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A World Council of Churches (WCC) Living Letters team has appealed to Nigeria's religious leaders to encourage people belonging to different ethnic and faith groups to take initiatives to promote lasting peace and harmony in violence-affected communities.

Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land need to go beyond a mere homage to ancient sites and instead show concern for the Palestinian people living there, whose lives are severely constricted by the Israeli occupation of their land.Â

“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

It was a deeply moving experience for the Living Letters team visiting Nigeria on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC) when they gathered to pray around a mass grave in Dogonahawa, near Jos, in the Central Plateau State on Tuesday. About 323 locals murdered last March have been buried at the site.

During a meeting with a Living Letters team visiting Nigeria on behalf of the World Council of Churches, the governor of the Plateau state, Jonah David Jang said that “religion is used to cover up all conflicts, although other factors also exist”. While explaining certain reasons for the conflicts, the governor admitted that “I am a committed Christian. As governor of this state, I am elected by the people and God gave me the mandate to direct the people in the righteous way”.

"Our commitment to peace as churches and as Christians is something we have inherited at birth, or, indeed, from the birth of the baby of Bethlehem," said Bishop Dr Martin Schindehütte of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) at a day preparing for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation.

The World Council of Churches has lamented the "intolerable loss of life" in Thailand and asked for all parties to abandon violence and return to negotiations.

A Living Letters team travelling on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC)was welcomed to Abuja by Nigerian church and ecumenical leaders during an ecumenical celebration organized by the Christian Council of Nigeria, (CCN) on Sunday 16 May.

In countries across six continents, a wide diversity of religious communities, people of faith, human rights and peace organizations are preparing to mark the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel.

While seeing holy sites and ancient structures remains popular for Christian tourists visiting the Holy Land, there is an emerging concern that Christian tourists have an ethical obligation to engage with the people living there, to become witnesses to their struggle for freedom, human dignity, equality, justice and peace.

Recent violence in Iraq has led Iraqi church leaders to issue a statement calling on “all government officials and political parties in order to give priority to the public interest and the security of citizens.”

Church ecumenical officers play a key role in the advancement of ecumenism at a time when resources are scarce and inward-looking tendencies thrive.

The international tug-of-war over carbon emission thresholds and other instruments meant to limit the deterioration of the earth's climate has caused a big stir in recent months, but yielded little results. Therefore the international community must now get ready to take care of those who will be forced from their homes by climate change.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit will be one of the main speakers at the Second Ecumenical Kirchentag (church convention) in Munich, Germany, 12-16 May.

A Living Letters team of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will pay a solidarity visit to Nigeria from 15-20 May 2010.

“Telling the Truth About Ourselves and Our World” , a study guide on overcoming violence in contemporary contexts, has been published by the World Council of Churches in English, French, German and Spanish as part of the build-up to the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in May 2011 at Kingston, Jamaica.

The president of Iran and the US secretary of state made early headlines at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference in New York with a volley of accusations over nuclear development and nuclear weapons.

Church leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Rwanda have made a "firm commitment to work together in promoting human dignity and fundamental human rights".

In a keynote speech on the theme of the 13 th General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) "Called to Prophesy, Reconcile and Heal", the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) said: " There is no true prophecy that does not speak both the critical truth and contribute to the building up of a vision, a dream of the new life in common."