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World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay held productive talks with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Anglican Communion leaders.

The fellowship of churches constituting the World Council of Churches mourns the loss of Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, an outstanding hierarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, one of the leading theologians today in the Orthodox world, a proliferous author, a teacher deeply respected by his many disciples around the world, a man of dialogue, a worldwide known ecumenist.

“The Pacific Conference of Churches welcomes you on board our ecumenical canoe, as we sail and voyage together beyond the fringing reefs and rocks of the many issues that affect us here in the Pacific and globally, and set sail with our eyes firmly fixed on the island of hope,” said Rev. Dr James Bhagwan, Pacific Conference of Churches general secretary as he welcomed participants of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace to Fiji, on 20 January.

“If we should be true to our faith, we cannot be quiet when we see what is happening,” reads the declaration of the Interfaith Liaison Committee to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to the United Nations climate change summit COP25 taking place in Madrid, Spain, 2-13 December. “We are voices that are driven by hope and compassion. In a most urgent situation to bend the emissions down faith traditions must contribute to the urgent transformation.”

“God is never indifferent to climate change that weakens the already weakened, impoverished and scattered populations throughout our world,” said Rev. Dr Nestor Friedrich, from Brazil, as he delivered the sermon during an ecumenical prayer service held on 8 December, in the Spanish Evangelical Church, in Madrid, during the United Nations climate change summit COP25.

As he shared the perspective of an indigenous person at a side event during the 25th Conference of Parties (COP25) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Madrid, Rev. Glen Chebon Kernell, urged people to adopt a deep respect for Mother Earth.

Representatives from multiple faith and religious backgrounds came together in Madrid, Spain on 1 December to find common ground in preparation for the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) 25 in Madrid, Spain.

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.

As religions and cultures from across the globe gathered for dialogue on 15-17 September in Madrid at the Sant’ Egidio conference on “Peace with no borders,” WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit addressed the crowd, reflecting on “the simple truth" of one human family.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit sent greetings to hundreds of young people from the Taize community as they gathered in Madrid from 28 December to 1 January to reflect on the theme “Let Us Not Forget Hospitality!”

From 14-16 December in the UK, the CEC and Cumberland Lodge held a conference titled "Towards Peaceful co-existence in the Middle East: challenges and opportunities." Co-hosted by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the gathering drew participants from a broad range of Middle Eastern and European churches.

Fifty young Christians and Muslims ages 20-25 are meeting 8-18 July for an Emerging Peacemakers Forum offering training in peacemaking and reconciliation at the Churchill College of Cambridge University in the UK. They will meet with international religious leaders, including the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and president of the Muslim Council of Elders Prof. Dr Ahmad Al-Tayyeb.

“Is our notion of discipleship inclusive of those who exist in the marginal spaces of our world?”, asked Adi Mariana Waqa, the keynote speaker of a plenary on the theme of mission from the margins at the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME).

During a visit to the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva on 16 February, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby spoke on an “ecumenism of action” as he also congratulated the WCC on its 70th anniversary.

As the world convenes in Bonn, Germany for the 23rd Conference of Parties (COP23) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma issued a statement calling for Methodists around the world to join in prayer for the country’s leadership and for the talanoa process of negotiations which will take place over the next two weeks.

In an awards ceremony held at Lambeth Palace on 9 June, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby presented a Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism to Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee.