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The World Council of Churches (WCC) was honoured as a top non-governmental organization for its work during 2020, receiving a second-place Geneva Engage Award on 18 February for effective and inspiring social media outreach and engagement.

In a culmination of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the World Council of Churches (WCC) held its first ever online global ecumenical prayer on 25 January, drawing attendees from across the world who came together in a spirit of hope.

Looking toward their graduation ceremony scheduled for 26 January, students at the World Council of Churches Bossey Ecumenical Institute are set to expand their encounters with the ecumenical world.

In the field of multilateral relations, the major partner of the Catholic Church is the World Council of Churches (WCC). Founded in 1948, it is the broadest and most inclusive ecumenical organization, bringing together 350 Christian denominations including Orthodox, Lutherans, Reformed, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists as well as United and Independent churches. Altogether they represent over 500 million Christians worldwide.

When asked on the day of her graduation how she would describe Bossey, former student Quantisha Mason replied, ’Bossey is like a love letter to God.’ Now, the Ecumenical Institute invites prospective students to apply for the study year of 2021-2022.

The newly available materials for next year‘s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity draw on the experience of contemplative community life to guide us on a journey of prayer bearing fruits of reconciliation and solidarity. Tasked with preparing a draft for the 2021 edition, the Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland chose the theme “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit” (cf. Jn 15:5-9).

The tradition of praying for Christian unity at Pentecost takes on new significance as physical prayer gatherings have been suspended in many places in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Bossey student Rev. Jianmei Jing who works at the Jingling Protestant Church in Hongkou near Shanghai in China has shown that masking your intention can be a truly Christian act. At significant sacrifice during the current COVID-19 pandemic when they were in short supply, she managed to get hold of 300 face masks and sent them to the Bossey community who she knew needed them in Switzerland.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent joyful greetings via a video message to Focolare youth who are about to celebrate Unity Week 2020.

Auf seinem ökumenischen Weg hat Georges ,Yorgo‘ Lemopoulos unter fünf Generalsekretären für den ÖRK gearbeitet; für drei von ihnen als stellvertretender Generalsekretär. Er war außerdem Co-Koordinator für die Feierlichkeiten zum 70-jährigen Bestehen des ÖRK. Lemopoulos macht sich Gedanken dazu, wie wichtig es ist, die Dokumente der ÖRK-Leitungsgremien zu digitalisieren und wie die Digitalisierung dazu beitragen kann, uns alle besser über die reichhaltige Geschichte eines globalen ökumenischen Pilgerwegs aufzuklären.

On 30 January, the Church Council of the Church of Norway appointed World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit as the new presiding bishop for the Church of Norway.

Students graduating at mountain-framed Bossey on the banks of Lake Geneva have admitted that the decision to come to the WCC Ecumenical Institute was not easy, but they left as a family with proof "that Christian unity can be lived."

In a reflection in the Ecumenical Centre Chapel in Geneva on 20 January, WCC programme executive for the Faith and Order Commission Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi offered a reflection on how important it is that, in difficult times, churches welcome people who have no place to go.

Jürgen Moltmann looked astonished when he saw his name on the list of contributors. In a recent dinner at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, my colleague Stephen Brown, the editor of The Ecumenical Review, surprised him with a 50-year old brochure.

Rev. Dr Martin Robra has been a key contributor to the ecumenical movement for the last 25 years, working for the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Robra is a theologian and ordained pastor who served as programme executive for the WCC for Ecumenical Continuing Formation, Roman Catholic relations, the joint inter-faith project with the International Labour Organisation Advancing Peace through social justice and support for the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

WCC Communication asked Robra to reflect on his years of service to the WCC fellowship.

Any prospective student who intends to study at the WCC Ecumenical Institute at Château de Bossey, in its picturesque setting near Geneva, soon learns it is an exceptional place.