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After recent reports of widespread violent demonstrations in Addis-Ababa and other parts of Ethiopia, local church leaders and members of the WCC joined in a call for peaceful dialogue and restraint on all sides.

The African continent bears witness to the tragic consequences of the manipulation of religion to incite violence. Yet it is also the home of untold instances of the power of religious leaders and actors to exert a positive influence, said panellists at an international meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today.

Deeply concerned for migrants in many regions, especially those “driven to undertake journeys of desperate risk and danger”, the WCC Executive Committee has declared: “All members of the international community have a moral and legal duty to save the lives of those in jeopardy at sea or in transit, regardless of their origin and status.”

A prayer service paying tribute to the Ethiopian Christians killed by the Islamic State last week was organized in Geneva, Switzerland, by the WCC and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

In a solidarity letter to Abune Mathias, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a member church of the WCC, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the WCC general secretary expressed deep shock over the recent killing of more than 20 Ethiopian Christians in Libya by the so called Islamic State.

The WCC in collaboration with the South Sudan Council of Churches convened church leaders for a special consultation on the South Sudan Peace Process in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Church leaders from South Sudan are arriving in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, all set to take part in the start of negotiations between South Sudan's president Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar. The negotiations aim to find solutions for the world’s newest nation, reeling from violence since last year that has left thousands dead and millions homeless.

Member churches of the WCC in South Sudan say “we are tired of war”, stressing the urgency to “work for peace and rebuild what has been destroyed”.