On the 2024 International Day of Human Fraternity, observed 5 February, special events—including the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity—focused on bridging divides and promoting a culture of peace.
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew addressed an assembly of religious leaders gathered at the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Centre on 12 December—the day before the opening of the Global Refugee Forum.
In a message to the Global Refugee Forum released 12 December, faith-based leaders underscored their commitment to offering sanctuary for refugees as well defending their human rights.
At a Peace Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, hosted by the United Evangelical Mission (UEM) and the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, participated as a panel speaker during a session on ““Global Challenges and Perspective for Interfaith Action” on 21 November.
Carla Khijoyan, World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive for the Middle East, shares her journey of how the Emerging Peacemakers Forum was initiated. She was formerly the WCC programme executive for Youth Engagement in the Ecumenical Movement.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay sent warm greetings to Jewish communities around the world as they celebrated Rosh HaShanah.
Iranian rector Ayatollah M. Seyyed Abolhassan Nawab and Ms Zahra Sedigh, from the Iranian Mission to the UN,visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 27 July, discussing education and formation, as well as the importance of strengthening the role of interreligious cooperation.
The annual interreligious summer course opened in the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey on 25 July, ushering seven students from six different countries into an exploration of the theme “Health and Wholeness of Life in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.”
The launch of the document “Building Interreligious Solidarity in Our Wounded World. The Way of Common Formation” will take place on 28 July, during the Interreligious Studies course at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, and will be livestreamed on the YouTube channel of the World Council of Churches (WCC).
WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay offered a reflection during the graduation ceremony on 13 July of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum as young leaders celebrated their two-week long time of collaborating, dialogue, and insight.
The Emerging Peacemakers Forum aims to empower youth to contribute to building a better future for themselves and humanity, the secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Elders said at a meeting in Geneva.
A parliamentarian from the UAE has cautioned a group of young Christian, Jewish, and Muslim peacemakers that terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have shown proficiency in using social media to attain their goals.
Media are invited to attend the graduation ceremony of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum on 13 July in the Main Hall of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. The forum, organized in partnership between the Muslim Council of Elders, the World Council of Churches (WCC), and the Rose Castle Foundation, includes 50 young people from 24 countries.
Participants of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum being held at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland from 5-14 July, visited Palais des Nations and learned about the United Nations work in Geneva.
50 young people from 24 countries have sent a message of hope to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2023. The message was delivered during a special ceremony during the second edition of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum, held at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland.
The Christians, Jews, and Muslims laughing and chatting together, learning about peace were not in an aspirational story; they are authentic, live young people having fun at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum.
Accepting others in their otherness is at the heart of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. This was the message at a tray lunch event titled “Christian Witness in a pluralistic world: Building on the Legacy of Asian Ecumenism,” held on 16 June at the Ecumenical Centre and organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC).
H.E. Judge Mohammed Abdel-Salam, senior adviser of H.E. Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Elders and co-president of Religions for Peace, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva on 5 June.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay extended greetings to the Buddhist community across the world on the occasion of the Vesak festival.