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Bethlehem and its basilica are signs of hope, not just to one community or church, but to the whole human family, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem and All Palestine told a gathering at the World Council of Churches in Geneva.

As the “Bethlehem Reborn – Palestine – The Wonders of the Nativity” exhibit was carefully installed at the Ecumenical Centre over the weekend, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is anticipating the official opening ceremony on 12 September.

On 28th August, during a visit with Ambassador Andranik Hovhannisyan, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the UN Office, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with those making efforts to lift the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by reopening the Lachin corridor.

Forty retired World Council of Churches (WCC) staff gathered at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey on 22 August to celebrate the WCC’s 75th anniversary and to receive greetings and reflections from WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay.

After thousands of Orthodox Christians were denied access to Mount Tabor, in the Lower Galilee—site of the transfiguration of Jesus—World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed concern about the infringement on religious freedom in the Holy Land.

An ecumenical team from Burkina Faso facilitated by the local Chemin Neuf Community has been the convener for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024 drafting group. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican have now published the material in several languages.

Vandalism targeting churches, cemeteries, and Christian properties in addition to physical and verbal abuse against Christian clergy have increased in the past months in the Holy Land, amid ongoing political tensions within Israeli society.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is calling on Azerbaijan for the immediate lifting of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, as more than 120,000 people—including 30,000 children—are suffering under an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.

Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, Mission of Palestine to Switzerland; Ambassador Dr Omar Awadallah,  assistant minister for United Nations and Specialized Organizations;  and Doa Nofal, second secretary at the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 6 July to discuss the current situation in Palestine.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is planning a year of activities in 2025 to mark the 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325, a key moment in the history of Christian faith and for the ecumenical journey today.

Resources—including reflections, prayers, and more—are now available to help churches and all people of good will to observe the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel from 16-23 September 2023.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay called for an end to the Israeli military’s assault in Jenin.  The WCC condemns the assault and calls for the cessation of all violence in the West Bank including that from Israeli settlers.