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The contribution and role of churches in reconciliation processes around the world were highlighted by an international ecumenical panel of experts at a public hearing held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 19 February.

Some Norwegian church leaders want a five-year moratorium on oil and gas exploration on Norway's continental shelf in the North Sea, in particular off the Lofoten archipelago north of the Arctic Circle. The proposal is controversial, according to an ENI article of 23 February.

In one of the most far-reaching theological curriculum reforms worldwide, the Senate of Serampore College in Madurai, India has developed a curriculum based on three pillars: contextual education, interdisciplinary dialogue and social relevance.

Conflicts in Congo and Gaza, recognition of the International Year of Reconciliation, the impact of the global economic crisis on the WCC budget and an update on the election of a new general secretary were topics of discussion and action by the WCC Executive Committee which met in Bossey, Switzerland, 17 to 20 February 2009.

As the season of Lent draws near, the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) invites Christians to mark the occasion with reflection and action on water justice.

By Dr Manoj Kurian (*)

In a pastoral letter to the faithful in his diocese, Roman Catholic Bishop Luc Bouchard of St Paul in Alberta, Canada decried that "the integrity of creation in the Athabasca Oil Sands" - the largest reservoir of crude bitumen in the world and the largest of three major oil sands deposits in Alberta - "is clearly being sacrificed for economic gain."

Representatives of churches in Iraq confirmed their commitment to work together with all Iraqi citizens for reconciliation and rebuilding peace in the country.

By Juan Michel (*)

The selection process for a new World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary is well "on course", according to Dr Agnes Abuom, who moderates the search committee and is a member of the WCC Central Committee. The deadline for applications is 28 February 2009.

The Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ, with its tradition reaching back to the Middle Ages, is located at Papinniemi in Finland's Southern Savonia region since 1940, when its monks had to flee from the island of Valamo in Lake Ladoga.

In a letter congratulating Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad on his election as the new patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia expressed the appreciation of the worlwide ecumenical fellowship for this "outstanding Orthodox theologian, leader and hierarch".

Thousands of people are gathering in Brazil for the World Social Forum. As in previous occasions, there is a strong participation of church and ecumenical organizations.

In Haiti, "the deadliest form of violence is extreme poverty, and the grimmest insecurity is food insecurity," according to a Living Letters team who visited the Caribbean nation on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC) last November.