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A group of Palestinian Christians representing a variety of churches and church-related organizations have issued an animated and prayerful call for an end to occupation of Palestine by Israel.

An international ecumenical delegation visiting Turkey at the end of November has encouraged the country's authorities to improve the situation of religious minorities. The exercise of religious freedom, the legal status of churches, including property issues, and the right to religious education were on the agenda.

Proper theological education is of strategic importance for the future of Christianity. So is ecumenical formation for the future of the ecumenical movement, according to a world report on the future of theological education.

The Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has honoured the memory of Lesslie Newbigin on the eve of what would have been the late bishop's 100th birthday. In the final Ecumenical Centre chapel sermon he will preach prior to the end of his term as WCC general secretary, Dr Kobia celebrated Newbigin as "an admirable ecumenist" with an "enthusiasm for crossing cultural boundaries". The author of such works as "Can the West be Saved?", "The Other Side of 1984" and "The Gospel in a Pluralist Society", Newbigin is widely read and admired in ecumenical and evangelical circles.

Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania , leader of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania and one of the eight presidents of the World Council of Churches, met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on 4 December 2009.

"Water should be for everybody, because it is the blood of Mother Earth." These were the words of Peruvian Congresswoman María Sumire during her speech at the conference on "Water for Life and Creation", held in Lima, Peru, 23-25 November.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Global Ecumenical Network on Migration (GEM) has welcomed a year-long campaign by European churches aimed at granting long-term resident permits to foreigners after five years of legal stay.

By Patrick Franks and Miranda Rosoux (*)

The library of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva was renamed the Philip A. Potter Library on Friday in honour of the third general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

On the International Day for the Eradication of Violence against Women, 25 November, the World Council of Churches (WCC) announced a series of Lenten study resources for congregations and individuals who want to do their bit to end violence against women.

By Mark Beach (*)

"Telling Peace" is a collection of liturgical resources for the four Sundays of Advent. It is the second in a series of collections from different regions of the world, prepared in the framework of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation 2011 .

Churches and other ecumenical partners of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have received an appeal to "mobilize their members and the public" in resistance to Israel's approval for the construction of 900 new housing units in the Gilo settlement on traditionally Palestinian land in East Jerusalem. The WCC general secretary, the Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, called on organizations related to the Council "to act with resolve, in concert," with the intention "to reverse this decision of the Israeli government and the settlement programme it represents."

By Mark Beach (*)

By Celia Deane-Drummond (*)

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has asked the United Nations secretary-general to make sure that recommendations of a key report about war crimes committed during the conflict between Israeli and Palestinian armed forces in Gaza at the beginning of 2009 are properly followed up.

By Walter Altmann (*)

"Profound sorrow" and "most sincere condolences" for the passing away of Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, the spiritual leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church, were expressed by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia. Patriarch Pavle died on Sunday, 15 November, at the age of 95.

As nations are spelling out their bargaining positions for the negotiations on a new international climate deal to take place in Copenhagen next month, churches around the world are trying to ring home the message that climate protection is an ethical and spiritual issue.