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The South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) is calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a halt to atrocities being committed in the world’s youngest nation while calling on the international community to speak as one for a peaceful resolution to the conflict tearing their country apart.

Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt have taken a significant ecumenical step by signing a common declaration that Roman Catholics and Copts may recognize each other’s baptisms. The agreement is, in the eyes of the World Council of Churches (WCC), a “sign of hope”.

For most of the world’s newest nation, wracked by internal conflict, joy seems far away, and yet for Christians, Easter is still a time of hope. A recent message from the South Sudan Council of Churches says the Resurrection reminds us that even in this world there is “goodness and light with triumph”.

The WCC joined the National Council of Churches in South Korea in expressing grave concern at the redeployment of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group to the seas surrounding the Korean peninsula.

Two churches in North America have issued a joint Holy Week message lamenting that the Middle East remains marked by tragedy, while noting events in Egypt and Syria, but rejoicing in the hope that the resurrection of Jesus brings.

The Patriarchs and heads of local churches in Jerusalem offered an Easter message to the world that celebrates the resurrection as well as unity in Christ.

The National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) and the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) have worked together to prepare the “2017 Easter Joint North-South Prayer.”

With less than a week before hotly contested local elections, church leaders in South Africa have appealed for calm and asked political leaders of all political parties to help contain dissent. The run-up to the elections on 3 August has been marred by recurrent bouts of violence, intimidation and even political assassinations.

A bomb attack by terrorists using the name of religion in Lahore on Easter Sunday marked the third time Christians have been targeted in Pakistan in three years, illustrating the vulnerability of people in the country.

The World Council of Churches' general secretary has strongly condemned the lethal terror attack in Pakistan on 27 March as shocking and brutal, urging the government to ensure that its communities can be better protected against fanatics.