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Refugees from Ukraine in Záhony train station, Hungary

WCC appalled by escalating impact on civilians of conflict in Ukraine

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca appealed for an immediate end to indiscriminate attacks with an escalating impact on civilians in Ukraine.

11 March 2022

Statement: public statement

Statement of Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, WCC acting general secretary on Ukraine

The World Council of Churches is appalled by the escalating impact of the conflict in Ukraine on civilians – the women, men and children of Ukraine – and by what appears to be increasingly indiscriminate attacks.

11 March 2022

General Secretary

WCC training focuses on achieving racial justice through UN human rights mechanisms

A five-day online training workshop, “Achieving Racial Justice Through Human Rights Mechanisms,” from 21-25 February, drew over 30 participants from 13 different countries.

03 March 2022

Church leaders and public gathered in large group on the top of a hill.

Heads of churches in Holy Land voice objection to Mount of Olives being enfolded into national park

After heads of churches in the Holy Land voiced their objections to a proposal to expand Jerusalem Walls National Park to include property owned by several churches in the city, Israel's Nature and Parks Authority announced on 21 February that it was backing down from the plan.

23 February 2022

Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca and Dr Agnes Abuom outside the Ecumenical centre in Geneva

WCC leaders recall life-changing experiences from early days

At the end of a 9 February press conference — which followed a long day of videoconference meetings — Dr Agnes Abuom and Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauce fielded a surprise question: what first got them involved in the ecumenical movement?

10 February 2022

Some 30 people on a field planting olive trees.

Planting trees and working for peace in Palestine

One hundred and thirty Jewish volunteers planted 400 olive trees last week in Palestinian villages, continuing their work even following at least one violent attack.

26 January 2022

"Vidas negras importam" (Black Lives Matter), read the sign of one of the protesters gathered in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Symposium on Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs will push to combat racism

The 8th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs, to be held 25 January, will focus on “Mobilizing Moral Influence and Governance to End the Systemic Injustices of Racism, the legacy of Colonialism and Slavery.”

19 January 2022

World mourns loss of Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Today the world joins in mourning the passing of a towering figure in the struggle for freedom and for human dignity and rights.

30 December 2021

Workshop for women and girls in Abuja, Nigeria

Involve men in preventing gender-based violence, women church leaders in Nigeria recommend

As churches and other groups battle sexual and gender-based violence, it is urgent to include men in trainings and amplify the issues for global accompaniment and support, church women leaders, lay members and gender advocates recommended at a recent church human rights training in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

21 December 2021

Report

Final Communiqué - Religious Consultation on Social Cohesion in Iraq

Invited by the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches, 40 representatives of religious authorities and leaders of various Iraqi religions, congregations, and ethnic groups, came together in Beirut to follow up on recommendations of the 2017 conference held in Beirut under the title "Interfaith Consultation of Social Cohesion in Iraq", and to discuss emerging challenges and future prospects for social cohesion in Iraq.

20 December 2021

Ecumenical movement

Group of people standing around large table all looking into the camera.

WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca visits Middle East Council of Churches

Middle East Council of Churches secretary general Dr Michel Abs welcomed World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca on 14 December at the headquarters of the Middle East Council of Churches General Secretariat in Beirut. The president of the National Evangelical Union in Lebanon and president of the Council for the Evangelical Family, H.E. Rev. Dr Habib Badr, as well the General Secretariat team in Beirut, also received Sauca.

20 December 2021

Human rights training for women and girls in Abuja, Nigeria

Nigerian churches train women and girls on human rights

Many women and girls are still struggling to attain their fundamental human rights, despite churches and the systems of the world affirming the equality of men and women, a church human rights training for young women and girls in Nigeria heard recently.

20 December 2021

Group of religious leaders sitting for a group photo, dressed in religious garb.

Interfaith consultation on social cohesion in Iraq fields visions of hope

An interfaith consultation held 12-16 December in Beirut, Lebanon, offered the chance for participants from different traditions to share their vision for social and religious cohesion in Iraq, assessing the current context and envisioning the way forward.

17 December 2021

Lecture - Speech

Speech at interfaith consultation, 12-16 December in Beirut, Lebanon

by Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches

17 December 2021

General Secretary

Publication

Killer Robots

A Campaign Guide for Churches

Jennifer Philpot-Nissen

Campaign guide for churches concerned about autonomous weapons systems, also known as “killer robots".

The guide is designed to introduce churches to the issue of killer robots, and help raise awareness of the need for Christians to act to ensure decision-makers agree on a pre-emptive ban on the future development of such weapons.

03 December 2021

WCC condemns bombings in Uganda, calls for justice

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed shock at the recent suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, for which the so-called ‘Islamic State’ group has reportedly claimed responsibility.

18 November 2021

Message

WCC statement on bombings in Uganda

18 November 2021

General Secretary

View of Jerusalem from a vantage point above the city.

WCC executive committee calls “conscience of the world” to “obstruction of legitimate Palestinian aspirations for equal human dignity and rights”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, in a public statement, expressed grave concern over recent developments in Palestine and Israel, which indicate “a deteriorating situation in the region, emblematic of the many ways in which the ongoing military occupation of the Palestinian territories obstructs achieving a just peace among the people of the Holy Land, and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it which have resulted in further restrictions on the space for civil society action in the region.”

17 November 2021