Displaying 121 - 140 of 173

Ecological debt is a spiritual issue

“Nature is our home,” said Dr. Maria Sumire Conde from the Quecha community of Peru. She says some of those who have come there, however, have not been good guests.

International church anti-racism conference sees time for change

"We believe that this is a moment where we are invited by God to commit ourselves to be instruments of change in the church and the wider society," participants in an international conference on "Churches against Racism" have said, 17 June. The message was read in the presence of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands during a closing worship service.

Indigenous peoples seek political affirmation

"Being indigenous peoples is not about wearing colourful garments but about being engaged in the political struggle towards an alternative to the current, crisis-laden model of civilization", says María Chávez Quispe, an indigenous person from Bolivia who is a consultant for indigenous issues at the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Church advocacy in action at the United Nations

After six days of intense discussions on migration, the conflict in Sri Lanka and climate change, of common prayer and practical efforts to make the voice of the churches on these issues heard at the United Nations, the UN Advocacy Week of the World Council of Churches (WCC) ended with good results on Friday.

Indigenous theologians to suggest visions for church and society

The Philippines - a country where approximately a tenth of the population is indigenous and lives in isolated areas where access to basic services and opportunities for economic growth is lacking even as natural resources abound - will be the meeting place for some 30 indigenous theologians from the Americas, Europe, Australia and Asia.

WCC calls for UN fact finding mission to Papua

"Papuans still are subject to torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and unfair trials by the Indonesian authorities," said the World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive for human rights, Christina Papazoglou in a 14 March oral intervention before the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is currently holding its seventh session in Geneva. On behalf of the WCC, Papazoglou asked for a fact-finding mission to be sent to the Indonesian province of Papua, one of the word's richest in terms of natural resources, in order to raise the international awareness of the indigenous population's poor living conditions.

Ceremony at Bossey

After 25 years standing vigil at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, a totem pole was returned to the soils of the earth Sunday at an event attended by many of those taking part in this week's central committee meetings. The totem was presented as a gift of the churches of Canada at the WCC's Sixth Assembly, held in Vancouver, as a way to raise the profile of indigenous people.  The totem consisted of carved images offering an interpretation of the story of humanity's search for the spiritual experience. But time and weather took its toll on the nearly 50 foot-tall totem since its placement at Bossey, and it had become unstable. Following advice from the First Nations of Canada, the WCC decided to respectfully remember the gift and the work of those who carved it. Rev. Carmen Lansdowne, a Central Committee member from the United Church of Canada and member of the indigenous people of western Canada, was asked to lead the commemoration. A small, permanent display will continue to tell the totem's story.

Ecumenical conference to tackle racist patterns left by slave trade

The legacies of the slave trade, and how churches can respond to past and present forms of slavery, are going to be discussed at an ecumenical conference to be held 10-14 December in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. About sixty theologians, church leaders, social scientists and activists, mainly from Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean will gather in the country where nearly one million Africans and later indentured servants from Asia were exploited as human commodities and many more transited on their often deadly passage into slavery.

Theologians reflect on Inclusivity from the point of view of the excluded

Representing the experiences, perspectives and visions of different excluded groups, a select group of 25 theologians from many parts of the world gathered in La Paz, Bolivia during May 2007, perhaps for the first time, to articulate their visions of the world and the church. Their attempt was to identify the possible thematic directions for the new programme

International Christian bodies welcome adoption of new human rights standards

International church and ecumenical organizations have welcomed the adoption of a new International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, both of which were agreed at the inaugural session of the UN Human Rights Council which concluded in Geneva on 30 June 2006.