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The Middle East Council of Churches, based in Beirut, Lebanon, has been the convener for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2022 drafting group. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican have now published the material in several languages.

The World Association for Christian Communication is creating a rapid response fund to help support grassroots community media outlets that provide accurate, trusted coronavirus-related information to vulnerable people who often cannot access mainstream media. Individuals and organisations are encouraged to contribute to the fund.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Christian Conference of Asia held a regional con-sultation on “Evangelism and Missional Witness in a Multi-religious Asia” from 29 November to 5 December. Convening in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the gathering explored evangelism as an effective means to extend and spread the good news. The WCC and the Christian Conference of Asia have a long his-tory and tradition of being deeply involved in mission and evangelism through different program-matic areas.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Christian Conference of Asia have announced a regional consultation on “Evangelism and Missional Witness in a Multi-religious Asia” from 29 November to 5 December. Convening in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the gathering will explore evangelism as an effective means to extend and spread the good news.

Dealing with people on the move is crucial to the work of the Church in the 21st century says Greek Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia and Filadelfia. More than 31,000 irregular migrants arrived in Greece by sea in 2018 and almost 17,000 arrived by land, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

WCC News met with the Very Reverend Archimandrite Dr Alexi Chehadeh, who leads the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East in Damascus, Syria. He is an impressive role model and peacemaker in Syria.

In a recent interview for Christian Conference of Asia News, four ecumenists from regional and international conciliar fellowships from Asia, North America and the WCC, responded to questions about the role and challenges of ecumenical councils and the importance of conciliar unity in a changing ecumenical and ecclesial context.

“I didn’t have any document that says who I am, so I started to look for answers that would help me to understand the real definition of my condition as a stateless person”, said Maha Mamo in a video interview published by World Council of Churches communications.

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.

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.

On 27 March, a hug between a 7-year-old girl, Majida, and her grandmother reflected the bright light of possibility that the ecumenical Humanitarian Corridors project continues to bring to refugees arriving in Italy. The child was waiting with other family members at the Fiumicino Airport in Rome as her grandmother arrived, safely and legally, in Italy from Lebanon.

On 20 March the unique program aiming to empower Syrian-Armenian youth who escaped the ongoing conflict in Syria and settled in Armenia was launched in Yerevan. Through training, capacity building and joint activities, the project aims to deepen the relations between Syrian and local Armenian youth.

During the 29 years Virgine Nasrawi has worked in the Talbiah refugee camp, located 40 kilometers south of Amman, the Jordanian capital, she has witnessed many changes. And the sudden influx of refugees from neighbouring Syria, caused by the devastating civil war in that country, is the most dramatic.

The Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, Conference of European Churches and World Council of Churches sent a letter to member churches and partner organizations in Europe urging them to undertake increased advocacy for more refugee resettlement with their national governments and parliaments in the next weeks.

David Bradwell of Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees has been on a mission for the past six months trying to raise awareness on what individuals and churches can do to help those fleeing conflicts and wars.

Negotiations should end the conflict and bring political transition in Syria, urged the World Council of Churches and Pax Christi International in a joint statement issued 15 March.

The World Council of Churches announced its support of a joint appeal for humanitarian access in Syria initiated by the Norwegian Refugee Council and UNICEF, and signed by dozens of humanitarian agencies worldwide.

“They have arrived with their few belongings, full of fear and hope,” observes Dr Paolo Naso, as he watches 93 Syrian immigrants — 41 of them children — step off a plane that came from Beirut on 29 February.

“We should be learning from our mistakes, and exposing the systems that are not performing well,” says Pauliina Parhiala, director and chief operating officer of the ACT Alliance, a coalition of 137 churches and faith-based organizations serving internationally in humanitarian, advocacy and development work.

Participants in a recent conference on the refugee crisis in Europe, hosted by the WCC, said they felt energized by the reports from a multitude of activities undertaken by churches from Lebanon to Finland through Serbia, Greece and Germany.