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A flash mob erupted today in the cafeteria of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. At 12:30 pm people scattered throughout the lunch crowd suddenly left their tables and broke into dance.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and other members of the WCC staff met in New York on 12 February with the United Nations (UN) deputy secretary-general Jan Eliasson. Tveit and Eliasson discussed the many conflicts and divisions around the world, including North and South Korea, the Middle East region, particularly Syria and Israel-Palestine.

To inspire responses and concrete actions for water justice, the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has launched an online compilation of biblical reflections and resources on water for use during Lent.

A staff member of the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA) has been elected as general secretary of the Council of Christian Churches in Angola (CICA). She will be the first woman to serve as general secretary of the CICA, a position she considers an “opportunity to mobilize African churches to do more” in healing HIV affected communities.

The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI has brought words of respect and appreciation from the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

7.02.13

General registration and media accreditation is now open for the World Council of Churches (WCC) 10th Assembly to be held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 30 October to 8 November, 2013.

An international group representing diverse mission organizations recently got together in India to develop tools that can ensure effective implementation of the new mission statement issued last year by the World Council of Churches (WCC).

“Violence begets violence. It is not possible for Syrians to overcome conflict without a political solution, strong democratic institutions and demilitarization of the country,” said Dr Haytham Al-Manna, a prominent Syrian human rights defender and opposition figure, head of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB).

By Marcelo Schneider (*)

Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, newly elected as the 97th Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem and Superior of the Brotherhood of Saint James, has received congratulations and an affirmation of support from Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

[Joint release with the Latin American and Caribbean Agency of Communication (ALC)]

On behalf of the member churches of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has conveyed a€ œsincere condolence to the people and churches of Brazil over the death of more than 230 students who were killed due to fire at a night club in Santa Maria, Brazil on 27 January.

Organized by the Fellowship of Christian Churches in Geneva (RECG), a prayer service was held during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on 23 January at the Ecumenical Centre chapel in Geneva, Switzerland.Â

"The World Council of Churches (WCC) 10th Assembly will be an opportunity for praying, listening and sharing together. The event will provide participants a chance to listen for the voice of God, leading them to justice and peace in the world." These were the words of Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the WCC general secretary, who spoke with the press in Seoul, Republic of Korea on 29 January 2013.

"€œPeace is something radical, something that has to be told - and has to be believed, so that it may become possible," said the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a Sunday evening sermon at the Myung Sung Presbyterian Church in Seoul, Republic of Korea on 27 January 2013.

Justice should not be secondary to peace, and both should go together, according to Dr Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She made her comments in an encounter with the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Drawing on the Indian churches' experience, churches around the world are celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with a particular focus on justice as integral to the unity they seek.

In an inter-religious service organized by the Vatican, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit stressed the importance of "€œexpressions for peace and the mutual respect for the dignity of the other"€.

“It is impossible to speak exclusively for the unity of the church and be indifferent about the unity of humankind,” said Dr Petros Vassiliadis, at an academic gathering held in his honour in Thessaloniki, Greece.