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An Ash Wednesday Peace Prayer remembered many of the 115 ongoing armed conflicts around the world. Held at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, the prayer also focused on God continuing to create new life from the ashes of injustice.

Elder Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon passed away on 2 February at the age of 92.

He served as assistant secretary to the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order from November 1967 to September 1970.

At an ecumenical service hosted at St Paul’s Anglican Church by the Barbados Christian Council, those gathered prayerfully explored the symbols of stones and water as “the beginning of a decolonized spiritual practice.”

In a service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, representatives from 25 churches in Geneva drew together in the World Council of Churches chapel on 18 January.

During a prayer on 23 January, World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and partners gathered to observe the sixth day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and to pray with the peoples and churches of Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus.

Aa the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity opened on 18 January, the World Council of Churches staff and partners gathered in a spirit of unity to “Do good; seek justice,” the theme of this year’s special week.

Media coverage of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly—held in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2022—indicated a global interest in how ecumenism can and will address the pressing concerns of the world, including climate change, the war in Ukraine, and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Days before the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins, many across the world are getting ready by accessing the resources prepared by the Minnesota Council of Churches, based in the USA.

As the World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and partners gathered on 9 January, they observed the annual Blessing of the Waters, which  according to Orthodox tradition celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.

Expressing the profound sadness of the World Council of Churches (WCC) following the announcement by the Holy See of the death of His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI today, the WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca stated:

“On behalf of the World Council of Churches, I express our deepest condolences on the passing of late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He was the first pope to have come from a country, Germany, with a roughly equal balance between Protestants and Catholics, and one that had been at the very centre of the 16th century Reformation.”

An international conference entitled “WE BELIEVE: The Status Quaestionis and the Neglected Topics of Nicaea and its Creed” was held in Istanbul on 1-2 December. WIth the theme “The Churches and Nicaea: An Anniversary for New Beginning,” the conference inaugurated a series of scholarly events on the occasion of the forthcoming 1700th anniversary since the convocation of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea.

On 29 November, World Council of Churches (WCC) staff held a farewell prayer for staff members who are retiring or moving on to serve elsewhere, including WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca; WCC deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri; interim deputy general secretary and Faith and Order director Rev. Dr  Odair Pedroso Mateus; Rev. Dr Risto Jukko, director of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism; Diana Chabloz, assistant to the general secretary; and Marc Enzo Bellingoi, project assistant for the Assembly Office.

As the study groups of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission convened this week, the paper “Towards a Global Vision of the Church Volume I: Explorations on Global Christianity and Ecclesiology” was released.