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A team of church representatives from Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia will pay a solidarity visit to churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society movements in India from 21 to 27 September.

By Jonathan Frerichs (*)

by Walt Wiltschek (*)

The World Council of Churches Central Committee again took up the issue of Sudan at meetings in Geneva this week, issuing a “Statement on the Darfur crisis in the context of Sudan”. Since early 2003, the statement says, “the conflict in Darfur has unleashed an overwhelming wave of violence resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and an immense humanitarian crisis”.

How does the church interact with a rapidly changing society? On 31 August, members of the World Council of Churches Central Committee spent much of the morning discussing this question in a pair of plenary sessions in Geneva.

“Tears are not enough.” Fernando Enns spoke that phrase in introductory remarks to the World Council of Churches central committee on 28 August. It was repeated several times during a morning plenary session on the WCC’s upcoming International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC).

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Any solution to the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must engage the whole nation – not just the eastern region where violence is centred, a small ecumenical team visiting the Bas Congo and Kasai Oriental provinces has learned.

By Fredrick Nzwili (*)

By Fredrick Nzwili (*)

A team of church representatives from Portugal, Switzerland and Brazil is paying a solidarity visit to churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society organizations in Angola and Mozambique from 18 to 28 July.

In a speech in Kinshasa on 13 July, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), challenged churches to end their denial of violence against women. "The churches still seem to relegate violence to the private sphere, and still understand violence as only physical," he said.

A team of church representatives from Europe, Latin America and Africa will pay a solidarity visit to churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society movements in Uruguay and Bolivia from 9 to 16 July. A second team will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo at the same time.

Change is in the air as churches in many parts of the world hold a "World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel" that began on 4 June 2009. New voices are advocating steps toward peace that churches have been promoting for years.

The Dutch queen will be the guest of honour at a conference seeking to take on the legacy of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) historic anti-racism efforts.

“Brothers and sisters, what should we do?” (Acts 2:37b)

Australia is focusing on Gaza, Austria has town pilgrimages. Brazil has seminary students debating conflict over "holy" land. Canadians, Scots, Norwegians, British and French are making contact with lawmakers. Directors of church-related aid agencies are visiting Israeli and Palestinian partner organizations. And on the high Wall that hems in Bethlehem, Palestinians are "showing" prayers at night.

The prime minister of uranium-rich Namibia favours his country ratifying the Africa Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, a long-delayed milestone that requires action by only two more states, but with a caveat about peace.

By Maurice Malanes (*)