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Helena Taliberti and Vagner Diniz, two very committed Brazilian parents with a passion for life and justice, want to feel connected to the world. “We came here because we are sure that the World Council of Churches (WCC) has a lot of connections,” they said. “The more we are together, the longer and farther we will go. Life is the most precious thing that we have.” The couple lost their children in a dam collapse in Brazil in January. WCC News met with them after a meeting with the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in Geneva in early October.

This is the fourth in a series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Larissa Aguiar Garcia, from Igreja Metodista do Brasil, is a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) ECHOS Commission for young people.

Fires in the Amazon region must be addressed as a national and international crisis, states general secretary of the World Council of Churches Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

As igrejas do Brasil precisam trabalhar mais unidas do que nunca para enfrentar a cultura da violência e as questões ambientais do país. Esta foi a mensagem dos participantes de uma mesa redonda ecumênica sobre o Brasil convocada pelo Conselho Mundial de Igrejas (CMI) em Genebra no dia 26 de agosto.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met last week with Rev. Miguel Salanic, from Guatemala, in Geneva, Switzerland. They discussed the role of indigenous people as part of the living WCC fellowship and the preparations leading up to the WCC 11th Assembly to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2021.

When a wide-ranging ecumenical group discussed “Transitional Justice in Colombia, implications for the peace process”, many of the speakers seemed worried that the great hope there was back in 2016 seems to have dissipated and much more work for peace is needed.

A delegation comprised of two church leaders and a victim of death threats who lost family members due to the conflict in Colombia was hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in New York, 27-30 May. All three spoke with member states of the United Nations Security Council about the worsening situation in relation to the peace accords with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the stalled dialogue with the National Liberation Army.

“We express our deepest concern with regard to the search for peace in Colombia, and we call upon the Colombian government and all armed actors to refrain from targeting social leaders and communities in conflict zones”, said Rev. Frank Chikane, moderator of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), in light of the recent killings of social leaders in Micoahumado, South Bolivar, and elsewhere around the country.

“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.

A workshop co-facilitated by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the South Sudan Council of Churches in South Sudan on 1-3 May drew 18 people to explore resources churches use to aid in trauma healing. Participants also discussed potential common approaches that could unite churches in their response to people faced with trauma.

On 18-22 March, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission gathered at Faculdade Unida de Vitoria in Brazil for a consultation entitled “Towards a Global Vision of the Church”.

At the 33rd Festival International de Films de Fribourg, held 15-23 March, the Ecumenical Jury awarded “Compañeros – La noche de 12 años” (A Twelve-Year Night), directed by Álvaro Brechner, a prize of 5,000 CHF donated by the Swiss organizations Lenten Offering and Bread for All.

One month after a dam near an iron ore mine in Brumadinho, Brazil, burst its barrier, flooding another dam down below, churches have been actively working in the area, comforting hundreds of families in grief and joining hands with the public agents who are offering humanitarian relief to the people in the region.

A global faith-based movement, the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, has been strengthening its communication and creating country programs in an ongoing effort to inspire people, appeal to their core values, and make an ethical case for urgent and concerted action to protect rainforests.

The life of Rev. Dr Rena Joyce Weller Karefa-Smart is being remembered and commended this week by the WCC fellowship after her passing last week. Karefa-Smart was the first Pan African woman to graduate in 1945 from Yale Divinity School. She was a champion for global ecumenism over the course of a long and distinguished career. An attendee of the first WCC Assembly, she was also a procession leader and author of the liturgies at the second WCC Assembly in Evanston, Illinois (USA).

Bishop Emeritus Nélida Ritchie, from the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina (IEMA), passed away on 22 December. She served as vice-moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee between 1991 and 1998.

“I didn’t have any document that says who I am, so I started to look for answers that would help me to understand the real definition of my condition as a stateless person”, said Maha Mamo in a video interview published by World Council of Churches communications.

“Hunger amidst plenty is the great contradiction of our time”, said Dr Ángel Ibarra, vice-minister of environment and natural resources of El Salvador, as he addressed participants of the World Council of Churches (WCC) “Eco-School on Water, Food and Climate Justice”, being held in San Salvador, 1-12 November.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit sent a message to the participants of a public event held on 15 October, in Montevideo, Uruguay, celebrating the legacy of Emilio Castro and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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.