The World Council of Churches, in an intervention before the UN Human Rights Council, called upon the UN to ensure that counter-terrorism laws and practices, including efforts to combat terrorism financing, do not unjustly curtail the legitimate activities of civil society organizations, impede civic space, or hinder humanitarian endeavors in the Philippines.
World Council of Churches (WCC) president for Eastern Orthodox Churches Metropolitan Vasilios of Ammochostos has three-quarters of his diocese on the island of Cyprus under Turkish occupation, but no Christians are still living in the occupied part.
The WCC central committee expressed continuous concern about two significant territorial crises in the eastern Mediterranean: those within Palestine and Israel, and those within Cyprus. “These politically driven conflicts have resulted in illegal occupations that have spanned decades,” reads a minute released by the governing body.
The situation for people in Myanmar—including more than one million ethnic Rohingyas—is increasingly concerning, as expressed in the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee minute.
During the General Debate of the 52nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, National Council of Churches in the Philippines expressed its deep concern over continuing human rights violations in the Philippines.
World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed joy on receiving the news of the election of His Beatitude George III of Cyprus as the Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus.
The World Kachin Congress released a statement expressing deep concern over “the unlawful and arbitrary arrest” of their faith leader, Rev. Dr Hkalam Samson, by the Tatmadaw (Burmese Army).
A joint message signed by World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca and Christian Conference of Asia general secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara expressed grave concern over recent attacks by the Myanmar military on a theological seminary and churches in Kachin and Kayah States.
Ushered into the venue of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, one finds a sanctuary, a safe space under the canopy of yellow leaves. Under the shade of trees with leaves slowly going through the withering process is the springing of hope for a better world engaged in conversations and dialogues that promote life at its fullness.
World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed great concern in the wake of a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the northern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines on 27 July.
An Inter-Orthodox Pre-Assembly held last week affirmed “the utmost importance of love” and a “call for unity, reconciliation, justice, and peace,” according to a communique jointly released from the 50 participants, which included delegates from 20 Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches.
As church bells resounded over Paralimni, Cyprus on Sunday, the congregation gathering at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint George welcomed into their midst representatives of a wide range of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches around the world.
Local host and head of the Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, welcomed members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Inter-Orthodox Pre-Assembly at his residence in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 12 May, the Feast of Saint Epiphanius. The meeting acknowledged contributions from the Church of Cyprus to the ecumenical movement, as well as the aspiration of churches to see a united island, partitioned as result of the Turkish invasion in 1974.
With the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly less than four months away, the Church of Cyprus serves as host as the WCC brings Orthodox churches together for an Inter-Orthodox Pre-Assembly Consultation on 9-16 May.
Orthodox churches convened in Cyprus this week to prepare for the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly, as well as to pray and reflect together on how to keep dialogue open amid the world’s grave challenges.
At a Peace for Life consultation in the Philippines on 18 February, World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri delivered a message from the WCC that focused on peace, justice and human rights.
The World Council of Churches executive committee, in a public statement, expressed grave concern over recurrences of military coups in Myanmar and Sudan.
Rev. Dr Jose Pepito Manansala Cunanan, who served as secretary of the Urban Rural Mission Programme at the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 1986-1989 and executive director of the Commission on Development and Social Concerns at the National Council of Churches in the Philippines from 1990-93, passed away on 12 October.
