Search results

More than 600 people attended the Ninth Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs, held online on 24 January. Exploring the theme “Securing People’s Wellbeing and Planetary Sustainability,” the symposium was organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and a coalition of faith-based and UN partners. The event featured UN officials, representatives of international faith-based organizations, and other experts on climate change, disarmament, and other relevant topics.

For the past 75 years, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has announced how close it believes the world is to a nuclear attack. On 24 January, it has announced that we are only 90 seconds to midnight.

After the assassination of human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, statements and messages of condolences began pouring forth from churches and governments across the world. Maseko was shot in his home in Eswatini on 21 January by unknown attackers.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay denounced a bomb attack that killed 17 members of the parish of the 8th Community of Pentecostal Churches of Congo on 15 January. Thirty-nine people were wounded.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay denounced continuing attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Russia’s ongoing illegal war against the people of Ukraine.

Amid rapidly rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the past few weeks, the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) released a statement entitled “Hope for the Korean Peninsula from the heat of war to coexistence with the warm breeze of peace.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC), in letters to Colombian president Gustavo Petro and to Colombian peace commissioner Danilo Rueda, expressed the WCC’s support and solidarity for peace-building in Colombia—and confirmed the WCC’s representation in the dialogue process between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) in response to an earlier invitation.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay joined the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and all the churches of the Holy Land in condemning the desecration of the historic Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion.

In a statement released 27 December, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the storming of its land by an Israeli radical group in Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, south of the Old City of Jerusalem.

A new publication, “Applied Research Project: Assessing the impact of sanctions on humanitarian work,” has been released by the Geneva Graduate Institute in partnership with the World Council of Churches (WCC), ACT Alliance, Caritas Internationalis, and World Evangelical Alliance.

Convening for a 10th round of dialogue, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue met at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute from 4-8 December, sharing their mutual visions for justice and peace in Iran.

A World Council of Churches (WCC) webinar to be held on 13 December will explore “Forgotten Tragedies: Remembering the Past and Moving Towards Reconciliation.”

During a webinar, “Faith Communities in the HIV & AIDS response today,” held on World AIDS Day, participants received an overview of the history of response to HIV from the World Council of Churches (WCC) and UNAIDS, and they mapped the way forward in combatting new challenges.

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca met with members of the Higher Presidential Committee of Church Affairs in Palestine.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) completed its annual meeting from 21-26 November, and also commemorated its 20th anniversary.

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed grave concern over continued recurrent attacks by Russian forces on energy facilities and other civilian infrastructure and areas in Ukraine, including most recently a maternity unit in which a newborn baby was killed.

On 24 November, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas formally received the acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca for a meeting to discuss just peace in Palestine and Israel.