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World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, on behalf of the global fellowship, expressed grave concern regarding the recent escalation of violence in the Middle East following the first direct confrontation between Iran and Israel.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay opened the 10th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs on 23 January in New York City, with reflections on the theme “Human Rights and Dignity: Towards a Just, Peaceable, and Inclusive Future.” 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed both outrage and shock at the news of an airstrike on the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay on postponing a planned roundtable dialogue meeting on Ukraine.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay sent warm greetings to the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Peace Train project, which works for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The World Council of Churches is concerned and saddened to hear about alleged actions taken against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Jerusalem, 22 November 2022

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca delivered a lecture during the first edition of the “Bahrain Dialogue Forum: East and West for Human Coexistence” held 3-4 November. Sauca’s lecture took place during a forum session entitled “Experiences of Promoting Global Coexistence and Human Fraternity.”

Keynote speech of the World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca at the Ecumenical peace conversation, Seoul, Korea, 11 October 2022.

In a letter to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation, and Volodymyr Oleksandrovytch Zelensky, president of Ukraine, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca urged the leaders to listen to the cries of their own faithful people.

In a response to a letter from First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed both his appreciation for her candid reflections as well as his own pain at the ongoing and increasingly grave humanitarian consequences of the conflict.

On 22 February 2022, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed grave concern for the people of Ukraine amid the latest developments and escalating tensions threatening peace and security.

The World Council of Churches, with its member churches throughout the world, urgently appeals for peace for the people of Ukraine.

by Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches

The World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed grave concern over the current state of emergency in Sudan. “Government officials, including ministers and civilian members of the Transitional Sovereign Council, have been arrested,” said WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca. “It has also been reported that at least seven people have been killed and some 140 others injured after soldiers opened fire on demonstrators.”

“Holy Places and our Human Identities”, address of the World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca at the conference "International Religious Freedom and Peace – To Promote Freedom of Religion and Preservation of Spiritual, Cultural and Historical Heritage" held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from 8-12 September 2021.

The World Council of Churches, with more than 350 member churches in 120 countries representing over 560 million people globally, welcomes the establishment of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which has brought a desperately-needed respite from the violence, bloodshed and destruction that Secretary-General Guterres rightly described as “appalling” and “senseless”.

As international church-based organisations which have been providing long-standing support to efforts for peace in Colombia, we add our voices to the multitude of urgent calls from the international community for the Colombian authorities to stop the spiral of violence that is doing terrible harm to the civilian population.