Search results

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has expressed great appreciation for recent comments by Mehmet Görmez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate in Turkey, who sharply criticized the Fatwa (religious order) of Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti endorsing the destruction of churches, criticizing it as baseless and against Islamic principles.

A Synaxis of the Primates of Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Middle East met in Cyprus on 27 March to discuss the situation of Christians in the region and to agree on common approaches to solidarity, strengthening and support of Christian communities struggling to maintain their presence in their historic homes.

After two months of illness, the renowned ecumenist, theologian and Lutheran pastor Dr Milton Schwantes passed away on 1 March in São Paulo, Brazil, at the age of 65. The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called his contribution over the years an "asset for the ecumenical movement.”

At the significant event of the 10th General Assembly of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), Christians in the Middle East renewed their commitment to unity, dialogue and peace amidst varied political developments in the region, as well as elected a new general secretary.

Reflections on the recent “Arab spring” and young people’s involvement in the challenges of a changing ecumenical landscape were the focus of discussions in a recent meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Echos – Commission on youth in the ecumenical movement.

During his recent visit to Pakistan, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit urged for the protection of religious minorities and the need for the state to take necessary measures against religious intolerance.

At the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, leaders from five historic centres of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean region met in early September to discuss matters of regional and global concern. In addition to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Orthodox churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Cyprus were represented.

Serious issues that threaten Asia’s peace and security have been recognized by an ecumenical consultation that was organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Christian Conference of Asia. The event was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 2 to 6 August.

Dr Katharina Kunter came upon the World Council of Churches (WCC) as an object of research through the discipline of Cold War studies, analyzing the encounter of Christian bodies in East and West from the end of the second world war to the fall of the Berlin Wall. She soon came to realize that the interplay of “northern” churches with the global South was equally influential in transforming attitudes and practices of the WCC and its member churches during those decades.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met with Archbishop Chrysostomos II of the Church of Cyprus and the president of Cyprus, Dr Demetris Christofias, in separate meetings Thursday in Nicosia.

Christian-Muslim dialogue and cooperation were themes of a two-day visit by the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), to the offices and college campus of the World Islamic Call Society (WICS) in Tripoli, Libya. On Sunday 9 January, Tveit and two WCC colleagues met with WICS leaders to discuss bilateral dialogue, exploring ways to follow up a November 2010 conference in Geneva on “Transforming Communities”.

Faith communities came together to address climate change, poverty and sustainable development in a side event jointly organized by Caritas Internationalis, ACT Alliance and the World Council of Churches (WCC) at the Cancun climate summit on 7 December.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has said that "force and military power will not resolve the problems" in a 24 November statement issued as an expression of concern over tensions on the Korean Peninsula.