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As Bishop Heike Springhart, bishop of the Landeskirche in Baden, looked out over the streets of Karlsruhe just before the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly began, she shared a sense of excitement. “The world is coming to Karlsruhe!” she said.

In a world crying out for justice and peace, the theme of the 2022 assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,” speaks of hope for a future in which resources are shared, inequalities are addressed and all can enjoy dignity, according to a new publication reflecting on the assembly theme.

The organizers of Germany’s biggest ecumenical gathering planned for 2021 have announced they intend the event to go ahead but on a reduced scale due to the COVID-19 pandemic and with strict hygiene measures.

About 65 scholars of Buddhist-Christian relations gathered in St Ottilien, near Eresing, Germany for a conference to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Rev. Dr Lynn A. de Silva (1919-1982), a pioneer of Christian Buddhist dialogue. Organised by the European Network of Buddhist Christian Studies in association with the World Council of Churches (WCC), the conference focused on the theme “Buddhist-Christian Encounter – A Visionary Approach”.

The Europe region of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) elected a new Regional Executive Committee during its once-every-four-years assembly, held as part of as joint seminar organised with the Conference of European Churches (CEC) from 10-12 April in Helsinki and Stockholm.

“We are united in a pact of love, that encourages us to live in such a way that Christian unity is not only a dream, but may come closer each day,” said His Eminence Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij, archbishop of Bangkok and Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Addolorata, as 40 bishops from 18 churches in 12 different countries gather in Sigtuna, Sweden, this week.

When WCC’s long-time partner, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, another small but important step towards a safer world was taken. Not only was it a recognition of global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, but also an affirmation of the role Christian churches have played at local and grassroots levels to raise awareness and mobilize people against nuclear proliferation.

The World Council of Churches has welcomed the signing of two ecumenical statements by the World Communion of Reformed Churches in which it seeks to overcome divisions of the past and to work with other Christian communions for unity and common witness.

Geneva, 3 November 2016: Events that mark the 500-year anniversary of the Reformation are being launched today in the Reformation city of Geneva. Federal Councillor Alain Berset gave the welcoming address. The Reformation truck, which will travel from Geneva to 67 Reformation cities in 19 countries, was unveiled at the international commencement. Events to mark the anniversary will be held in Switzerland and throughout Europe in the coming months. The aim is not to return to a mystical date in history, but rather to reflect on what the Reformation means to the generations of today and tomorrow.

A global gathering in the German city of Halle has called on churches to be inspired by the tradition of the Reformation to become agents of transformation.

More than 120 people from throughout the world have gathered in the eastern German city of Halle to reflect on how insights from the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago can contribute to transforming the world today.

Almost forty years after the advent of HIV and AIDS, people around the world living with HIV still endure assaults on their dignity and basic human rights—from stigma and discrimination to denial of legal protection and even medical care.

Mere days after terror attacks in Beirut and Paris, the theme of an interfaith meeting of Christians and Muslims at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on “Religion, Peace and Violence” was entirely appropriate, said participants.

Ecumenical efforts led by the WCC continue to encourage peace in Ukraine, where a fragile cease-fire is daily tested by violence in the eastern part of the country.