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Rt Rev. Dr Samuel Amirtham, an internationally renowned theologian, bishop and ecumenical leader, passed away on 26 September at the age of 85. Amirtham was a multifaceted and charismatic teacher, pastor, leader, and revolutionary, inspiring and accompanying many lives, from remote villages to universities, to the corridors of power.

The 78-year-old sociology professor recently inaugurated as President of the (South) Korean Red Cross had his first contacts with the divided North while working at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, where he served for more than 17 years until 1999.

Este profesor de Sociología de 78 años, nombrado recientemente presidente de la Cruz Roja Coreana (del Sur), tuvo su primer contacto con el Norte dividido mientras trabajaba en el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) en Ginebra, donde sirvió más de diecisiete años hasta 1999.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, met with church leaders and politicians in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand last week. The meeting occurred almost one year after his latest visit to the region. On request of the church leaders a meeting took place with political leaders to discuss follow-up on the Paris Agreement, peace in the Middle East and on the Korean Peninsula, and the challenges the region is facing.

As the recent developments of nuclear weapons and increased tensions between United States and North Korea leaders can bring the world to the brink of war, churches around the world are calling for bilateral dialogue, expressing their commitment to peace and nonviolent resolution.

En vista de que los recientes progresos en el desarrollo de las armas nucleares y el aumento de las tensiones entre Estados Unidos y Corea del Norte pueden llevar al mundo al borde de una guerra, las iglesias de todo el mundo llaman al diálogo bilateral y expresan su compromiso con la paz y la resolución no violenta de los conflictos.

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is the latest participating organization to announce it will join, on 13 August, a “Sunday of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula.”

Churches across the world are invited to show solidarity with Korean churches by joining the prayer, based on Romans 14:19: “Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

On 18-19 July, 35 young leaders from 14 countries across Asia – part of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Youth in Asia Training in Religious Amity (YATRA) – travelled to the Indonesian city of Bandung to meet with faith leaders and young activists engaged in interreligious dialogue and work.

The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), on 11-12 July, held an international consultation on “Towards Revitalising the Ecumenical Movement in Asia.” The gathering of 60 church and ecumenical leaders was organised by the CCA at its headquarters in Chiang Mai, Thailand as a prelude to its Diamond Jubilee celebration.

As a WCC-convened forum on peace on the Korean Peninsula came to a close, participants from around the world, representing many churches, vowed to work together in accompanying the Christians of North and South Korea in their efforts for peace, reconciliation, and development.

Al término de un foro para la paz en la península de Corea convocado por el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), los participantes, venidos de todo el mundo en representación de muchas iglesias, se comprometieron a trabajar juntos para acompañar a los cristianos de Corea del Norte y del Sur en sus esfuerzos por la paz, la reconciliación y el desarrollo.

The World Council of Churches' (WCC) popular YATRA (Youth in Asia Training for Religious Amity) programme has a new online learning component that adds four weeks of intensive training to two weeks of residential learning. When 35 young men and women from 14 different countries meet at the Jakarta Theological Seminary in Indonesia on 8 July, they will already have a familiarity with the major religious traditions found in Asia, thanks to their online studies.

The World Council of Churches reiterates (WCC) the urgent appeal issued by its Executive Committee in June for “all states engaged in the perilously escalating military confrontation in the [Korean] region to refrain from further escalation and to pursue instead initiatives to reduce tensions and to create a window for new dialogue initiatives.”

“In the face of escalating confrontation and heightened risks of catastrophic conflict” on the Korean peninsula, the World Council of Churches has urged that “a paradigm shift in approaches to the resolution of the geopolitical challenges of the region is urgently needed.”

“Ante el aumento de la confrontación y el mayor riesgo de un conflicto catastrófico” en la península de Corea, el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias ha insistido en que “se necesita urgentemente un cambio de paradigma en los enfoques para resolver los desafíos geopolíticos de la región”.

On 30 May 2017 a delegation led by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met with the President of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in, who took office on 10 May 2017.

El 30 de mayo de 2017, una delegación liderada por el secretario general del CMI, el Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, se reunió con el presidente de la República de Corea, Moon Jae-in, que tomó posesión de su cargo el 10 de mayo de 2017.

Eighteen representatives from theological institutions in Asia met in Bangkok, Thailand, from 17-20 April at a consultation on “Ecumenical Theological Education and Contextual Theologies in Asia” convened by the Ecumenical Theological Education department of the WCC with the support of the Foundation for Theological Education in South East Asia, and in collaboration with theological associations and institutions in Asia.

The WCC joined the National Council of Churches in South Korea in expressing grave concern at the redeployment of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group to the seas surrounding the Korean peninsula.

El CMI se unió al Consejo Nacional de Iglesias de Corea del Sur (NCCK) para expresar su profunda preocupación por el redespliegue del portaaviones USS Carl Vinson y su grupo de combate en los mares que rodean la península de Corea.