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The holy places of Haiti were not spared by the devastating January 12th earthquake. Throughout the capital city, Port-au-Prince, many churches are rebuilding out of the rumble.

An ecumenical delegation led by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, will visit Haiti from 14-16 June. The purpose of the visit is to express solidarity with the victims of the 12 January earthquake, offer pastoral accompaniment and reflect on the current challenges the churches are facing as they try to serve the Haitian people.

"To launch together a new beginning for common mission in the 21st century" is the challenge put before participants at an international mission conference taking place in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, from 2-6 June.

Hope and tenacity are essential for the ecumenical movement stated the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit at the Second Ecumenical Kirchentag which took place in Munich, Germany, from 12-16 May.

How Christians living in a rich society deal with the concern for the poor was one of the subjects discussed by participants at a German church convention (Kirchentag) celebrated in Munich, from 12-16 May.

The ACT Alliance, bringing together over 100 church-backed relief and development organizations worldwide, has been formally launched on 24 March with celebrations in Geneva and around the world.

With a new sense of urgency in view of a pandemic that grows exponentially, high level figures from many of the world's faiths have committed to exercise "stronger, more visible and practical leadership" in response to HIV, with an emphasis on eradicating the stigma and discrimination towards those affected.

In an act of solidarity with the 2.5 billion people in the world who do not have access to safe, private and hygienic lavatories, staff members of a number of church-related organizations based at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, including the World Council of Churches (WCC), queued in front of a symbolic "toilet door" for ten minutes on World Water Day, 22 March.

The first-ever Summit of High Level Religious Leaders on HIV and AIDS will be held in Den Dolder, Netherlands, from 22-23 March 2010. It aims to generate greater involvement from religious leaders of many of the world’s faiths in the global response to the pandemic.

A joint response by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (ELKB) and the Roman Catholic dioceses of this southern German state to the document "Called to be the One Church" was given to the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit on 15 March in Geneva, Switzerland.

On International Women's Day, 8 March, ecumenical leaders have urged churches to work to end violence against women in its many forms across the world.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has offered his condolences to the people of Chile, after a powerful earthquake struck along the coastline of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February.

"To be one, the Church must go back to its common basis. Nothing except Jesus Christ, and him crucified", the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has said. The cross is not just a sign of religious identity, he added, but a "reality check" for both the churches and the ecumenical movement.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has urged President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo "to ensure the immediate release" of Dr Alexis Montes and other 42 health workers detained by military and police forces on 6 February. Montes, a physician, is a long-time staff member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed condolences and solidarity with the people of Haiti after the earthquake there and has called for prompt support in the relief efforts.

Proper theological education is of strategic importance for the future of Christianity. So is ecumenical formation for the future of the ecumenical movement, according to a world report on the future of theological education.

By Celia Deane-Drummond (*)

Any solution to the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must engage the whole nation – not just the eastern region where violence is centred, a small ecumenical team visiting the Bas Congo and Kasai Oriental provinces has learned.