As churches in the southern hemisphere closed the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on 28 May, they brought final reflections to this year’s theme of “Do good; seek justice (Isaiah 1:17).”
Churches in the southern hemisphere will observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on 21-28 May, the week between Ascension and Pentecost. This year’s theme is “Do good; seek justice (Isaiah 1:17).”
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay is visiting Moscow this week, meeting with H.H. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, and representatives from the largest WCC member church.
In a webinar hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order, speakers and participants explored the question: What does it mean to be the church within the contemporary context of world Christianity?
Against the background of the Russian invasion and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a high-level WCC leadership delegation visiting Ukraine undertook an intensive series of consultations in Kyiv on 11 May 2023, with church leaders, Ukrainian government officials, and others.
The Konfessionskundliches Institut from Germany visited the World Council of Churches (WCC), focusing on strengthening relations with the WCC and following up on the work since the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe.
A delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) is visiting Ukraine on 10-12 May to renew relations with churches and religious organizations and to explore possibilities of joint efforts to achieve just peace in Ukraine.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration (PCCC) convened at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey from 27-30 April. This was the final meeting of the PCCC for this term. A new PCCC will be appointed at the next meeting of the Central Committee in June.
Marking 10 years since the kidnapping of archbishops of Aleppo Paul Yazigi and John Ibrahim, the Middle East Council of Churches held an “Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented” on 24 April.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order is convening for the last time with its current composition before a new commission takes its place.
I am writing this report just after the celebration of Easter in the West, and I have both a sense of rejoicing that Christ is risen, defeating death and treading down evil, but also a pang of sorrow that we are not yet united in celebrating Easter together.
I remember hearing about “Faith and Order” for the first time. I was a freshman in theology reading Fr Georges Florovsky’s biography, and the phrase stuck in my mind.
“It was with sadness that we received the news of the passing of Prof. Dr Julio Hector de Santa Ana, a reference of ecumenical theology in a liberating perspective,” said Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). De Santa Ana passed away in Geneva, Switzerland, on 17 April.
Each year, ecumenical partners in a different region are asked to prepare the materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This year, Christians from Minnesota developed the resources with input from an international group representing the Roman Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission. The resources include an ecumenical opening prayer service, biblical reflections and prayers for eight days, and other elements of worship.
In his first address after his election on 19 April 2005, Pope Benedict XVI pledged to work for the full and visible unity of all of Christ’s followers, Dr Stephen G. Brown, editor of the World Council of Churches journal The Ecumenical Review, has recalled in an address to a symposium in Dublin.