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In the midst of one of the worst public health crises in the world, Christians in Brazil are upholding their tradition of celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in the lead up to Pentecost. For the second year, they will be gathering in prayer without physical gatherings though. 

The new surge in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths has drastically increased the need for pastoral care almost everywhere. Brazil and Great Britain are two hard-hit countries, where the pandemic has brought existential questions on the table.  

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.

A conversation on the way home to Chile from the WCC 4th Assembly planted an ecumenical seed that grew into a wonderful experience of Christian unity – the partnership agreement between the Pentecostal Church of Chile and the United Church of Christ.

Despite a signed and ratified peace agreement, the long journey of regional churches and the WCC in support of peace in Colombia is not over, says the WCC central committee, which urges churches, governments, and others to press toward fulfillment of the terms and promises of the agreement, to prevent momentum ceasing and violence resurging.

You wouldn’t pay two thousand times more than the value of a cup of coffee, so why pay that for a glass of water? That’s one of the reasons why members of the World Council of Churches’s Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) are encouraging you to consider joining the “Blue Community” and to stop using bottled water in places where tap water is safely and freely available.

In writing a story for the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Elias Crisóstomo Abramides of Argentina, from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, is writing the story of his life. His service at the WCC opened for him the gate to meeting and loving “the very good Creation of God”: love, respect and admiration for the life of his neighbours and for all creation.

World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has told participants at the Global Christian Forum’s Third (GCF) Global Gathering in Bogota, Colombia that the GCF is remarkable in building trust among participants and opening ways for new forms of cooperation.

"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.

Challenged by Christians from Brazil to strive for greater respect for religious and cultural diversity, churches are reflecting together on the gospel of John as they celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

An ecumenical network in Latin America of composers, liturgists and writers plan to develop liturgical resources based on the WCC pilgrimage of justice and peace initiative.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has been globally celebrated this year with prayers, reflections, ecumenical services and events focusing on Paul’s question in Corinthians 1 “Has Christ been divided?” a theme for this year’s prayer materials, prepared by the Canadian churches.

Pastors from Germany and Argentina reflect on what peace and justice means while a local church in Germany encourages others to do the same through a new resource.