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On 20 April, an ecumenical delegation led by World Council of Churches president from Africa His Holiness Most Rev. Dr Rufus Okikiola Ositelu, of the Church of the Lord (Prayer Fellowship) Worldwide, met with Sudan president General Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan. 

An ecumenical global prayer on 28 July expressed solidarity, hope, and lament as the people and churches of Sudan continue to exist amid conflict and violence.

The World Council of Churches was among ecumenical organizations based in Africa and international partners that signed a 24 June joint statement on Sudan.

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.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed grave concern over the current state of emergency in Sudan. “Government officials, including ministers and civilian members of the Transitional Sovereign Council, have been arrested,” said WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca. “It has also been reported that at least seven people have been killed and some 140 others injured after soldiers opened fire on demonstrators.”

The WCC general secretary extended condolences on the death of Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, former moderator of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA).

In the West African countries of Togo and Benin, adolescents and young people are confronted by various obstacles in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. Organized by the World Council of Churches Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy West Africa regional office in Lomé, Togo, a workshop for 25 adolescents and young people from Benin and Togo helped participants make safe, responsible choices that prevent HIV infection.

The African continent bears witness to the tragic consequences of the manipulation of religion to incite violence. Yet it is also the home of untold instances of the power of religious leaders and actors to exert a positive influence, said panellists at an international meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today.

A new initiative titled Ecumenical Institute for the Middle East is “promising and inspiring” in its attempt to train young Christians in ecumenical thought and history, according to Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC.

The “pilgrimage is both a way to continue working for the one ecumenical movement and a way to move forward in our times that offer new dimensions, opportunities and practices,” said the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Attacks on civilians and the denial of human rights continues in the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan.

Churches in Togo have taken on a compelling fight against HIV and AIDS. Sexual minorities, highly vulnerable to the pandemic, remain in dire need of pastoral care that encourages access to HIV prevention facilities, if their lives are to be saved.

In his meeting with the Sudanese minister Alfatih T. Abdallah, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit stressed the important role of Sudanese churches in rebuilding their nation after years of conflict, along with the assurance of their religious freedoms.