World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, in a letter to the United Nations General Assembly, voiced support for a resolution condemning the ongoing blockade imposed on the Republic of Cuba.
A delegation formed by the World Council of Churches (WCC), member churches, and ecumenical partners met with Cuban president Miguel Diaz Canél on 20 September, discussing the blockade and the harm it has done to the Cuban people, especially related to healthcare and health innovations in Cuba.
World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof Dr Ioan Sauca, in a letter to Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel, expressed support and admiration for a resolution passed in the United Nations General Assembly that ends the blockade which harms the Cuban people.
The Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network of the WCC in collaboration with the Council for World Mission and International Disability Alliance hosted a two-day seminar on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
A court decision in the Dominican Republic annulling the citizenship of an estimated 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian ancestry has been strongly criticized by church leaders, including the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.
Churches in the United States, including member churches of the WCC, have called on the Obama administration to open up a high-level dialogue with Cuba aimed at normalizing relations between the two countries.
Church leaders and government officials in Cuba have said that religious reforms introduced during the past two decades have improved religious policies in Cuba over earlier restrictive practices in place since 1959.
Working in alliance with churches is strategically important, said a UN representative at the recent assembly of the Latin American Council of Churches.