Our successful visit to Rome with various ecumenical deliberations itself testifies that ecumenical engagements can move forward despite the pandemic. The launch of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity document “Ecumenism in a Time of Pandemic: From Crisis to Opportunity,” followed by an ecumenical panel discussion, helped us to understand how different churches have approached the pandemic.
WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reflects on “The Pandemic, the World Council of Churches, and Global Health,” as part of a discussion hosted by the Institute for Ecumenical Studies of Angelicum University.
As the ACT Alliance opened its online General Assembly on 29 November, the global faith-based coalition will elect a new governing board; officers; and membership and nominations committee.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee closed its meeting after convening from 12-17 November, leaving with a sense of hope, even while publicly expressing grave concern over many global injustices facing the world today.
Journalist and theologian Michel Kocher is a director at Médias-pro, a Swiss company that produces audio-visual materials with a spiritual flair. Below, Kocher reflects on how his team produced a new 360° tour of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Chapel.
An Ecumenical Day on 16 October brought music, prayers, and workshops for many gathered in Bad-Herrenalb, Germany, on the occasion of the annual conference of the National Council of Churches in Baden-Württemberg. The World Council of Churches (WCC) brought greetings and a preview of the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly as well.
Address of Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches at the meeting of WCC, EKD, German Federal Foreign Office and TransAtlantic Network, 13 October 2021
The fruits of a September symposium on “Communication for Social Justice in a Digital Age” are being shared globally—with an invitation to contribute to an action plan for steps on the way to digital justice.
As a symposium on digital justice drew to a close on 15 September, participants were weighing their vision for the future in a landscape fraught with injustice. Those taking part in the symposium—be they theologians, church leaders, politicians, students, journalists or professional communicators—are all in fact, “digital communicators,” and this broad array of people who care worked to hone their collective thoughts into recommendations they believe can help the world.
“Social Justice in Our Digital Age: An Ecumenical Aim”, message of Dr Agnes Abuom, WCC Central Committee moderator at the international symposium “Communication for Social Justice in a Digital Age”, 15 September 2021
Participants at a symposium exploring challenges and opportunities for a more just digital future held a lively discussion on and offline on how the digital era has changed the notion of public space.
If digital social justice begins with connectivity, perhaps it ends when that connectivity is usurped by oppressive regimes, extremists, fake news and hate speech. A “press club”-style conversation on 13 September found theologians, politicians, church communicators, activists and journalists from around the world weighing in on the short but exceedingly complex question, “Digital instruments – Blessing or Curse?”
Besides the dangerous monopoly structures in the digital economy, there is a danger for liberty and justice as they are crucial for pluralistic democracies in the digital world, says Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. Bedford-Strohm is also chairperson of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany and was a keynote speaker at the opening of the symposium exploring challenges and opportunities for a more just digital future, in Berlin on 13-15 September, and co-organized by the EKD.
As a teenager growing up in East Germany in the 1980s, Dr Ellen Ueberschär learned of freedom of speech in her church parish and believes that fundamental digital rights will not prevail on their own or through voluntary commitments by corporations.
Digital justice for Kenyan Samson Waweru is clear, as he believes there should be equal access to both cyber and print information for those who have disabilities and those who do not.
When using a computer, he says in a video interview with World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive Joy Eva Bohol that it applies to social media platforms and access to them.
Dr Salters Sterling, 84, readily sees the ties between his three biggest passions: the ecumenical movement, supporting people on the periphery of society, and speaking out on what churches need to do to survive in today’s digital world.
Sterling spent his career as a senior university administrator of Trinity College in Dublin, then began teaching there after he retired.
Digital justice is relevant to everyone in the digital age, yet it is more important to those living under an autocratic government that can use digital technologies for surveillance of civilians, says a Protestant Christian who works in advocacy.
Her work involves supporting non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across Asia and Europe, and she asked for her name not to be used.
