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The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned an attack on a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi´s home north of New York City, on 28 December, stabbing and wounding five people. Several state and local officials have described the location of stabbing as a synagogue.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemned attacks across the world that have occurred during a violent week during which many have lost their lives or lost their loved ones. “Violent attacks on innocent human beings in the name of any religion cannot be accepted, and should not be accepted by any religion.”

Even as international tension mounts, religious leaders from North and South Korea renewed their exchange during a December meeting that kept the push for peace alive. Members of the Steering Committee of the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula – including delegations from the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) of North Korea and of the National Council of Churches in South Korea (NCCK) – met in Shenyang, China, on 2-3 December 2019.

With great sadness, the World Council of Churches (WCC) received news of the demise of Prof. Vuyani Vellem on 4 December. A member of the WCC’s Commission on Ecumenical Education and Formation, Vellem was director of the Centre for Public Theology and associate professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He also served as deputy secretary of the South Africa Council of Churches.

Rev. Dr Martin Robra has been a key contributor to the ecumenical movement for the last 25 years, working for the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Robra is a theologian and ordained pastor who served as programme executive for the WCC for Ecumenical Continuing Formation, Roman Catholic relations, the joint inter-faith project with the International Labour Organisation Advancing Peace through social justice and support for the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

WCC Communication asked Robra to reflect on his years of service to the WCC fellowship.

Rev. Dr. Martin Robra ha realizado una contribución fundamental al movimiento ecuménico durante los últimos 25 años, a través de su trabajo para el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI).
El Rev. Robra es un teólogo y pastor ordenado que se ha desempeñado como responsable del programa del CMI de Formación ecuménica continua, de relaciones con la Iglesia Católica Romana, y del proyecto interreligioso conjunto con la Organización Internacional del Trabajo Promover la paz a través de la justicia social, y ha llevado a cabo una labor de apoyo a la peregrinación de justicia y paz.
El departamento de Comunicación del CMI ha pedido al Rev. Robra que reflexione sobre sus años de servicio a la comunidad del CMI.

On 18 November a delegation led by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met with the prime minister of the Republic of Korea, Lee Nak-yeon.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) continues to amplify the voice of the indigenous Papuans in Indonesia, who are oppressed by racism and discrimination.

Concerned about the escalating crisis of violence, racism and discrimination against indigenous Papuans in Indonesia, a side event co-sponsored by the WCC was convened during a fall session of the UN Human Rights Council to discuss patterns that are oppressing and displacing Papuans.

The Roman Catholic Church has presented a formal response to “The Church: Towards a Common Vision,” the fruit of three decades of international ecumenical conversation about what it means to be the church.

La Iglesia Católica Romana ha presentado una respuesta formal para “La Iglesia: hacia una visión común”, fruto de tres décadas de conversaciones ecuménicas internacionales sobre lo que significa ser iglesia.

As the Finnish Mission Council celebrated its centenary on 12 October in Tampere, Finland, the Lutheran Archbishop of Finland, Dr Tapio Luoma, celebrated the witness in mission of the earlier missionaries and generations. Luoma also urged every generation to find answers to the question of how to live fully as a disciple of Jesus and fulfil his commission.

Al tiempo que comienza el otoño, las iglesias de Karlsruhe y de toda Alemania avanzan en los preparativos para recibir la Asamblea del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias en 2021.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) offers its congratulations to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2019. Since his election as Prime Minister in April 2018, Mr Ahmed has championed an impressive programme of positive and inspiring reform initiatives, and played a decisive role in the reconciliation of the two synods and fostered unity of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The achievement which this award particularly recognizes is his leadership in bringing an formal end to the twenty-year long fratricidal conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

El Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) felicita al primer ministro de Etiopía, Abiy Ahmed, Premio Nobel de la Paz 2019. Desde su elección como primer ministro en abril de 2018, el Sr. Ahmed ha defendido un impresionante programa de iniciativas de reforma positivas e inspiradoras, ha desempeñado un papel decisivo en la reconciliación de los dos sínodos y ha fomentado la unidad de la Iglesia Ortodoxa Tewahedo de Etiopía. El logro que este premio reconoce particularmente es su liderazgo para poner fin formalmente al conflicto fratricida de veinte años entre Etiopía y Eritrea.

Churches across southern Africa are publicly saying #EnoughIsEnough,” with many denominations and congregations continuing to issue strong statements, arrange special prayer events, and speak out against rising levels of violence.

Both the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) have been discussing gender justice and how to keep the momentum going on the unprecedented public demand for change.

During a visit from World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC member churches in Japan received expressions of appreciation from the WCC for hosting various visits and forums that strengthened ecumenical ties.

WCC members in Japan reported a deepening spirit of koinonia as well as more involvement in the programmatic life of the WCC, particularly as the ecumenical movement sets its sights on the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly in 2021 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is currently working on learning from its member churches and other partners about the realities around the world of racism, discrimination, and xenophobia, WCC director of international affairs Peter Prove has told a gathering at the United Nations in Geneva.
Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Prove was speaking on 17 September at a side event during the 42nd UN Human Rights Council from 9 - 27 September at the Palais des Nations.

El Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) está recabando información de sus iglesias miembros y otros asociados para conocer las realidades del racismo, la discriminación y la xenofobia en las distintas partes del mundo, dijo el director de Asuntos Internacionales del CMI, Peter Prove, en una reunión en la sede de las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra.

Prove, también director de la Comisión de las Iglesias para Asuntos Internacionales del CMI, intervino el 17 de septiembre en un evento paralelo en el marco de la 42a sesión del Consejo de Derechos Humanos, que se reúne del 9 al 27 de septiembre en el Palacio de las Naciones.