Radu Constantin grew up in the small hamlet of Cioatele, in northeastern Romania, a village he describes as “religious people, very involved in the church life.”
Recent years have witnessed a seismic shift in the global landscape of climate litigation, with youth activists taking center stage in the fight for environmental justice.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) participated in three online events on 22 March, World Water Day, under the banner "Leveraging Water for Peace." These events, held in collaboration with various global partners, underscored the crucial intersection of faith, international perspectives, and the mission to build a sustainable Blue Community.
Kevin Maina, a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development and a representative of the Anglican communion, shares his experience as a participant of the United Nations Environment Assembly's sixth session (UNEA-6) in Kenya.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) cosponsored with Laudato Si Research Institute and the World Communion of Reformed Churches, Lutheran World Federation, Anglican Communion, and World Methodist Council an international seminar on “The Feast of Creation and the Mystery of Creation: Ecumenism, Theology, Liturgy, and Signs of the Times in Dialogue,” from 14-16 March at Laudato Si’ Center of Assisi and Pro Civitate Christiana, in Italy.
“El medio ambiente no nos da; nosotros aportamos al medio ambiente”, dijo el Rev. Dr. Stavros Kofinas, coordinador de la Red del Patriarcado Ecuménico para la Pastoral de la Salud. Kofinas y el nuevo moderador de la Comisión de las Iglesias para la Salud y la Sanación del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), quien habló el 5 de marzo, durante un debate de tres comisiones del CMI.
The environment doesn't give to us; we provide to the environment, said Rev. Dr Stavros Kofinas, coordinator of the Network of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Pastoral Health Care. Kofinas, the new moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Health and Healing, spoke on 5 March, during a discussion by three WCC commissions.
La tercera reflexión de la serie, Siete Semanas para el Agua 2024, de la Red Ecuménica del Agua del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), está escrita por el Rvdmo Dr. Augustinos Bairactaris. En esta reflexión, subraya que la justicia hídrica es una tarea teológica para todas las personas, y que la salud del agua es vital para la civilización humana y para la estabilidad del clima y la biodiversidad mundial. Insta a toda la cristiandad a orar, ayunar y actuar conjuntamente por un medio ambiente y un planeta sostenibles, especialmente durante la Cuaresma.
The third reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2024 series of the WCC Ecumenical Water Network is written by Very Rev. Dr Augustinos Bairactaris. In this reflection, he underscores that the water justice issue is a theological task for all, and that the health of the water is vital to human civilization, and for the stability of the world’s climate and biodiversity. He urges all Christians to pray, fast, and act together for a sustainable environment and planet, especially during Lent.
The World Council of Churches (WCC), with the Laudato Si’ Movement and other partners, will cohost a seminar in Assisi, Italy, on 15-16 March. Entitled "The Feast of Creation and the Mystery of Creation: Ecumenism, Theology, Liturgy, and Signs of the Times in Dialogue,” the event aims to deepen the collective understanding and appreciation of the Feast of Creation, observed on 1 September.
The first reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2024 series of the WCC Ecumenical Water Network is written by Dr Munib Younan,* bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and former president of the Lutheran World Federation. In this reflection, the author, as a Palestinian, in line with this year's theme of "leveraging water for peace,” reflects on Isaiah's promise of free water for the thirsty in the context of the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza that has worsened the water situation in Gaza to catastrophic levels.
La primera reflexión de la serie Siete Semanas para el Agua 2024 de la Red Ecuménica del Agua del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) está escrita por el Dr. Munib Younan*, obispo emérito de la Iglesia Evangélica Luterana en Jordania y Tierra Santa y expresidente de la Federación Luterana Mundial. En esta reflexión, el autor, como palestino, en consonancia con el tema de este año de “Aprovechar el agua para la paz”, reflexiona sobre la promesa de Isaías de agua gratuita para los sedientos en el contexto de la actual guerra israelí en Gaza que ha empeorado la situación hídrica en Gaza hasta llegar a niveles catastróficos.
The World Council of Churches (WCC), on 12 February, submitted comments to the zero draft of the “Pact for the Future,” the envisaged outcome of the UN Summit for the Future.
Aunque la vigésimo octava Conferencia de las Partes de la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático (COP28) no logró producir un plan creíble para eliminar gradualmente los combustibles fósiles, todavía hay motivos para abrigar la esperanza de que el mundo podrá avanzar hacia la justicia climática, dijo el secretario general del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias, el Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, al concluir la COP28.
Dirigentes religiosos de unas cuarenta organizaciones confesionales del mundo entero acordaron seguir defendiendo el derecho individual a solicitar asilo durante una reunión en Ginebra en la víspera del Foro Mundial sobre los Refugiados, el encuentro internacional sobre este asunto de mayor relevancia mundial. El hito se produjo en un evento celebrado el 12 de diciembre en el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), que presidió un arzobispo armenio y una diplomática de la ONU que fue legisladora en Turquía.
Su santidad el patriarca ecuménico Bartolomé pronunció un discurso ante diversos líderes religiosos reunidos en el Centro Ecuménico del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias el 12 de diciembre, en vísperas de la apertura del Foro Mundial sobre los Refugiados.
Though COP28 failed to produce a credible plan to phase out fossil fuels, there is still reason for hope that the world can move toward climate justice, said World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay as COP28 concluded.
The moment religious leaders from around 40 faith-based organisations worldwide agreed to keep defending the individual right to seek asylum during a gathering in Geneva marked a high point on the eve of the Global Refugee Forum, the world's biggest such international gathering.They met at a one-day event on 12 December at the World Council of Churches (WCC), chaired by an Armenian archbishop and a UN diplomat who was once a Turkish legislator.
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew addressed an assembly of religious leaders gathered at the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Centre on 12 December—the day before the opening of the Global Refugee Forum.
A COP28 side event on 10 December, entitled “Faith communities have a moral imperative to address Water-food-climate Justice,” reimagined a world in which climate action policies help create a habitable world for all.