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A staff member of the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA) has been elected as general secretary of the Council of Christian Churches in Angola (CICA). She will be the first woman to serve as general secretary of the CICA, a position she considers an “opportunity to mobilize African churches to do more” in healing HIV affected communities.

What will the world look like if we continue careening down a slide of eco-injustice? Ninth graders in South Africa have some idea. In a campaign organized by Suwi Siwila, the students pretended they were living in the future, writing a description to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

On 7 December at the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where no agreement has been reached so far, the World Council of Churches (WCC) delivered a statement to the High-Level Ministerial Segment of COP 18 in Doha, Qatar.

By Dr Susan Parry (*)

By Susan Kim (*)

Despite the contributions made by the World Council of Churches (WCC) towards “zero new infections, zero HIV related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination” there is “more we can do,” said Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri.

The current global economic and financial scenario has been described as the “mess we are in” by Sir Richard Jolly at a global conference on a new economic and financial architecture taking place in Brazil this week. He pointed out the lack of good governance in many countries.

Fifteen representatives from churches, ecumenical organizations and other partners from Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe and the Pacific came together this week in Crete to assess the work of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on care for creation and climate justice and to strategize for the future.

What are the connections between widespread poverty and ecology? Seventy-five scientists, activists, philosophers and theologians are meeting from 26 to 30 September at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, in Kolympari, Greece, to understand the intertwined dynamics of economic development and environmental sustainability.

By Marcelo Schneider (*)

Every year, from 1 September to 4 October, parishes and congregations in various parts of the world consecrate some time to reflect, celebrate and organize activities in relation to creation.

Renowned Christian leader and World Council of Churches (WCC) president Abune Paulos, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, passed away Thursday, 16 August, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

At the recent International AIDS Conference, ecumenical participants focused on the need to intensify churches’ efforts to support women trapped in societies marred with sexual and gender-based violence. There was also an emphasis on reducing stigma attached to HIV in communities.

Calle Almedal from Sweden has worked on issues of HIV since 1982. He is a former consultant for the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA), a project of the World Council of Churches. In an interview he speaks about HIV's impact on communities, the importance of education in sexual health and churches' responses to HIV.

On 22 June, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Global Forum on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology concluded with a strong call for action to evolve “transformative congregations” with moral courage to build an “economy of life” that focuses on er adicating poverty, challenging wealth accumulation and safeguarding ecological integrity.

“Institutionalized greed with structural consequences demands counter measures at the structural level, if we are to overcome pressing problems of poverty, socio-economic disparities and ecological destruction,” said Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, former general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

More than one hundred international participants, including representatives of churches and civil society, have gathered in Bogor, Indonesia for the Global Forum on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology. On 19 June, they spoke together about poverty eradication and the concepts of economic and ecological justice lying at the heart of Christian ethics.

Bishop Moses Deng-Bol of Wau Diocese of the Episcopal Church in South Sudan, believes in a church that encourages forgiveness, reconciliation and peaceful co-existence. In a recent interview he shared how churches in his country are trying to address issues presented by the HIV pandemic.

To address the impact of displacements induced by climate change, participants from ecumenical, non-governmental and international organizations, as well as churches, gathered in Bossey, Switzerland, from 22 to 23 May in a World Council of Churches (WCC) conference.

Inspired by participating in the Youth for Eco-Justice training, a joint project of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Durban, South Africa last year, Kristi Holmberg started a “Climate Justice Campaign” which concluded successfully on 22 April, Earth Day.