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Pastor Peter Stucky wins Menno Simons Preaching Prize 2022

The Center for Peace Church Theology (University of Hamburg, Germany), together with the Mennonite congregation of Hamburg-Altona, will award, on 2 October, the international Menno Simons Preaching Prize to Peter Stucky, pastor of the Mennonite congregation of Teusaquillo in Bogotá (Colombia) and professor emeritus at the Seminario Bíblico Menonita.

Brunnen: a well of faith-inspired initiatives

In Harare it was called Padare —a public procession celebrating a special day or event; In Porto Alegre, Mutirao —celebrating and reflecting together; In Busan, it was Madang —the traditional courtyard, a space for deliberation, celebration, and fellowship. And now in Karlsruhe, it is Brunnen —a well in the marketplace.

Colombian delegation calls upon international community to revive “vital support”

As a group of three laureates of the “National Human Rights Award in Colombia” engaged in meetings with diplomats and United Nations representatives in Geneva, a tray lunch event was organized on 8 June at the Ecumenical Centre by the World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance to offer the delegation the opportunity to share about the deterioration of the peace process in the country and the importance of international solidarity.

WCC fellowship prays for living together in peace

On the International Day of Living Together in Peace declared by the United Nations, members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) fellowship from countries troubled by war and conflict gathered to pray for sustainable peace in the world.

Colombian human rights advocates engage in strategic talks in the US

In a recent visit to the United States, a group of four laureates of the National Human Rights Award in Colombia” engaged in meetings in Washington and New York City with government officials, diplomats, and United Nations (UN) representatives. They spoke of the deterioration of the peace process in the country and the importance of international solidarity.

Rev. Frank Chikane: “You can’t do unity at the expense of justice”

When Rev. Frank Chikane was leading the South African Council of Churches in calling out injustices of the apartheid system, their work did not stop even after the council’s office building was bombed to the ground in 1980s. Moderating the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC) since 2016, Rev. Chikane has been engaged in addressing injustices in many parts of the world. WCC Communication asked Rev. Chikane to look back at his term at the commission and the ongoing calling of churches to address injustices in the world today.

EWN members stand in solidarity with water and land defenders

Berta Caceres was a well-known land rights defender who led a battle against a large dam on ancestral lands in Honduras. She was shot to death at her home in 2016. Recently the former president of the internationally financed dam company was found guilty over the assassination. Members of the WCC-Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) are worried that violence against activists who are taking a stand against the overexploitation of natural resources, like land and water, is on the rise. Unlike the murder of Berta Caceres, most attacks and killings go unpunished.

“Remembering Past Massacres” webinar will focus on Latin America

An upcoming webinar, part of the ongoing Remembering Past Massacres” series, will focus on Latin America, with speakers reflecting on the atrocities committed against Indigenous populations in the name of Christianisation, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the ruthless military dictatorships in South America during the 1960s-80s, and the 1937 massacre of Haitians in the Dominican Republic.

DiPaz appelliert an internationale Gemeinschaft, größeres Engagement der kolumbianischen Regierung für Frieden zu fordern

In einem Schreiben an den Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen (UN) vom 13. Juli hat die zwischenkirchliche Plattform für einen Dialog für Frieden in Kolumbien, der „Diálogo Intereclesial por la Paz en Colombia“ (DiPaz), an die internationale Staatengemeinschaft appelliert, die kolumbianische Regierung dringend aufzurufen, die umfassende Umsetzung des Friedensabkommens wiederaufzunehmen und die Gesprächskanäle für die Lösung der gesellschaftlichen Probleme zu stärken.

DiPaz urges stronger international call for Colombian government to advance peace

In a 13 July letter to the United Nations Security Council, the Diálogo Intereclesial por la Paz en Colombia (DiPaz), an interchurch platform for dialogue for peace in Colombia, called on the international community to urge the Colombian government to resume the full implementation of the peace agreement and strengthen channels of dialogue to resolve societal issues.

The pandemic does not stop the pilgrimage— it deepens the accompaniment

As part of a series of material prepared for a special edition of the WCC newsletter focusing on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, WCC news interviewed Rev. Prof. Dr Fernando Enns, from the Association of Mennonite Congregations in Germany, and Jennifer Martin, Education in Mission secretary for the Caribbean and North America Council for Mission, United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Enns and Martin share the moderation of the Reference Group of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace since its creation in 2013.

International church-based organizations urge Colombian president to stop spiral of violence

The World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Anglican Communion, World Methodist Council, Latin American Episcopal Council and World Association for Christian Communication, in a letter sent 18 May, urged Colombian president Iván Duque Marquéz to stop the spiral of violence that is doing terrible harm to the civilian population.

COVID-19 in conflict zones: “a crisis within another crisis”

Damaris, a Nigerian woman, described her experience of 2020: “We’ve gone through hell.”

Damaris and her sisters were kidnapped in March 2020 and threatened with death as their kidnappers demanded money. Her father had to sell everything and beg on the streets to meet their demands. “We are just a common people in Nigeria,” she said. “We don’t know what we did.”