In September, the World Council of Churches (WCC), with the Colombian Episcopal Conference, United Nations Mission in Colombia, and Organization of American States, was appointed as a permanent accompanier for peace talks with the Estado Mayor Central FARC-EP in Colombia.
World Council of Churches (WCC) progamme director for Public Witness and Diakonia Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata offered a keynote address at a conference for the Diakonia Region Africa-Europe of the World Federation of Diaconal Associations and Diaconal Communities.
"Diakonia of Hope in a fragile world", keynote address by Rev Dr Kenneth Mtata at the Regional Conference for the DRAE (Africa and Europe) region in Neuendettelsau, Germany, 06 - 10 September 2023
During an Africa-Europe Ecumenical Forum on Migration, held 15-19 March In Hamburg, Germany, nearly 60 people gathered to discuss, among many other issues, the negative effects of “irregular” migration, caused in part by the growth of inequality within and between countries.
The publication “Called to Transformation – Ecumenical Diakonia” is newly available in German, offering resources to strengthen the diaconal capacity of churches and to advance the cooperation with specialized ministries.
When the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, churches had already been responding to humanitarian need in the country for eight years, since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The work being undertaken by churches in meeting the needs of those displaced by the war is not new, but the scale is staggering as 14 million people have been displaced in the six months since the invasion began.
Offering a churches’ perspective during a dialogue on humanitarian aid on 10 June, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca spoke on the faith and spiritual foundations for helping one another.
Address by Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches at the Forum of collaboration between international organisations on humantarian aid, 10 June 2022.
At the World Council of Churches (WCC) Specialized Ministries Pre-assembly, 9-10 March, those gathered came away with a renewed sense of unity in their commitment to compassion, peace and justice.
1.1 The representatives of Specialized Ministries, organizations connected to member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) serving the one ecumenical movement in the areas of mission, diakonia, relief and advocacy, gathered for an online Pre-Assembly 9 and 10 March 2022 in preparation for the WCC 11th Assembly, taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany, in September 2022.
A Specialized Ministries Pre-assembly, to be held 9-10 March, will articulate a response to the brokenness and discrimination that threaten creation and the human family.
The pre-assembly with the leadership of specialized ministries is the opportunity to articulate a common response to the most pressing issues of our time and to propose common action as we move together toward the WCC assembly in Karlsruhe.
