Search results

Residents of Divonne, France approached the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Water Network to help them stop a proposed plant for bottled water in Divonne, which is situated on the border with French-speaking Switzerland, between the foot of the Jura mountains and Lake Geneva.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC ) have met formally on 25-27 June in Paris.

This meeting, under the theme “The normalization of hatred: challenges for Jews and Christians today,” took place at a time of challenges both to religious life in general and to each of our communities in their various contexts,” reads a communique released by the two groups.

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 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.

“Mission is not an action or activity we can choose. It is an expression of daily life. It belongs to the whole church and is not the function of just a few or of an agency,” says Father Ioan Sauca, deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches.

More than 220 church leaders representing over 20 churches from Belgium, France, Luxemburg and Switzerland are meeting from 27-31 October in the French city of Lyon for the first Francophone Christian Forum.

A nine-year long process by a Lutheran-Roman Catholic Study Commission on Unity has closed its work with a meeting in Klingenthal, France from 18-24 July, with the intention of producing a study report.

The 2018 Ecumenical Jury recognized two films in the Cannes Film Festival. The first, “Capharnaum,” by Nadine Labaki from Lebanon, portrays women and children, immigrants and outcasts, who have shown by their perseverance and ingenuity, love and courage, the full possibility of the human spirit.

The Council of Christian Churches in France (CÉCEF) is encouraging local churches to support a recently created Green Church environmental certification label, asking that offerings made at ecumenical services during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity go to help finance the initiative.

Young adults from more than 60 countries gathered in Basel for the 40th annual Taizé European Meeting of Young Adults from 28 December - 1 January. As part of a new stage of the Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth, the meeting took place for the first time in a tri-national region (Switzerland, Germany, France).

A group of Protestant pilgrims are exercising their legs in an untypical fashion these days: by stepping in the pedals. Their 14-day Bike Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace winds along both sides of the Rhine from Constance to Worms.

Not nearly enough is being done to save the lives of the 20 million people who face famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria. Among them are 1.4 million children, who are at imminent risk of death unless aid reaches them immediately.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will participate in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the enthronement of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, organized by the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, 22-24 April 2017. His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, will be delivering a public lecture at the WCC on 24 April, at 12:00. H.A.H. Bartholomew will address issues concerning the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church -that was held last year in Crete, Greece-, the contemporary environmental challenges and the protection of children rights.

The Taizé religious community from the east of France is meeting over the New Year’s period in Riga, Latvia and world church leaders from many traditions have bestowed greetings of hope on its annual gathering.

An elderly French priest celebrating Mass was taken hostage, along with two nuns and several laypersons, today in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray and killed before two hostage-takers’ themselves were killed in confrontation with police, the French interior ministry reported today.

The WCC acting general secretary, Georges Lemopoulos, has called for prayer and acts of common caring following a murderous attack on holiday makers in the southern French city of Nice.

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.

French President François Hollande praised Protestant churches and organizations for their work in areas such as health, social inclusion and support for refugees and migrants during a meeting on 13 April at the presidential Elysée Palace with 300 Protestant leaders and representatives.

The Faith and Order Commission’s convergence text “The Church: Towards a Common Vision” continues to be discussed by churches on a journey toward revealing the unity of the church and how it is inextricably bound on a pilgrimage of justice and peace.

Two major crises have marked the months since the WCC called Katalina Tahaafe-Williams to work in Geneva on its migration, indigenous, and multicultural ministry programmes. When she took up the job in October, the European refugee crisis was in full flow. Then in November, terrorists attacked Paris.