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“I have cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia, meaning all of my limbs are severely affected by my cerebral. However, I am not defined by my cerebral palsy. There's much more to me than my cerebral palsy,” Julius Van Der Wat, a member of the Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria, South Africa, told a recent churches’ disability conference in South Africa.

As the World Council of Churches celebrates its 75th anniversary, a series of feature stories from different regions of the world will portray ecumenism at the local level—within churches, communities, and individuals who embody the spirit of ecumenism in unique ways. The feature story below offers a glimpse of some facets of ecumenism present in the Philippines.

Church leaders in the Philippines gathered in an ecumenical memorial service in Manila on 21 September, the 50^th anniversary of the imposition of martial law, to solemnly recall people of faith who were tortured and killed during the brutal regime of president Ferdinand Marcos.

The general secretary-elect of the World Council of Churches (WCC) believes that growing up during a period of conflict and suffering in South Africa will stand him in good stead when he takes up his position as the head of the ecumenical body in January as a leader who believes in dialogue.

In drought-stricken regions in eastern Africa, churches and church congregations continue to pray for rain, as the weather conditions leave millions of people without food, water and pasture for their animals.

While Nelson Mandela, the "beloved Madiba,” was the father of South African democracy, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu was the "spiritual father" of "our new nation,” the president of South Africa said in the main eulogy at a State funeral for the Nobel Peace laureate.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, one of South Africa's most famous persons, has turned 90 with a Eucharist service celebration at Cape Town's St George's Cathedral, receiving an outpouring of love from around the world. Tutu made a rare public appearance on 7 October at the iconic Cape Town cathedral, the site of prayers and protests during the apartheid era, where he attended a special thanksgiving service.

Church leaders in Africa are continuing to call for a peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in northern Ethiopia, as agencies warn of a humanitarian crisis in the region.