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World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed profound concern over escalating violence in Lebanon and Gaza, and reaffirmed the WCC’s commitment to justice, peace, and the dignity of all peoples. 

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep sadness and grave concern over the escalating violence and attacks on Lebanon. “As followers of Christ and stewards of peace, we reaffirm our commitment to justice and the protection of human dignity and lives,” he said. “We unequivocally condemn the use of violence, particularly in civilian areas, which has caused immense suffering, destruction, and the tragic loss of life.”

Medical doctors working with mobile health units in Gaza operated by the Middle East Council of Churches Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees described the serious needs they are seeing among people who don’t have enough safe water, food, or medicines.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, on behalf of the global fellowship, expressed grave concern regarding the recent escalation of violence in the Middle East following the first direct confrontation between Iran and Israel.

As a year of exceptional and increasing conflict draws to a close, and as we pray for peace for all in 2024, “that prospect seems nowhere more remote than for the suffering and traumatized people of Gaza,” said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay said the WCC is “deeply disturbed” by reports of continuous assaults on the Armenian community and other Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on 8-14 November, released a statement that demands an immediate ceasefire, and the opening of humanitarian corridors in Palestine and Israel. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is standing in solidarity with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which issued a statement on 31 October condemning the Israeli military’s bombardment of the Orthodox Cultural Center in the Tel Al Hawa neighborhood of Gaza.

During a film screening at the World Council of Churches on 4 October, viewers got a deeper understanding of why Palestinians are about to lose one of the last green spaces left for them in the Bethlehem Governorate.

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.

During the 75th commemoration of what Palestinians refer to as the nakba, or “catastrophe”—when hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted during Israel's creation in 1948—World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with member churches in the Holy Land.

During an ecumenical morning prayer held 15 May, the World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and partners observed the UN International Day of Living Together in Peace, holding in prayer many nations across the world facing challenges to living together in harmony.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay received Rev. Dr Munther Isaac, moderator of the Global Kairos for Justice Coalition, and Mr Rifat Odeh Kassis, in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 12 April, to discuss the continued and escalating crisis in Palestine in the light of the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel and the ever-increasing security measures restricting the freedom of Palestinian people.

A Global Peace Prayer on 22 March will draw Christians together in hope for a better future. A communique from a prayer planning committee explained that Christians are called into prayer and advocacy for peace. “In a global context where war and violence abound, the practice of peace has become even more urgent,” reads the message.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay condemned an attack that took place in the Church of Gethsemane in Jerusalem and expressed solidarity with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in calling for international protection of holy sites.

In the wake of a raid by Israeli military forces in which 11 Palestinians were killed, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay condemned the deaths of civilians and called for an end to violence in the West Bank.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep concern about increased violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank. 

On 24 November, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas formally received the acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca for a meeting to discuss just peace in Palestine and Israel.