The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee opened its meeting on 8 November with the opening celebrations in the Cathedral Church of the Advent, with prayers, goodwill messages, and a sermon by WCC president from Africa His Holiness Most Rev. Dr Rufus Okikiola Ositelu, of the Church of the Lord (Prayer Fellowship) Worldwide.
In the wake of violence against a worshiping congregation in the town of Hantoukoura in Burkina Faso on 1 December, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemned the attack on innocent people gathered to worship on the first Sunday in Advent.
The people of South Sudan are experiencing the most difficult time in their history of suffering and self-destruction, says the South Sudan Council of Churches, reaching out with an Advent and Christmas message of hope.
With less than a week before hotly contested local elections, church leaders in South Africa have appealed for calm and asked political leaders of all political parties to help contain dissent. The run-up to the elections on 3 August has been marred by recurrent bouts of violence, intimidation and even political assassinations.
The World Council of Churches and the All Africa Conference of Churches have come together in expressing grave concern for the people of Burundi in a situation of extreme tension and escalating human rights violations.
A coalition of Protestant and Catholic organizations has reached an agreement with the Italian government to provide travel and integration services for refugees from North Africa and the Middle East.
When a WCC meeting on ecumenical HIV and AIDS response concluded last week in Limuru, Kenya, its message to the global HIV and AIDS community was terse: traditional ways of tackling the pandemic have failed.
