Search results

The Christian Conference of Asia is organizing a two-week Institute on Human Rights, which began 17 May, offering participants from Asian countries an opportunity to explore the theme “Being Defenders of Human Rights and Human Dignity.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee is inviting the ecumenical fellowship and all people of good will to join in a live-streamed prayer for the Holy Land on 20 May at 16:30 CET.

A webinar scheduled for 27 May and entitled “Change in Moral Teaching – Exploring Continuity and Discontinuity,” will examine concrete historic examples where churches have modified or changed their understanding of a specific moral issue.

As the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee meeting opened online on 17 May, moderator of the WCC central committee Dr Agnes Abuom took time to offer a very personal thank-you to the WCC leaders and fellowship surrounding her with care and prayers.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly planned for 2022 in Germany is an opportunity to confront past injustice and trauma and to work for reconciliation and unity, according to the moderator of the WCC central committee, Dr Agnes Abuom.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee will convene from 17-20 May, and if needed on 25 May, with a focus on preparing for the upcoming WCC central committee meeting, planning for the WCC 11th Assembly in Germany in 2022, and issuing a public statement on overcoming global injustice and inequity to defeat COVID-19.

After family members of a DanChurchAid employee were killed in Gaza during the current hostilities, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent a letter of condolence to both DanChurchAid and Norwegian Church Aid, WCC partner organizations that have been working in Gaza since the early 1950s.

Originally planned to gather tens of thousands of participants in Frankfurt but reshaped as a “digital and decentralized” event because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany’s third Ecumenical Kirchentag (church convention) has opened with a call for a Christians to overcome their divisions.

His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, in a statement, condemned the violence practiced against civilians in East Jerusalem, especially in the Holy Sanctuary of Al Aqsa mosque and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

His Eminence the Most Rev. Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan (Metropolitan Emeritus) of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, passed away on the 5 May in Kerala, India. He was 104 years old. Churches and the global ecumenical community are celebrating a remarkable life, lived in full, in service of God and humanity with holiness, humility, humour and helpfulness. His funeral will be held on 6 May.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) shared a congratulatory message with the Global Christian Forum on the forum’s upcoming third anniversary of its global gathering in Bogota, and the publication of the record of that event.

In a message for Pentecost, World Council of Churches regional presidents reflect on the first vision of Pentecost undimmed by hesitation, fear or apathy.  “It augured a new heaven and a new earth,” their message reads. “In the intervening centuries, has that Pentecostal vision narrowed?”

The Bishops’ Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland approved the ecumenical policy paper “Doors Open for Unity and Fellowship,” which provides an orientation for the ecumenical work at various levels of church life until 2026.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent greetings to the 22nd Baptist World Congress, convening virtually this year under the theme “Together.”

Essays by five young theologians representing different church traditions have been chosen as the winning entries in an essay writing competition organised to mark the 50th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Office of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation. Chosen by an international panel of judges from the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey and the WCC, the essays cover a range of themes and perspectives related to the topic of the competition, “The Future of Interreligious Dialogue.”

Extraordinary efforts to develop vaccines against COVID-19 and roll out mass vaccination programmes provide hope to millions of people around the globe. Throughout the pandemic, public health organizations have collaborated closely with non-government- and faith-based organizations. That has made a difference, both in getting factual information about vaccines across to the public, and in encouraging people to act in solidarity by getting vaccinated.    

 

During a multilateral dialogue on Fratelli tutti, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca spoke on “Fraternity, Interreligious Dialogue and Social Justice.”

He joined religious leaders as well as representatives from the UN, International Labour Organization, World Health Organization, and International Red Cross on 15 April for the online event. He spoke on a panel with representatives from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Royal Institute of Interfaith Studies, and Latin American Rabbinical Seminary of the Conservative Movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina.