Search results

The World Council of Churches (WCC) hosted Bishop Dr Jukka Keskitalo and Rev. Pekka Mustakallio from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, to discuss the ecumenical agenda of 2023 and the harvesting of the WCC 11 th assembly, as well a group from the Centre for Ecumenism of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, and 21 ordinands from the Church of Sweden.

The Bishops’ Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland approved the ecumenical policy paper “Doors Open for Unity and Fellowship,” which provides an orientation for the ecumenical work at various levels of church life until 2026.

Thursdays in Black ambassadors play a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Rev. Dr Tapio Luoma is the archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

The Helsinki Orthodox Parish Council has endorsed the Thursdays in Black global campaign for a world free from rape and violence.

Maria Mountraki, a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, also serves as the second vice president of the Helsinki Orthodox Parish Council.

The Europe region of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) elected a new Regional Executive Committee during its once-every-four-years assembly, held as part of as joint seminar organised with the Conference of European Churches (CEC) from 10-12 April in Helsinki and Stockholm.

Rev. Martina V. Kopecká of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church represented the World Council of Churches at a Synod of Bishops (XV Ordinary General Assembly) which met in Rome under the theme “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.”

At WCC’s ecumenical workcamps in the late 1950s, a young Govaert Chr.Kok of the Netherlands would learn lessons for life – and encounter a very special person.

Preaching at the Old Church of Helsinki on 27 September, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit congratulated Finn Church Aid on the occasion of its 70th anniversary, reflecting on the important calling the organization fulfils in stilling hunger and thirst among people in need, not only in a local context, but worldwide.

From Paris to Pakistan, Orlando to Myanmar, Iraq to Nigeria, each day witnesses conflict and violence perpetrated in the name of religion or committed against persons because of their religious identity.

A plenary discussion on support by religious communities for the rights of children, and a first draft of the statement of “principles for child-friendly churches,” captured the imagination of the Central Committee of the WCC on 27 June. The document will now undergo further revision and be resubmitted at the next WCC executive committee meeting.

In the Czech Republic, “HateFree” zones have been established as places for a fair approach toward every person — and expressions of solidarity poured forth from the world this week to help these zones stand strong in the face of vandalism.

To promote open discussions on the theological and practical discourse, narrative and experiences on implications for the work of the multi-religious organizations on religion, violence and extremism, the WCC, along with the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church and the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists held a Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs.

The Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe and the WCC have published a revised and updated edition of their joint study, Mapping Migration: Mapping Churches’ Responses in Europe. The 2016 text explores challenges and changes in the European church landscape in light of international migration.