressed thanks and vowed to press forward in welcoming so-called strangers.