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WCC News met with the Very Reverend Archimandrite Dr Alexi Chehadeh, who leads the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East in Damascus, Syria. He is an impressive role model and peacemaker in Syria.

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit hosted a lunch on 12 December in gratitude to the services rendered by the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura at the Château de Bossey with ambassador Heidi Grau, Head of the human security division at the Swiss FDFA, and the UN and WCC teams on Syria.

“I didn’t have any document that says who I am, so I started to look for answers that would help me to understand the real definition of my condition as a stateless person”, said Maha Mamo in a video interview published by World Council of Churches communications.

Last week the 2,000-day mark since the abduction of two Syrian archbishops was passed. Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi haven’t been heard from since gunmen kidnapped them outside Aleppo in April 2013, almost five and a half years ago.

At a global conference on xenophobia in Rome, a panel of four religious leaders from, respectively, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic traditions, spoke candidly about how xenophobia can sometimes be woven deeply into the fabric of these traditions.

Representing hope in the face of adversity, the Antioch Syrian University opened its doors on 8 September in Ma’arat Sednaya, about 20 km from Damascus.

World Council of Churches leaders spoke on the theme “Hospitality: On a Pilgrim’s Way of Justice and Peace" at a symposium on 23 August at the Protestant Theological University Amsterdam.

His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, concluded a maiden apostolic visit to the Sultanate of Oman. The highlight of the five-day visit was the consecration of the new church, Mor Shmouni, in Ghala, Muscat, Oman, on 10 May.

On 27 March, a hug between a 7-year-old girl, Majida, and her grandmother reflected the bright light of possibility that the ecumenical Humanitarian Corridors project continues to bring to refugees arriving in Italy. The child was waiting with other family members at the Fiumicino Airport in Rome as her grandmother arrived, safely and legally, in Italy from Lebanon.

In a 26 February statement, the WCC expressed its dismay at the dramatic escalation of military actions against civilians in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, Syria.

Two churches in North America have issued a joint Holy Week message lamenting that the Middle East remains marked by tragedy, while noting events in Egypt and Syria, but rejoicing in the hope that the resurrection of Jesus brings.

Responding to overnight missile attacks on a Syrian air force base by U.S. forces, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit on 7 April urged all parties in the conflict to cease hostilities and commit to peaceful negotiations toward a transitional governance within the framework of international law.

In the wake of news reports relaying an horrific chemical weapons attack in the Idlib Governance of Syria, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called for a cultural shift in the region as he expressed deep sympathy to the families of the victims.

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit joined other speakers at a side event of the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council on 7 March. The speakers, which also included Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Department of External Church Relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, addressed the topic of “Mutual Respect and Peaceful Coexistence as a Condition of Interreligious Peace and Stability: Supporting Christians and Other Communities.”

How will Christmas 2016 be in the Middle East? Two Christians, one refugee mother in Lebanon and one pastor in Qamishli in northeast Syria, tell how difficult the message of Jesus’ birth becomes in times of war and unrest.

The ecumenical dialogue between churches has a long and fruitful history. But since war and terrorism are threatening the existence of churches in the Middle East, Christians of this region feel more and more neglected by their Western partners.

Father Emanuel Youkhana rues that, for the third Christmas in a row, the church bells will not ring in Mosul. He recounts that, around June 2014, the numerical religious minorities such as Yazidis and Christians around Iraq’s second biggest city began to face a horrific onslaught by the group calling itself IS (Islamic State), or Daesh in Arabic.

Analyzing efforts to protect religious communities and groups and build peace in Syria and Iraq, the WCC and Norwegian Church Aid presented a joint study on protection needs of religious and ethnic minorities in Syria and Iraq. The findings were announced on 12 December to the media and public at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit urged an immediate cessation of airstrikes and bombardments on Aleppo. The conflict in Aleppo, Syria, has intensified in recent months, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the city.

The story shared by Fr Yakoub Babawe of the Oum-El-Nour Relief Committee of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Iraq’s city of Erbil moved and challenged participants at a recent meeting in Beirut.