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The world faces a global crisis on food exacerbated and brought to the fore by the war in Ukraine, but humanity can and must take remedial steps in economic and climate justice, a World Council of Churches-led meeting has heard.

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. 

As wildfires continue to rage in Greece, the USA, Albania, and Russia, the World Council of Churches (WCC) reached out in solidarity to churches and communities that continue to be evacuated as well as those who have lost everything. 

Virag Kinga Mezei is a Hungarian intern for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. With a passion for human rights, she regularly engages in discussions while also getting training through the WCC on mechanisms that lead to the achievement of racial and social justice.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) continues its mission of being a platform for churches to come together, to understand each other better and to work together for the good of their societies, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches during a meeting with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church on 30 January.

The World Association for Christian Communication – Europe Region (WACC Europe) is embarking on a one-year project to identify and promote strategies to counter online hate speech focused on refugees and migrants.

At the 28th FilmFestival Cottbus - Festival of East European Cinema, held 6-11 November, the film “Ayka” won an Interfilm award for giving a face to the faceless and helping the audience discover the sufferings of the marginalized.

At a global conference on xenophobia in Rome, a panel of four religious leaders from, respectively, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic traditions, spoke candidly about how xenophobia can sometimes be woven deeply into the fabric of these traditions.

His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, met with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on 31 August at the Phanar, home to the patriarchate in Istanbul, to discuss matters of inter-Orthodox concern.

World Council of Churches leaders spoke on the theme “Hospitality: On a Pilgrim’s Way of Justice and Peace" at a symposium on 23 August at the Protestant Theological University Amsterdam.

Friday evening when the leaders of the G20 states will be meeting in Hamburg and discussing global economic, social, environmental and political issues, the churches in Germany are inviting people in Germany and all over the world to a common peace prayer.

Increasingly, the unity of the church is threatened by different positions on moral issues. In response to this, the Faith and Order Commission of the WCC continues to study how churches arrive at the ethical decisions they make.

Today, 20 June, is World Refugee Day. The United Nations estimates that every minute 8 people flee from war, persecution, or terror. This day is observed to bring attention to their collective struggle and to address the widespread global displacement of millions of people.

A celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, called the “European Reformation Roadmap,” will begin in November 2016 in Geneva, then tour across sites of significance through May 2017.

The Protestant Church in the Netherlands faces a challenge to be the church "in an authentic way,” says Dr Arjan Plaisier, secretary of the general synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.

Representatives of different Christian traditions will analyze the challenges to mission in secularized contexts during a seminar 22-26 February in Hungary.

Following the WCC/UN High Level Conference on the Refugee Crisis in Europe, which took place at the Ecumenical Centre Geneva on 18-19 January, a statement has been issued entitled "Europe’s Response to the Refuge Crisis, From Origin to Transit, Reception and Refuge, A Call for Shared Responsibility and Coordinated Action”.

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.