Rev. Dr Evans Onyemara, general secretary of the Christian Council of Nigeria, attended the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee meeting from 8-14 November in Abuja, Nigeria. He took time to reflect on accomplishments and challenges in his country, and why he’s grateful for the presence of the WCC.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay congratulated Rt. Rev. Chituku-Neshangwe, from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA), the new president of All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC).
Durante la reunión del Comité Ejecutivo del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) en Abuja (Nigeria), del 8 al 14 de noviembre, el órgano rector publicó una declaración en la que reconocía su gran admiración por la “asombrosa diversidad de culturas, lenguas y religiones” de Nigeria y hacía un llamado al gobierno nigeriano a hacer un mayor esfuerzo para reparar las injusticias económicas y otros graves problemas que afectan a la nación.
As the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee met in Abuja, Nigeria, on 8-14 November, the governing body published a statement that included deep appreciation of Nigeria’s “astonishing diversity of cultures, languages, and religions”—as well as appeals to the Nigerian government to address economic injustice and other grave challenges facing the nation.
With a series of consultations and training on issues related to HIV and AIDS in Nigeria, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is providing both expertise and inspiration through its Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy programme.
During an ecumenical morning prayer held 15 May, the World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and partners observed the UN International Day of Living Together in Peace, holding in prayer many nations across the world facing challenges to living together in harmony.
Desde su fundación en 2016, el Centro Internacional para la Paz y la Armonía Interreligiosas en Kaduna (Nigeria) ha ido construyendo un marco para pacificadores que dan testimonio de la paz y la armonía interreligiosas. Al mismo tiempo, sigue siendo un símbolo físico que ayuda a musulmanes y cristianos a trabajar conjuntamente de forma más eficaz.
In the years since it was founded in 2016, the International Centre for Inter-Faith Peace and Harmony in Kaduna, Nigeria has been building a cadre of peacemakers who are witnesses to inter-religious peace and harmony. It also continues to serve as a physical symbol helping Muslims and Christians work together more effectively.
The “Nigeria Project” is both viable and desirable, despite a security crisis overwhelming the West African nation, said Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, retired Roman Catholic archbishop emeritus of Abuja.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with an estimated 210 million people, has a distinctive mix of people with almost equal numbers of Christians and Muslims, most of whom get on, living their normal lives intertwined in peace, except when terror strikes.
“The church has lots of roles in removing barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from living a fulfilled life. All are created in the image of God and have equal rights. Sexual and reproductive health is one such right that should not be denied to any woman,” said Rev. Evans Onyemara, general secretary of the Christian Council of Nigeria during a training on empowering women with disabilities on sexual and reproductive health care held at Umuahia, Nigeria from 9-11 March.
On the sidelines of the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, top UN officials, religious leaders and environmental experts underlined the role of faith communities in tackling climate change, a phenomenon that threatens to annihilate humanity.
“The seeds of peace come from the ground.” That is the vision that Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana, former director of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation at the World Council of Churches and now president of OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership, tries to follow with his organization.
The primate of The Church of the Lord, Aladura, Worldwide, an African initiated church founded in 1925 talks with pride about how the founder had a calling from God to have women serving with men in pastoral work. Primate Rev. Dr Rufus Okikiolaolu Ositelu, metropolitan archbishop of the church visited Geneva and the WCC on 29-30 January.
When more than 100 religious leaders and other actors from around the world gathered at the UN in Vienna in mid-February, it was a manifestation of unity between religious and non-religious organizations, and a genuine commitment to cooperate in dealing with hate speech and incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes.
The quest for dialogue in Nigeria and worldwide must never stop, said Primate of the Church of the Lord (Aladura) Rev. Dr Rufus Ositelu at the World Council of Churches on 29 January.
La búsqueda del diálogo en Nigeria y en el mundo entero nunca debe cesar, dijo el primado de la Iglesia del Señor (Aladura), Rev. Dr. Rufus Ositelu, al Consejo Mundial de Iglesias el 29 de enero.
Most Rev. Dr Rufus Okikiola Ositelu, primate of The Church of the Lord, Aladura (Prayer Fellowship) Worldwide will visit the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 28-30 January.
For Nigerian Nwankpa Kenneth Chinedu, attending a course on peacebuilding in Judaism, Christianity and Islam in Geneva opened his eyes and helped eliminate stereotypes and myths he had built in his mind about Muslims.
