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During his first visit with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul, Turkey, and on the occasion of the Feast of the Cross on Sunday, 7 March, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said, "On the cross Christ stretched out his arms to embrace the world. The grace of the cross unites us all."

On International Women's Day, 8 March, ecumenical leaders have urged churches to work to end violence against women in its many forms across the world.

Concerned about the security of Christians in Egypt, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has encouraged the churches in the country to continue their involvement in Muslim-Christian dialogue. "

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has requested its member churches to advocate for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Colombia, the full respect of human rights and the cessation of the so called "Plan Colombia".

"With great hope and deep satisfaction" the World Council of Churches (WCC) has welcomed the news that a Council of Christian Church Leaders of Iraq has been established.

In a service ahead of the launch of the Lenten study series on the struggle to end violence against women "Cries of Anguish; Stories of Hope", the general secretary of the World Council of Churches Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit invited people to reflect on how they might give the bread of relationship rather than the heavy stones of violence to both victims and perpetrators of violence.

http://pief.oikoumene.org is a new website launched by the Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum geared to providing a springboard for advocacy, public education, and mobilization. The forum's role consists in convening networks for common action in order to generate church-based awareness raising and advocacy for peace in the Middle East. The website will provide support for actions with partner churches and ecumenical organizations focussing on the following areas:

Cries of Anguish; Stories of Hope -  a series of online Lenten study resources on the struggle to end violence against women will be launched 15 February during a prayer service at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, which is home to a number of international church organizations including the World Council of Churches (WCC). The general secretary of the WCC, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit,  will participate and WCC programme executive for Women in Church and Society, Dr Fulata Mbano Moyo, will discuss biblical texts addressing violence against women. Â

The role of the church in building just peace was highlighted last week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where three World Council of Churches (WCC) advisory groups met to recognize the culmination of the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) and the forthcoming International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) scheduled for May 2011.

Konrad Raiser, former general secretary of the World Council of Churches (1993-2003), was awarded an honorary doctor's degree by the University of Hamburg's faculty of evangelical theology on 18 January. The title recognizes Raiser's contributions in sharpening the theological profile of the WCC and the momentum he has more than once given to the ecumenical movement as a whole and to the ecumenical awareness of German churches in particular.

In a 13 January solidarity letter to the churches in Malaysia, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed deep concern and profound sorrow about recent attacks against church buildings in the country following a controversy over the right of Christians to use the term "Allah" to refer to God.

"We are here to let everything begin in the name of Jesus: the New Year and the new decade for the world and for the ecumenical movement; and also the new phase in each of our lives – both individually and for all of us together," the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in a sermon at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, on 11 January 2010, assuming his office as general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The prayer service was attended by staff of the WCC and other church organizations based in the Ecumenical Centre.

This year's Christmas message from the World Council of Churches (WCC) is available in 17 languages reflecting the linguistic diversity of the WCC member churches: Arabic , Chinese , Dutch , English , Finnish , French , Georgian , German , Greek , Korean , Norwegian , Portuguese , Romanian , Russian , Samoan , Spanish and Kiswahili .

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has invited the submission of workshop proposals for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) to take place in Jamaica in May 2011. Proposals must be submitted by 31 May 2010.

By Ranjan Solomon (*)

A group of Palestinian Christians representing a variety of churches and church-related organizations have issued an animated and prayerful call for an end to occupation of Palestine by Israel.

On the International Day for the Eradication of Violence against Women, 25 November, the World Council of Churches (WCC) announced a series of Lenten study resources for congregations and individuals who want to do their bit to end violence against women.

By Mark Beach (*)

"Telling Peace" is a collection of liturgical resources for the four Sundays of Advent. It is the second in a series of collections from different regions of the world, prepared in the framework of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation 2011 .

Churches and other ecumenical partners of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have received an appeal to "mobilize their members and the public" in resistance to Israel's approval for the construction of 900 new housing units in the Gilo settlement on traditionally Palestinian land in East Jerusalem. The WCC general secretary, the Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, called on organizations related to the Council "to act with resolve, in concert," with the intention "to reverse this decision of the Israeli government and the settlement programme it represents."