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WCC welcomes new staff

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has made several new appointments this year, welcoming programme executives, a programme director, and a new dean of the Bossey Ecumenical Institute.

World Water Congress draws water experts from across the world

“Bridging Science and Policy” is the theme of the XVI World Water Congress this week in Cancun, Mexico, and water experts are bringing that to bear in their decisions regarding the field of water. The World Council of Churches is represented at the event through its Ecumenical Water Network.

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: The Patriarch of Solidarity

He earned the title “Green Patriarch” as a religious leader addressing alarming environmental issues over at least two decades. In 2008, Time Magazine named His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as one of 100 Most Influential People in the World, for “defining environmentalism as spiritual responsibility”.

Faith-based groups bring hope for a fast-track HIV response

"If there ever was a time to change words into action, it is today", said U.S. ambassador-at-large Deborah L. Birx, M.D., coordinator of the United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS and U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, at an interfaith prayer breakfast held during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 20 September.

Seven Weeks for Water 2016, week 3: "Pilgrimage of Justice through the Beatitudes of Matthew (5:3-12)", by Ani Ghazaryan Drissi

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness..." 

(Matthew 5:6a)

The justice and righteousness of the fourth beatitude are presented by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew as a necessity. This justice is the way to happiness promised by the fourth beatitude: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Only those who hunger and thirst for divine justice will be satisfied and filled with happiness. However, for centuries, a major question arises over the meaning of this justice: what is the justice that Matthew presents? Why, contrary to the evangelist Luke who presents a physical hunger and thirst (Luke 6:21), does Matthew emphasize the need to suffer hunger and thirst for righteousness? What kind of justice does the first Gospel present?

WCC Programmes

WCC considers AIDS report a “valuable tool”

A new report titled “Defeating AIDS–Advancing global health” was appreciated as a significant resource in encouraging an effective global AIDS response by Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, associate general secretary of the WCC.

WCC, Roman Catholic joint group celebrate 50 years of ecumenical work

“The WCC is grateful for new momentum in collective efforts to manifest our common faith in God the creator and our commitment to common service,” said the WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, as he spoke at the 50th anniversary gathering of a joint WCC-Roman Catholic group.

Altmann affirms signs of hope in the ecumenical movement

"The WCC can be and still is prophetic today,"€ said the Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, reflecting on highs and lows in the ecumenical movement and on the identity of the WCC.

Building peace in solidarity with the poor

A call for solidarity with the poor was delivered to a gathering of religious, political and civil society leaders from all over the world by one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The meeting on the topic “Bound to Live Together: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue” is taking place from 11-13 September in Munich, Germany.

Seven Weeks for Water 2010, week 7: "The waters of Easter", by John Gibaut

The streams and themes of these Seven Weeks of Lent and of these Seven Weeks for Water flow together as Lent draws to its conclusion. The Seven Weeks of Water during Lent recall the final seven weeks of preparation for candidates for Christian Initiation in the early church, culminating in the waters of the baptismal pool and the bread and the cup of the eucharistic table at Easter. 

WCC Programmes

Ecumenical Water Network delves into "Holy Waters" during Lent

"Holy Waters" is the theme of this year's Lenten reflections provided by the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN). Starting on Monday 15 February the weekly reflections will explore the connection between the way water is used in different liturgical practices and our "daily water".

Ecumenical Patriarch calls for climate responsibility during U.S. visit

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has said "there are growing expectations that meaningful progress can be made as a result of the United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled to take place in Copenhagen next month ", but "sacrifices will have to be made by all". The remarks were part of a speech on " Saving the Soul of the Planet " Bartholomew gave in Washington, D.C. as part of a two-and-a-half week visit to the United States.