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Church representatives gathered in News Orleans were reminded of their calling "to bring the churches to the same table where we can share as many of God’s gifts as possible, and to prepare for the visible unity of the Lord’s table" by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit on Thursday, 11 November.

The leaders of the World Council of Churches and World Evangelical Alliance came together recently to say their organizations and member churches are speaking with a common voice when it comes to the January 2011 referendum in Sudan.

An international consultation on Muslim-Christian relations ended with a "call for the formation of a joint working group which can be mobilized whenever a crisis threatens to arise in which Christians and Muslims find themselves in conflict" today in Geneva, Switzerland.

Christian and Muslim leaders and scholars meeting at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, site of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central offices today issued a joint statement of condemnation for the criminal attack on the Church of Our Lady of Najat (Sayidat al-Nejat) in Baghdad this past Sunday, 31 October.

Two panel discussions in Geneva, Switzerland highlighted the second morning of the “Transforming Communities” international consultation on Muslim-Christian relations. Panellists focused the attention of approximately 60 delegates on the topics “Beyond Minority and Majority” and “From Conflict to Compassionate Justice.”

“Our theology is not the same,” said Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal of Jordan, “but we are all in the same boat.” The prince was addressing an assembly of Christians and Muslims gathered in Geneva, Switzerland to mark the beginning on Monday of a four-day international consultation on Muslim-Christian dialogue.

The World Council of Churches general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has condemned the "criminal act of terror" Sunday in Baghdad, Iraq, when gunmen took hostages in the Sayidat al-Nejat Church. The death toll from the hostage standoff rose to some 58 people on Monday, including priests, women and children and Iraqi security forces who conducted a raid to end the siege.

Naming casteism as "sin, apostasy and rebellion against God", churches in India have committed themselves to serve as "zero tolerance zones" for caste-based discrimination. They also called for Lent 2011 to be "a time of purging caste" from Christian communities.

High-ranking Muslim and Christian leaders as well as renowned scholars and interfaith practitioners, representing various Islamic and Christians organizations, will gather 1-4 November at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva for an international consultation on Christian and Muslim concerns.

Has Dalit theology reached an impasse since its early burst of creative energy in the late eighties and early nineties? This is the question that a new publication entitled "Dalit Theology in the Twenty-First Century: Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways" seeks to address.

In a message concerning the recent awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, World Council of Churches general secretary, said the prize this year shows a strong message of support to all those around the world who are struggling for freedom, development and the dignity of all human beings.

At the 50th meeting since its foundation in 1946, the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) decided to refocus, establishing four thematic working groups, in order better to respond to the needs of the member churches.

Since the mid-1960s, regular meetings of the Joint Working Group of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Roman Catholic Church have provided an opportunity for the coordination of Christian concerns and activities across boundaries of confession and tradition. This year’s meeting took place from 26 September to 2 October 2010 at the Saint Christophoros Patriarchal Monastery in Saidnaya, Syria.

The Churches' Commission on International Affairs (CCIA) for the World Council of Churches (WCC) is meeting in Tirana, Albania from 2 through 8 October 2010 at the St Vlash Theological Academy in Durrës, Albania. The CCIA dates from 1946 and provides an ecumenical witness on issues and conflicts of global importance.

By Manoj K. Das (*)

By Aneth Lwakatare (*)

The Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, reflected on the theme "Peace on Earth" at the closing service of prayer at this year's United Nations Advocacy Week, held in Geneva from 27 September to 1 October.Â

By Theodore A. Gill (*)Â

By Manoj K. Das (*)

By Fredrick Nzwili (*)