The Global Christian Forum, with its fourth global gathering underway in Ghana, is marking its 25thanniversary at a time when the world is in dire need of justice, reconciliation, and unity.
With an intervention delivered by Max Weber, a student at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, the World Council of Churches expressed deep concern for human rights in Haiti.
Reinforcing the traditional role of faith communities in offering sanctuary and, indeed hospitality to refugees, 90 faith-based leaders today committed to offering their continued and additional support to refugees, including children, on their journey to safety, including in reception and admission, meeting protection or service delivery needs and supporting communities to find solutions such as private sponsorship or scholarship programmes.
Address by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the WCC Town-Hall Discussion on Interfaith Dialogue, Climate Change, and Refugee Displacement - at the Religious Leaders Unite for Climate Peace in Solidarity with Refugees, Ecumenical Center, Geneva, Switzerland 12 December 2023.
Churches should promote disability studies in theological institutions and recruit persons into ordained ministry, youth with disabilities urged after attending the 12th General Assembly of the All Africa Conference of Churches in Abuja, Nigeria.
Forty retired World Council of Churches (WCC) staff gathered at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey on 22 August to celebrate the WCC’s 75th anniversary and to receive greetings and reflections from WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay.
As a parent of an autistic child, it is important for me not only to embrace and accept that my child has autism but also to raise awareness on autism. We are all called upon to champion acceptance, embrace, appreciate, and accept autistic people as valued members of the community.
Technology has impacted our lives in a big way but this is just as well because it has given us a window into the future where we are told that technology and humans will continue to shape and influence each other in a symbiotic relationship. This therefore calls on us to create a more inclusive and equitable cyber environment for all, recognising the significant opportunities and risks that the digital space poses especially for persons with disabilities.
For the first time in history, women pastors in the Maluku Protestant Church outnumber their male counterparts. “We have 1,444 pastors in the Maluku Protestant Church, and about 55% are women,” said Maluku Protestant Church moderator Rev. Elifas Tomix Maspaitella.
Lasting friendships and gleaning a wealth of knowledge are the abiding memory of students every year who graduate from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey outside Geneva.
As a search continued for missing migrants after a fishing boat capsized off the coast of Greece, the World Council of Churches (WCC) conveyed prayers to the families of victims, and to the churches in Greece and elsewhere that are responding.
Burundi recently witnessed a significant event aimed at fostering inclusivity and addressing the impact of climate change on persons with disabilities. During the National Dialogue on Disability-Inclusive Climate Change Policies and Programs last week, the Friends Church in Burundi embarked on a mission to support and uplift women and girls with disabilities in Nyabihanga, Gitega Province.
On 30 June, the World Council of Churches and Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe will host a conversation “remembering all victims of Whiteness, with a particular focus on “The Criminalisation of Blackness and the Toxicity of ‘Greener Pastures".
Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame was elected to chair the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She is also a commissioner for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, as well as an active member of the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network.
“It was with sadness that we received the news of the passing of Prof. Dr Julio Hector de Santa Ana, a reference of ecumenical theology in a liberating perspective,” said Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). De Santa Ana passed away in Geneva, Switzerland, on 17 April.
During an Africa-Europe Ecumenical Forum on Migration, held 15-19 March In Hamburg, Germany, nearly 60 people gathered to discuss, among many other issues, the negative effects of “irregular” migration, caused in part by the growth of inequality within and between countries.
Can we increase our knowledge of how algorithms work? Can faith-based groups help close the digital divide? A webinar on 9 March, offered a way forward in an area that sometimes seems ruled by untouchable artificial intelligence.
Rev. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus began to teach at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in 2004 and joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 2007. Most recently he served as WCC interim deputy general secretary and Faith and Order director. Below, he reflects on his fondest memories, accomplishments, and hopes.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) joins The United Church of Canada and many other churches and peoples across the world who are mourning the death of Omega Chilufya Bula, a beloved justice leader, sister, elder, pioneer, mentor, friend, and colleague.