Search results

World Council of Churches' (WCC) general secretary the Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has called for a comprehensive ecumenical response in seeking lasting peace in the Middle East.

High-resolution photos available - see below

Entrusted with the mission of expressing global ecumenical solidarity with churches and people affected by the current conflict in the Middle East, a three-member ecumenical pastoral delegation composed of representatives of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the Catholic Bishops' Conference of France, and the World Council of Churches (WCC) today left Cyprus by boat en route for Beirut.

A joint appeal signed today by the leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) calls "upon Israel and Hezbullah to end the fighting in Lebanon" and "upon the United States, the European Union, and the Arab States to exercise their influence toward this end". It also calls "upon the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas to end the conflict in Gaza".

An appeal to "do whatever is possible to stop the bombings, negotiate a cease-fire and a comprehensive peace settlement" has been addressed today by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia to "the leaders of the international community, especially to those from the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom".

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia encouraged the Council's member churches to pray for all those suffering as a result of the Middle East crisis, to support the appeals for emergency aid and to speak out for justice among the states and peoples in the region.

The new wave of violence in the Middle East is a cause for alarm around the world, and all sides should cease the violent confrontation and ensure the protection of civilians, the World Council of Churches (WCC) appealed today.

"Deeply distressed" by the current escalation of the Israel/Palestine conflict, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia called on the international community "to take bold and novel actions to uphold international law and break the vicious cycle of violence" in the region. Both parties should engage in "equitable negotiations," he said.

A member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) was attacked by a woman settler in the Tel Rumeida district of Hebron on Friday, 23 June.

At its first meeting since its appointment in February 2006, the WCC's executive committee has approved new programmatic directions for the Council and has endorsed a framework for activities in the coming years.

For peace to be achieved, both parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be held to identical standards on ending violence, respecting agreements, and recognizing the other says the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee.

Patriarch Theophilos III, head of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, was received by the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia today at the WCC headquarters in Geneva in their first official encounter since he was elected in 2005.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee called today on the government of Iran for a moratorium on its uranium enrichment programme, to recognize the state of Israel, and to support international efforts to end terrorism. Other countries should also contribute to global security, the committee said.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee meets at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute outside Geneva from 16-19 May 2006 at its first session since its election at the Council's 9th Assembly in Brazil earlier this year.

Expressing "alarm and concern" the World Council of Churches (WCC) has presented a formal protest to the Israeli ambassador in Switzerland over two recent incidents involving violence by Israeli settlers against Christian volunteers participating in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is urging the European Union to exercise "respect for the democratic mandate given by [the recent Palestinian] elections and time for the new government to find its feet and demonstrate its intentions," following the Council of the European Union's endorsement of a temporary halt to direct aid to the Palestinian government headed by Hamas.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia wrote 23 March to Christian Peacemaker Teams co-director Douglas Pritchard, expressing "great joy" at the news that three CPT team members held in Iraq had been freed.

While 50 people from eight countries were paying a solidarity visit to Jerusalem and the Occupied Palestinian Territories last week, related advocacy activities focusing on the situation in Israel and Palestine were taking place on five continents.

The vivid diversity of the ecumenical movement has been highlighted in new research, published by the World Council of Churches (WCC) this month, that confirms the continued growth of the fellowship of churches.

"Tom Fox was in Iraq as a religious peacemaker so that those who use violence to pursue their own plans for that much-troubled nation might see that this is no way toward peace," Peter Weiderud, director of the World Council of Churches' Commission of the Churches for International Affairs (WCC/CCIA), said in Geneva today.