On 20 April, an ecumenical delegation led by World Council of Churches president from Africa His Holiness Most Rev. Dr Rufus Okikiola Ositelu, of the Church of the Lord (Prayer Fellowship) Worldwide, met with Sudan president General Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan.
Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, World Council of Churches director of Public Witness and Diakonia, returned from Sudan with what he described as “a broken heart” after witnessing the plight of the people. Yet he also shared signs of hope that a pact for peace can end the suffering.
The World Council of Churches led a delegation on a visit to Sudan from 18-22 April. The ecumenical group included the World Council of Churches (WCC), All Africa Conference of Churches, ACT Alliance, Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa Global Ministries, Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa, General Board Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, and Norwegian Church Aid.
To raise awareness across the world for the plight of the Sudanese people due to a 12-month armed conflict, the World Council of Churches is organizing a webinar to report on the learnings during the recent visit to Sudan.
As cases of femicide rise, religious leaders in Kenya are calling for the protection of women, as they unite to condemn the incidents now sending shockwaves across the East African nation.
With a historic show of unity, Ethiopian churches meeting at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey made the decision to establish a council of churches in their country.
A three-day training on “HIV Self-Stigma and Life-building Skills for Vulnerable Communities,” held in Nigeria, helped equip faith leaders to respond to the challenges of HIV among young people.
With a series of consultations and training on issues related to HIV and AIDS in Nigeria, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is providing both expertise and inspiration through its Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy programme.
In Renk, a small South Sudanese town on the banks of the White Nile, churches are working to help thousands of people fleeing the war in the neighbouring Sudan.
A global call for prayers and support for the Democratic Republic of Congo has amplified as floods and landslides left hundreds of people dead in South Kivu, a province in the east of the country.
Amidst amplified calls for peace in Sudan, a glimmer of hope has spread in the northeastern African country, after fighting forces announced a 72-hour ceasefire.
Sanctions should not harm the support for the most vulnerable, says a report on the impact of sanctions on humanitarian work presented at a side-event of 52nd session at the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva on 10 March.
As Christians in Africa joined the celebrations to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, a Roman Catholic priest who is involved in ecumenism, stressed the unity of the churches as central to building a concrete response to poor people’s need for justice in the continent.
After postponing their unique ecumenical pilgrimage of peace to South Sudan, world Christian leaders will travel to the world’s youngest nation in February.
As a crowd of more than 300 gathered, the St Paul’s University School of Theology officially launched Thursdays in Black, pledging to build an Africa without violence and to join together on a pilgrimage of justice, peace, and reconciliation.
Prof. Ezra Chitando, World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy regional coordinator for Southern Africa, presented on behalf of WCC deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, a paper on “Women’s Transformative Leadership and Africa’s Holistic Development: The Role of the Churches” during an international conference on leadership transformation and innovation in Africa.
As the war in Ukraine triggers an unexpected rise in food and commodity prices in African markets, church leaders are reaching out to communities struggling with food insecurity and shortages.
The churches of Sudan – and especially the Sudan Council of Churches as their ecumenical forum – have suffered from a serious lack of attention and support by international ecumenical partners since the separation of South Sudan in 2011.
After an armed gang in northern Nigeria killed eight people, injured two dozen more, and abducted some of the 400 passengers on a train, the Christian Association of Nigeria repeated demands for greater government security.
