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Closer ties being forged between the United States of America and Cuba can help strengthen the hopes and material situation of people in the Caribbean nation, says the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), has issued a statement on behalf of the Council hailing the historic meeting of Pope Francis, pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, and Patriarch Kirill, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.The two leaders met on 12 February in Havana, Cuba.

Le pasteur Olav Fykse Tveit, secrétaire général du COE, a publié au nom du Conseil une déclaration dans laquelle il se félicite de la rencontre historique entre le pape François, souverain pontife de l’Église catholique romaine, et le patriarche Cyrille, primat de l’Église orthodoxe russe.

Leaders and representatives from the Cuban Council of Churches, the Latin American Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches USA and the WCC have spoken out together on the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States.

Following the positive developments in relations between Cuba and the United States announced yesterday by their governments, the WCC general secretary expressed his gratitude for the process.

Churches in the United States, including member churches of the WCC, have called on the Obama administration to open up a high-level dialogue with Cuba aimed at normalizing relations between the two countries.

Rev. Tuikilakila Waqairatu, president of the Methodist Church in Fiji, who passed away on 11 February, was remembered by the WCC with a moment of “prayerful silence” at its WCC Executive Committee meeting currently underway in Switzerland.

Following five ballots, Rev. Felipe Adolf was elected on 24 May as president of the board of the Latin American Council of Churches during the 6th Assembly of this regional council in Havana, Cuba, meeting from 20 to 26 May.

Working in alliance with churches is strategically important, said a UN representative at the recent assembly of the Latin American Council of Churches.

“Diakonia must be done through action, social services, advocacy and challenging systems and structures that create injustice and dehumanization of people,” said Rev. Dr Paul Gardner of Jamaica at a seminar in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which included a visit by the president of Haiti.

How does the church interact with a rapidly changing society? On 31 August, members of the World Council of Churches Central Committee spent much of the morning discussing this question in a pair of plenary sessions in Geneva.