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In The Ecumenical Review of March 2012, Christian experts survey the current position of churches throughout the Middle East. According to the editors, past year’s historic events in the Arab world “have highlighted the aspirations to citizens for their dignity and freedom”, yet these same developments “have also raised new and serious challenges for the many Christian communities there.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee issued a statement expressing concern over the disappearance of asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa and northern Africa, falling prey to human traffickers in the Sinai desert while crossing borders between Egypt and Israel.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) congratulates Palestinian Lutheran pastor Rev. Dr Mitri Raheb on receiving the 2011 “Deutscher Medienpreis” (German Media Prize). The award recognizes his individual work and Palestinian churches’ efforts for peace.

The members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee have sent a pastoral message to the churches in Syria extending solidarity as they face enormous challenges due to the ongoing violence in the country.

“Ecumenism is a quality of life that needs to be articulated in all aspects of a Christian’s life”, and “conciliarity is an essential nature of the church,” said Catholicos Aram I, head of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He was speaking to the audience at the World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation in Beirut, Lebanon.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reaffirmed churches’ commitment to justice and peace in the Middle East, while stressing the importance of a common vision for living together by Christians and Muslims in the Arab world.

The dramatic events of 2011 brought an increased focus on the relevance of the church in pursuing just peace, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit , general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) this week in Geneva.

At the significant event of the 10th General Assembly of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), Christians in the Middle East renewed their commitment to unity, dialogue and peace amidst varied political developments in the region, as well as elected a new general secretary.

During the past year thousands of people from North Africa have disappeared in the Sinai Desert region while crossing the border between Egypt and Israel.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has today urged strong positive action by the United Nations on behalf of Palestine. While the WCC has advocated justice for Palestinians and Israelis for decades, the United Nations Security Council’s consideration of full membership for Palestine was hailed by the WCC and regional churches as an opportunity for peace.

At the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, leaders from five historic centres of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean region met in early September to discuss matters of regional and global concern. In addition to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Orthodox churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Cyprus were represented.

Conflicts over water threaten peace in the world, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, told a gathering in Germany on the banks of the River Danube to mark the end of the WCC’s Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV).

The need for increased dialogue among churches in the Middle East and with churches in the East and West were only two of the many concerns addressed by 30 theologians, social scientists, politicians and church representatives at a recent conference in Volos, Greece.

The volatile and precarious situation of Christians in the Middle East was of deep concern to the members of the February 2011 meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, and it will be highlighted in an upcoming conference on Christians in the Middle East to be held in Greece.

As peace advocates from around the world relayed heartrending stories of violence and oppression, they also expressed their ongoing hope that a movement of peace will prevail during the proceedings of the second day of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) being held in Kingston, Jamaica.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has said the recent agreement reached between two Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, holds not only the hope and promise for a healing process within the Palestinian community but also creates the atmosphere for a seeking "a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Israel/Palestine".

As part of a week-long series of events to promote a just peace in Israel and Palestine, Palestinians and Israelis will be praying for peace in front of several Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the separation wall and in houses of worship in Jerusalem and across Palestine.

By Theodore Gill*

The World Council of Churches Central Committee expressed “its deep concern and disappointment” at the recent veto by the United States of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning continued settlement construction by Israel in the Palestinian Territories.

Several key leaders of the Christian churches in Iraq met with international church leaders, including members of the World Council of Churches Central Committee, in Geneva this week about the ongoing situation in Iraq.