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“Holy Places and our Human Identities”, address of the World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca at the conference "International Religious Freedom and Peace – To Promote Freedom of Religion and Preservation of Spiritual, Cultural and Historical Heritage" held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from 8-12 September 2021.

Speech by the WCC Acting General Secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has paid tribute to its former general secretary, Rev. Dr Philip Potter, who was born on 19 August 1921, and led the council from 1972 to 1984, a time of global religious and socio-political change.

WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca letter to the Orthodox Church in America expressing condolences and celebrating Protopresbyter Leonid Kishkovsky’s life.

In a 13 July letter to the United Nations Security Council, the Diálogo Intereclesial por la Paz en Colombia (DiPaz), an interchurch platform for dialogue for peace in Colombia, called on the international community to urge the Colombian government to resume the full implementation of the peace agreement and strengthen channels of dialogue to resolve societal issues.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca shared cordial greetings to Buddhist friends across the world observing the festival of Vesak. “May the values of compassion, loving kindness, empathy and equanimity taught by Gautama Buddha, whose birth, enlightenment and death you commemorate on this auspicious occasion, continue to inspire and guide you during this time of pandemic,” wrote Sauca. “We are living in an unprecedented time of uncertainty and widespread suffering due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The World Council of Churches, with more than 350 member churches in 120 countries representing over 560 million people globally, welcomes the establishment of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which has brought a desperately-needed respite from the violence, bloodshed and destruction that Secretary-General Guterres rightly described as “appalling” and “senseless”.

As international church-based organisations which have been providing long-standing support to efforts for peace in Colombia, we add our voices to the multitude of urgent calls from the international community for the Colombian authorities to stop the spiral of violence that is doing terrible harm to the civilian population.

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca conveyed greetings, along with a sense of concern, to the WCC’s Muslim colleagues and partners around the world as they observe Eid al-Fitr.

This annual review of the activity of the WCC records many of the activities undertaken by the council during 2020 and continuing into 2021.

The Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) met virtually for its plenary session from 12-14 April 2021 under the leadership of His Eminence Archbishop and Metropolitan Nifon of Târgoviște, Romanian Orthodox Church, and Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Dublin.

Address by Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri offering an ecumenical perspective on Fratelli tutti, the third encyclical of Pope Francis on fraternity and social friendship, during the webinar on International Women’s Day, 3 March 2021.

During an online meeting on 3 February 2021, the Executive Committee of the Joint Working Group between the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Roman Catholic Church focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ecclesial life and ecumenical relations in different local contexts.

In conjunction with the International Day of Human Fraternity 2021, the World Council of Churches, Pax Christi Northern California, and Soka Gakkai International issued a joint statement, entitled “A Plea for Preserving Our Shared Humanity,” that expresses concern over the insidious development of weapons systems that lack meaningful human control.

God of compassion and solidarity, we come together as people with open hearts...

This week in the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, we are praying with the people and churches of  Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Western Sahara, Tunisia.

This order of service for the World Interfaith Harmony Week makes use of material from the document Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond, jointly produced by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Prayers were prepared in cooperation with the Lutheran World Federation.

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, WCC interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca called upon people to pause to remember the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

Lord God of compassion, hear our prayer...

Today marks Holocaust Memorial Day.

This week in the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, we are praying with the people and churches of Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey.

Prayers were prepared in cooperation with the Lutheran World Federation.

As the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force on 22 January, the World Council of Churches joined other global faith communities in welcoming the groundbreaking moment. A joint statement endorsed by 156 organizations celebrated the milestone and, at the same time, noted that there is urgent work yet to be done to ensure a nuclear weapons-free world.