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On 8 May, the WCC, Middle East Council of Churches, and ACT Alliance released a message expressing deep concern over the latest hostilities in the Gaza Strip, describing the present situation as “morally and ethically untenable.” Last weekend, the region near the Israel-Gaza border saw the most intense escalation of violence since the 2014 war.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and John Wiley & Sons (Wiley) have announced that Current Dialogue, the WCC’s journal of interreligious dialogue, will from 2019 be published by Wiley as part of the WCC quarterly, The Ecumenical Review.
One of the most long-standing and respected journals in the field of interreligious dialogue, Current Dialogue started publication in 1980–81, produced by the WCC’s then programme on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies.

In a 29 April message, the Rt Rev. Dhiloraj Canagasabey, Anglican Bishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka and a member of the World Council of Churches Central Committee, reflected on the Easter Sunday violence in Christian churches in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa and also in some hotels.

The latest issue of The Ecumenical Review, the quarterly journal of the World Council of Churches, opens with an article by WCC general secretary the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, “Freedom, Love and Justice,” reflecting on the theme for the WCC's 11th Assembly in 2021, “Christ's love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”

The World Council of Churches has published “Freedom of Religion or Belief: A guide to biblical insights”, as part of online training offered through the Freedom of Religion or Belief Learning Platform.

It is with deep shock and indignation that the World Council of Churches received the news that 49 people have been killed and at least 20 were wounded in terrorist attacks at the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch and at the mosque in the suburb of Linwood in New Zealand.

An international seminar held in Seoul on 4-5 March explored how diaconal ministry contributes to the reconciliation and peace work of the global church, and how diaconal ministry efforts can be improved through exchange and cooperation among churches in North and South Korea.

More than 1100 religious studies specialists, theologians, ecumenists and other scholars are meeting in the Italian city of Bologna for the 2019 European Academy of Religion, a five-day event with more than 320 different sessions.

In his own words, Pope Francis said his pilgrimage this week to the United Arab Emirates wrote a "new page in the history of the dialogue between Christianity and Islam" and in promoting world peace based on brotherhood.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit will attend the Global Conference of Human Fraternity in Abu-Dhabi on 3-4 February along with Dr Ahmad At-Tayyeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar, and Pope Francis.

Dealing with people on the move is crucial to the work of the Church in the 21st century says Greek Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia and Filadelfia. More than 31,000 irregular migrants arrived in Greece by sea in 2018 and almost 17,000 arrived by land, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

WCC News met with the Very Reverend Archimandrite Dr Alexi Chehadeh, who leads the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East in Damascus, Syria. He is an impressive role model and peacemaker in Syria.

From 14-16 December in the UK, the CEC and Cumberland Lodge held a conference titled "Towards Peaceful co-existence in the Middle East: challenges and opportunities." Co-hosted by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the gathering drew participants from a broad range of Middle Eastern and European churches.

On 14-16 December, the Conference of European Churches and Cumberland Lodge in the UK will host an Ecumenical Conference on Human Rights with the theme “Towards Peaceful Coexistence in the Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities.”