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The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee, meeting in Cyprus, an island that is still suffering from the consequences of unresolved conflict, expressed in a statement deep concern over the scars of division, dispossession, and displacement that remain unhealed.

World Council of Churches (WCC) moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, in his report to the WCC executive committee, posed complex questions and reasons for hope.

In a report to the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay reflected that, particularly during the past several months, his focus has been to lift the profile of the WCC. “I believe that this is being achieved in major proportions,” he said. “I am also grateful that many of the invitations that come my way are also graciously funded by the inviters and this certainly helps our budget constraints, especially when the requests for the general secretary’s presence are so numerous.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee convenes in Paralimni, Cyprus, from 21-26 November to focus on planning for 2025, including the budget and implementation of WCC strategies.

The WCC central committee expressed continuous concern about two significant territorial crises in the eastern Mediterranean: those within Palestine and Israel, and those within Cyprus. “These politically driven conflicts have resulted in illegal occupations that have spanned decades,” reads a minute released by the governing body.

Archbishop Chrysostomos II, head of the Church of Cyprus died on 7 November at age 81 after a long battle with cancer.

An Inter-Orthodox Pre-Assembly held last week affirmed “the utmost importance of love” and a “call for unity, reconciliation, justice, and peace,” according to a communique jointly released from the 50 participants, which included delegates from 20 Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches.

Local host and head of the Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, welcomed members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Inter-Orthodox Pre-Assembly at his residence in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 12 May, the Feast of Saint Epiphanius. The meeting acknowledged contributions from the Church of Cyprus to the ecumenical movement, as well as the aspiration of churches to see a united island, partitioned as result of the Turkish invasion in 1974.

Orthodox churches convened in Cyprus this week to prepare for the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly, as well as to pray and reflect together on how to keep dialogue open amid the world’s grave challenges.

It has been 46 years since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus led to the partitioning of the island, the northern third inhabited by Turkish Cypriots and the southern two-thirds by Greek Cypriots, whose government is internationally recognized. The August 1974 ceasefire line became a United Nations buffer zone, along which Cyprus remains divided.

Upon completion of a meeting in Cyprus on 21-22 January, the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches released a statement by members who came from Cyprus, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine.

Salpy Eskidjian Weiderud, leader of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process, received an International Religious Freedom Award from the US Department of State on 17 July. She paused to speak with WCC Communication with a word about what has inspired her life’s work for peace.

Salpy Eskidjian Weiderud, leader of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process, has received an International Religious Freedom Award from the US Department of State. The awards “honor extraordinary advocates of religious freedom from around the world” and will be presented on 17 July in Washington, D.C.

“Help solve the problems of refugees and for the Mediterranean Sea to cease being a graveyard for innocent people,” urges Archbishop Chrysostomos II of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, in a compelling video message release by the Office of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process.