Hope in a Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace formed the integral thread for proceedings at the meeting of the Central Committee of the WCC in Trondheim, Norway this week. The 2016 meeting took place 22-28 June, the second gathering since the Central Committee was elected at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea in 2013.
The next World Mission Conference is to be held in Arusha, Tanzania, 8-13 March 2018. The proposal to hold the conference was approved by the WCC Central Committee.
The role of faith-based communities in the electoral process of the Democratic Republic of Congo was explored in depth at an event organized by the National Endowment for Democracy in collaboration with the WCC.
A workshop with the aim of strengthening electoral process in the Democratic Republic of Congo was held Kinshasa by the Church of Christ in Congo and the Independent National Electoral Commission in partnership with the WCC and the All Africa Conference of Churches. Participants in the workshop encouraged renewed engagement from local churches in the nation.
The “pilgrimage is both a way to continue working for the one ecumenical movement and a way to move forward in our times that offer new dimensions, opportunities and practices,” said the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.
Addressing challenges in the way of cooperation between churches and church-based development organizations, also known as “specialized ministries” – an international consultation in Malawi has been promoting mutual collaboration and a common vision of working together for justice and peace.
In an ecumenical consultation held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, called human trafficking a criminal activity, on rapid increase in the world. Ezeilo said that not a single country or entity has yet been able to stop this practice, and the magnitude of this problem is enormous.
Strong concerns were expressed by the WCC Executive Committee over the increasing number of internally displaced persons and the on-going conflict in South Sudan in statements adopted by the committee on 12 February, during its meeting in Bossey, Switzerland.
