Search results

Through prayers and images on social media cards, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is inviting all people of good will to express their support for the 2024 World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, to be observed 16-22 September.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay joined all those grieving the loss of six hostages whose bodies were recovered from the Gaza Strip on 31 August. 

In a 26 August statement, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem observe that the twelfth month of the devastating war is rapidly approaching, express their grave concerns, and  urge an immediate ceasefire. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed solidarity with a 16 August statement by the Jerusalem Patriarchate reacting to the Israeli police’s decision to ban Christian worshippers from participating in the sacred services of the Feast of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has newly published resources for the 2024 World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, to be observed 16-22 September. This week includes the UN International Day of Peace on 21 September, now in its 25th year.

WCC leadership and ecumenical partners met online on 8 August with Christians based in Bethlehem representing a range of different organizations locally, to hear their testimonies, offer accompaniment and support in these times.

A delegation led by the World Council of Churches (WCC), accompanied by partners from the Middle East Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, and Caritas Internationalis, met online on 7 August with staff from the WCC Jerusalem Liaison Office and with accompaniers from the WCC Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.

Held online on 8 August as part of a pastoral solidarity visit to the Holy Land, an ecumenical delegation met with the Higher Presidential Committee of Churches in Palestine. The session focussed on the current political situation, the need for an end to the ongoing war and seemingly escalating conflict, so that the region may shift into building peace long-term.

The war in Gaza continues, with the number of lives lost growing by the day and with an immanent risk of further escalation of war and conflict across the region. On 7 August, a delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) accompanied by partners from the Middle East Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, and Caritas Internationalis, heard the witness of some of those for whom this war has become a daily reality.  

World Council of Churches moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm and general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met on 7 August with the parents of Layan Nasir, a 24-year-old Palestinian Anglican student held in administrative detention by Israeli authorities – without formal charges – since April 2024. 

A delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) and ecumenical partners including the Middle East Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, and Caritas Internationalis met online with His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and other Heads of Churches in Jerusalem on 7 August.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will hold a digital and pastoral solidarity visit to the Holy Land on 7-8 August – a visit that will serve as an opportunity to accompany member churches and ecumenical partners, listen to their voices and perspectives, amplify their calls, and remind the world of what is needed to bring about peace in the region. 

On 19 July, the International Court of Justice delivered an advisory opinion on Israel’s presence in the Palestinian land occupied since the 1967 war, saying that Israel’s rule in the territory is unlawful.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed grave concern over the recent escalation of violence in the Middle East. “The situation has deteriorated significantly following the attack on Golan Heights, the subsequent Israeli attack in Beirut, and the assassination in Tehran on 30 July,” he said. “These attacks have not only intensified the conflict but have also entailed violations of the sovereignty of multiple nations.”

A pioneering workshop on “Drafting the National Strategy for Managing Religious, Ethnic, and Cultural Diversity in Iraq” was held from July 23-25. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has announced the theme for the 2024 World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, to be observed 16-22 September. This week includes the UN International Day of Peace on 21 September, now in its 25th year.

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.