Bringing together representatives from the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Joint Working Group between the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church met online on 21 February for its first executive meeting.
With a focus on the legacy of nuclear testing and climate change, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is planning a pilgrimage visit to the Marshall Islands on 16-24 November.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay sent joyful greetings from the global fellowship to Cardinal-elect Pierrbattista Pizzaballa’s nomination by His Holiness Pope Francis.
In his first address after his election on 19 April 2005, Pope Benedict XVI pledged to work for the full and visible unity of all of Christ’s followers, Dr Stephen G. Brown, editor of the World Council of Churches journal The Ecumenical Review, has recalled in an address to a symposium in Dublin.
World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay extended sincere birthday congratulations to Cardinal Walter Kasper, expressing gratitude for the cardinal’s tireless service for Christian unity, particularly for his leadership role in the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
The Dicastery for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue is hosting a conference in Rome on the importance of women building a culture of interreligious encounter.
The World Council of Churches and Globethics.net have co-published four new books on different facets of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace. Harvesting the insights from the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace process and visits from the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, this series focuses on a number of geographic and thematic areas.
The World Council of Churches invites the global fellowship and all people of good will to join, on 15 August, a prayer for peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.
On 20 May 2022, a group of us, 14 pilgrims from different parts of the world (Kenya, Brussels, Germany, Hong Kong, Philippines, Poland, Rome, Korea, Canada, Fiji, Australia, London, Scotland, and Geneva—a very diverse group) gathered in Palermo, Italy for a Pilgrim Team Visit on the theme of migration.
After the recent war and its impact on the whole of Armenia and particularly in the region of Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh, some pilgrims from the fellowship of the World Council of Churches (WCC) visited Armenia from 27 May to June 1.
From 31 May to 3 June, representatives from the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace Reference Group, Working Group on Climate Change, and the Young People in the Ecumenical Movement of the World Council of Churches formed a Pilgrim Team Visit to indigenous Sami communities in the south of Norway.
As a group of three laureates of the “National Human Rights Award in Colombia” engaged in meetings with diplomats and United Nations representatives in Geneva, a tray lunch event was organized on 8 June at the Ecumenical Centre by the World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance to offer the delegation the opportunity to share about the deterioration of the peace process in the country and the importance of international solidarity.
A newly released volume, “Transformative Spiritualities for the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace,” provides a selection of reflections from indigenous perspectives to women’s voices, from black communities ́ to campesino/as ́ struggles, from specific Christian traditions to sister faiths.
In a statement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee affirmed its support for the churches of Sudan in their witness and ministry. The statement welcomed an ecumenical solidarity visit to Sudan on 20-25 April undertaken jointly by the WCC, All Africa Conference of Churches, and Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa.
Three World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrim Team Visits, one to Italy, a second to Armenia and a third to Norway, are continuing the WCC’s accompaniment for communities in their quest for justice and peace under the theme of “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,” through the lenses of post-war trauma healing, gender justice, and migration.
Rev. Dr Hyunju Bae represents the Presbyterian Church of Korea on the World Council of Churches central and executive committees and serves on the WCC Gender Advisory Group. She is a former professor of New Testament Studies at the Busan Presbyterian University, Republic of Korea, and now a co-president of the Korea Christian Environmental Movement Solidarity for Integrity of Creation. Below, she reflects on a recent prayer vigil for peace, as well as other ecumenical activities in South Korea.
The Central Mediterranean route is the overseas crossing from North Africa to Italy. Those migrating on this route generally aim to reach Italian shores but leave from a variety of North African countries bordering the Mediterranean. Though in past years most migrants have departed from Libya, which is a destination for migrants as well as a transit country, there is also a proportionally small but growing number of departures from Tunisia, Egypt, and Algeria.
Rich examples of the work promoted by member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Italy in assisting refugees and migrants, have been the highlight of the first days of WCC delegation visit to the region this week.
The majority of the initiatives visited are led by women.
For each assembly, the central committee submits an accountability report, describing and offering an assessment of the activities of the WCC between the assemblies; in this case, since the 10th Assembly, in Busan, Republic of Korea, in late 2013.