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Relations between Catholics and Protestants at the local level in East Indonesia are not as complex as talking about dogma at higher church levels, says a pastor from the Protestant Church in Maluku.

A book published this month by the World Council of Churches (WCC) offers reflections by Christians about what it means to be involved in efforts to contribute to peace and justice initiatives in their home context.

“I will pray for you, that the Lord will accompany you at every step, particularly on the journey of ecumenism.” With these words, spoken at the close of the liturgy with 30,000 people in the convention hall of Palexpo, Pope Francis ended his daylong Ecumenical Pilgrimage to Geneva and offered a strong encouragement to the Catholic community in Switzerland to live ecumenically with the faithful of other denominations.

To mark the visit of Pope Francis to the WCC on 21 June, a special online “Virtual Issue” of the WCC’s quarterly journal, The Ecumenical Review, is offering a set of articles about relationships between the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church.

Korea’s Christian leaders have urged Catholics to work together with the WCC to help bring peace and reconciliation to their country. Rev. Dr Sang Chang, president of WCC’s Asia region, and Rev. Dr Lee Hong-jeong, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) were speaking as Pope Francis visited the headquarters of the ecumenical movement in Geneva to mark the WCC’s 70th anniversary.

Pope Francis has praised the ecumenical atmosphere of his visit to Geneva to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and has said work by churches for peace is a mandate from God in a world threatened by crises.

Pope Francis and leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC) exchanged gifts at a simple open-air ceremony in the garden of the WCC’s Ecumenical Institute at Bossey near Geneva, during the pontiff’s one-day visit to Switzerland to celebrate the WCC’s 70th anniversary.

When asked to talk about her story of faith, Rev. Dr Sang Chang doesn’t hesitate for a moment. The president of the Asia region of the World Council of Churches (WCC) is eager to tell how her faith has supported her career as a theologian, academic, advocate for women’s rights, and South Korea’s first female acting prime minister.

A young Samoan Methodist who had a role in the prayer service with Pope Francis during the pontiff’s visit to the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva says it is significant that young people were chosen to read prayers and messages.

Pope Francis joined the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the moderator of its Central Committee at an ecumenical meeting during his landmark 21 June visit to the WCC to celebrate its 70th anniversary at an ecumenical meeting in Geneva.

Losing his hearing and speaking ability as a young man has not deterred Kenyan Karim Okiki in his wood carving, and a symbolic sculpted cross he presented to Pope Francis on his visit to the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva represents people with disabilities everywhere.
“I would like this cross to speak to Pope Francis and the churches worldwide on the need to embrace persons with disabilities especially the deaf and hard of hearing as part of the church today,” said Okiki.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, which is meeting 15-21 June, invited its fellowship and all people around the world to celebrate 70 years since the creation of WCC.
“In our anniversary year, we affirm that we will continue to move together on a journey that has its beginning in the call of God to a pilgrim people and its end in the unity of the whole creation,” reads a message from the WCC Central Committee. “We have seen more clearly what unites us.”

The Ecumenical Institute Bossey, which Pope Francis visits on Thursday, 21 June, as part of his pilgrimage to the World Council of Churches in Geneva, is a workshop of ideas, where the future path toward Christian unity is being mapped out.

Bishop Brian Farrell has been a key figure on the ecumenical scene since his appointment as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 2002.
Over that time he has attended most of the major events in the life of the WCC, including the last assembly in South Korea and the recent Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in Tanzania.

Noting “the worsening human rights situation and increasing violence and impunity” in the Philippines, WCC’s central committee has expressed its alarm and outrage, pointing particularly to the role of the government there.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee has decided to pursue plans for the WCC 11th Assembly in 2021 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Despite a signed and ratified peace agreement, the long journey of regional churches and the WCC in support of peace in Colombia is not over, says the WCC central committee, which urges churches, governments, and others to press toward fulfillment of the terms and promises of the agreement, to prevent momentum ceasing and violence resurging.

Citing a litany of horrors In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has called out the “deepening political, human rights and humanitarian crisis” in the DRC, and the risks of further conflict, massive human rights violations and atrocity crimes there.

In a plenary session on “The Living Fellowship” at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee meeting on 20 June, the WCC marked achievements from its past 70 years in working for Christian unity and action, and also looked ahead at challenges.

Over 350 members of the central committee, guests, advisors and staff gathered at the Ecumenical Institute Château de Bossey for a celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).