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The World Council of Churches (WCC) calls on the churches and congregations around the world to observe an International Day of Prayer for Peace on 21 September. The day coincides with the International Day of Peace initiated by the United Nations.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (RABIIT) on 12 July issued a report on their joint commitment to help in resolving the tensions in Nigeria. The report reflects a new Christian-Muslim model of cooperation for peace between religions and further interfaith dialogue.

By Naveen Qayyum (*)

World Council of Churches (WCC) participants in the Rio+20 Conference have joined a broad religious coalition in rejecting the official outcome document of the United Nations-sponsored event.

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), has appealed to United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, requesting that the UN give “a stronger and clearer mandate” to Kofi Annan’s initiative for peace in Syria.

In a brief letter of congratulations to Dr Mohamed Morsi, the newly elected president of Egypt , the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, said the WCC has “great admiration for the courage of the younger generation which peacefully led a popular movement seeking democracy and freedom, social justice and equality in citizenship,” resulting in Morsi’s election.

The general secretaries of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) have expressed their shock and profound concern following the demolition of an Episcopal parish church in Khartoum on orders of Sudanese government authorities.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has been playing an active role in the two major events that are taking place in Rio from 12 to 23 June: the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio+20, and the People’s Summit.

“The growing church in the People’s Republic of China today presents four characteristics: independent and autonomous, post-denominational, fast growing and faced with lots of challenges and emerging difficulties,” said the Rev. Gao Feng, president of the China Christian Council (CCC), in a speech in China on 14 June.

"€œDiakonia is an essential ecclesial function. It must be prophetic and transformative. It cannot be opted only in convenient forms,"€ asserted participants of a World Council of Churches (WCC) conference, reflecting on "€œTheology of Diakonia for the 21st Century"€. The event took place from 2 to 6 June in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

With one month until governments negotiate the first global arms trade treaty, churches from countries most affected by unregulated trade in arms gathered from 29-31 May in Cape Town, South Africa, to make final advocacy plans.

In a public hearing at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, church activists from the Philippines criticized the Aquino government for not being able to improve the situation regarding human rights violations, citing an increased number of victims of extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, as well as evictions in the country. Â

A high-level international delegation of Christian and Muslim leaders issued a joint statement at the end of their visit to Nigeria on 25 May, expressing hope for their “visit to demonstrate an international model of Muslims and Christians working together in inter-religious engagement aimed at fostering peace and harmony between people of different religions.”

In a recent statement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has condemned the violence occurring in Syria, expressed solidarity with the victims, and invoked prayers for peace in the country.

An inter-religious delegation of senior Muslim and Christian leaders has begun a fact-finding visit to Nigeria on 22 May, where in recent months an increase in violence has threatened relations between the two religious communities in Northern Nigeria.

By Marcelo Schneider (*)

By Marcelo Schneider (*)

By Marcelo Schneider (*)

Following armed attacks Sunday on Christian churches in Kano and Maiduguri, Nigeria, and in Nairobi, Kenya, leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have called for people of faith to support afflicted believers through prayer and solidarity.

"The fellowship in the church should always be a sign of the empathy of God, with everyone who is suffering, groaning, longing for relief," said the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in his keynote presentation at the 27th Quadrennial Assembly of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI).