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Within the framework of the negotiations and conversations of the third cycle of the Peace Dialogue Table between the government of Colombia and the Estado Mayor Central FARC-EP, the news was received on its fourth day of sessions that President Petro approved Decree 0016 of 14 January 2024, which it extends the ceasefire with the EMC FARC-EP for six more months.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met in Bogota, Colombia, with representatives of embassies of Switzerland, Norway, Germany, and the diplomatic service of the European Union for a conversation on the role of the international community in the peace process in the country.

A delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) is visiting Colombia, conveying a message of the WCC’s commitment to accompanying and supporting the nation’s peace processes.

During a Global Peace Prayer on 22 March, Christians across the world drew together to pray for peace in a broken world, and to listen to voices from people suffering in Ukraine and other conflict-ridden areas.

A Global Peace Prayer on 22 March will draw Christians together in hope for a better future. A communique from a prayer planning committee explained that Christians are called into prayer and advocacy for peace. “In a global context where war and violence abound, the practice of peace has become even more urgent,” reads the message.

A delegation from ACT Alliance  and the World Council of Churches (WCC) visited Hungary, Ukraine and Romania on 14-18 March, focusing on humanitarian needs and church response.

In a letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow on 2 March, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca asked the patriarch to mediate so that the war between Russia and Ukraine can be stopped.

In a 13 July letter to the United Nations Security Council, the Diálogo Intereclesial por la Paz en Colombia (DiPaz), an interchurch platform for dialogue for peace in Colombia, called on the international community to urge the Colombian government to resume the full implementation of the peace agreement and strengthen channels of dialogue to resolve societal issues.

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), received former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva, at the Ecumenical Centre on 6 March, in Geneva, Switzerland.

“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.

“We have sought to support dialogue as a means to resolve differences, and to reaffirm and strengthen calls for justice, peace and respect for diverse ways of thinking in contemporary societies”, reads a message issued by the members of an ecumenical delegation organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) that visited Nicaragua on 28-29 August.

As Colombia strives to pave the road to just peace, new death threats against social, union and religious leaders and institutions were issued by paramilitaries earlier this week. The World Council of Churches (WCC) is closely following the developments and reiterates its full support to those committed to working for peace in the country.

A leader in Colombia’s administration in Bogota at the third Global Gathering of the Global Christian Forum (GCF) praised the Christian community and religious groups for the role they have paid in the South American country’s peace process.

"Churches can play a fundamental role in building peace in Colombia," said Colombia president Juan Manuel Santos, on 28 February, during his keynote speech at a public forum promoted by the World Council of Churches (WCC), in Cartagena, Colombia.

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.

As part of a Pilgrimage Reference Group meeting in Bogota, Colombia from 6-10 February, a WCC delegation visited the headquarters of the Conference of Latin American Bishops (CELAM).

“The Amazon, the green heart of the Earth, is mourning and the life it sustains is withering,” begins a statement released by the World Council of Churches Executive Committee as it met in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November.