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The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem released a statement on 10 November about the celebration of Advent and Christmas in the midst of the war.

In his address to the World Leaders Forum held at the Columbia University on 2 December, UN secretary-general António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres spoke on the "State of the Planet.” He described our planet as "broken" and humanity as waging a suicidal war on the natural world. The fatal and disastrous consequences, including runaway climate change, biodiversity loss, and the COVID-19 pandemic, are increasingly apparent.

At the end of the second week of Advent, WCC staff gathered in the Chapel of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva for a special midday prayer for peace in Syria and the Middle East led by Father Jack (Yaqoub) Mourad, head of the Syriac Catholic Monastery of Saint Elian in al-Qaryatayn.

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 experience of his father’s fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938 and then living alien and stateless in Sweden provides biblical theologian Hans Ucko with the touchstone of his writing about stateless persons.

Almost forty years after the advent of HIV and AIDS, people around the world living with HIV still endure assaults on their dignity and basic human rights—from stigma and discrimination to denial of legal protection and even medical care.

A WCC delegation visited Ireland from 28 November to 1 December to explore how the international ecumenical community may best support churches in the global fellowship and work together on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

“The momentum towards change has come, and it might be stronger than we understand”, wrote Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches in an Advent message on the eve of the climate talks in Paris.

"Telling Peace" is a collection of liturgical resources for the four Sundays of Advent. It is the second in a series of collections from different regions of the world, prepared in the framework of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation 2011 .

As nations are spelling out their bargaining positions for the negotiations on a new international climate deal to take place in Copenhagen next month, churches around the world are trying to ring home the message that climate protection is an ethical and spiritual issue.

"Imagine: Peace" is a collection of liturgical resources for the four Sundays of Advent. It is the first of a collection of worship materials from different regions of the world, prepared in the framework of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation 2011 .

As many Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Advent and Christmas in the security of their homes and communities, they are invited to pray for justice, peace and security for Palestine and Israel - and to send a prayer or a peace message to Bethlehem (at the following address: aei (at) p-ol.com ).