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The World Council of Churches (WCC), with the Laudato Si’ Movement and other partners, will cohost a seminar in Assisi, Italy, on 15-16 March. Entitled "The Feast of Creation and the Mystery of Creation: Ecumenism, Theology, Liturgy, and Signs of the Times in Dialogue,” the event aims to deepen the collective understanding and appreciation of the Feast of Creation, observed on 1 September.

The 5th Ecumenical Pilgrimage for Climate Justice from Poland to Glasgow crossed the English Channel from IJmuiden in the Netherlands to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England on 11 October. They were given a warm welcome on site. 

In the lead-up to the UN climate change conference (COP26), to be held 1-12 November in Scotland, churches are strengthening their collective calls for climate action and justice.

The ecumenical Eglise verte (Green church) movement in France held its first assembly of local groups and churches on World Environment Day, 5 June.

A three-day online conference organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Ecumenical and Francophone Seminar on Theology of Ecology, 11-13 February, gathered voices to reflect on the theme “Rethinking Ecological Relationships in the Anthropocene Era.”

Pacific islands experience lasting impacts of the 50 years of nuclear testing and the region has become a global hotspot of climate change, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) learned in its meeting this week in Brisbane, Australia.

Although she loves what she is doing, there are times when bishop Sofie Petersen feels a strong desire to be someplace else than inside her cosy diocesan office in Nuuk, Greenland. Preferably outdoors, inhaling crisp, arctic air in a stunningly beautiful landscape where mighty polar bears roam and huge whales gently plough their way through the ice-scattered waters along the coastline.

The Sant'Egidio community began a “Peace with no borders” conference in Madrid on 15 September, gathering religious leaders from all over the world to address each other on migration, the environment, dialogue and inclusion.

When he was asked last year to take over as vicar in the parish of Ilulissat, on Greenland’s west coast, Loqqi Fleischer was a bit anxious about how the transition from his smaller hometown Uummannaq, further north along the coastline, would work out. Nevertheless, he took on the challenge and was warmly welcomed right away in the new environment.

It is midnight and the sun just about hides for a little while beneath the horizon. The calm sea is scattered with icebergs in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some are like five-story buildings, with vertical sharp-edged walls rising high above the surface. Others are more like snow-capped hilltops, slowly ploughing through the blank water.

In Greenland, travel by either air or boat is the conventional – and only – way of getting from place to place. The distances between populated areas scattered along the rugged coastline of the world’s largest island are long and there are no roads connecting cities and settlements. Neither railways nor inland waterways exist and some rural areas can only be reached by helicopter. In winter, dog-sled is an alternative, particularly in the north and east.

After a large fire broke out on 15 April at the Notre Dame cathedral, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed shock over the damage to one the most famous landmarks in Paris, and the seat of the archbishop of Paris.

The Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI) and others involved in support for migrants on land, at sea and in the skies are strengthening their collaboration.

The humanitarian corridors programme, an ecumenical project developed by the FCEI’s Mediterranean Hope team with the Comunità di Sant’Egidio in 2015 is now in its second phase.

Pilgrims coming from Germany, Italy and Norway ended their journeys for climate justice on 7 December upon arrival at the St Stephen’s Church in Katowice, Poland, where the United Nations (UN) climate conference is underway. They were warmly welcomed by the delegations of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) that are attending the 24th Conference of Parties of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24).

The World Water Council (WWC) held its 8th General Assembly 29 November – 1 December, in Marseille, France. In an interview for WCC Communication, Dinesh Suna, coordinator of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network (WCC-EWN) expressed discontent over the lack of opportunities for participation of the civil society in the structure and work of the WWC.

A “High-Level Dialogue to Assess Progress on and Intensify Commitment To Scaling Up Diagnosis and Treatment of Paediatric HIV” was convened 6-7 December at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Vatican City.

Before the Community of Sant'Egidio in Bologna, Italy, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit spoke on “Poverty and Inequality in a Time of Climate Change.”

WCC News spoke to Rev. Henrik Grape, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Working Group on Climate Justice. He was on his way home after attending an ecumenical gathering in Assisi.