Search results

Originally, they were made of pieces of broken glass from the rubble an Israeli tank left behind it when it slammed into the giftshop at the International Centre of Bethlehem (ICB) in 2002. Today the glass angels of peace are made of used bottles and have emerged into a small business enterprise employing around 50 people in the Bethlehem area. Since the tank-incident, thousands of angels have been produced and sold worldwide.

The 2018 Ecumenical Jury recognized two films in the Cannes Film Festival. The first, “Capharnaum,” by Nadine Labaki from Lebanon, portrays women and children, immigrants and outcasts, who have shown by their perseverance and ingenuity, love and courage, the full possibility of the human spirit.

In a 16 April statement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) urged the international community to find a way to break the cycle of violence in Syria. The statement comes two days after the USA, France and the UK carried out missile strikes following a suspected Syrian government chemical weapons attack.

After at least 17 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,400 injured by Israeli fire at the Gaza border on 30 March, Palestinians were observing a national day of mourning on 31 March.

The Ecumenical Jury of the 32nd International Film Festival Fribourg, held 16-24 March, awarded its prize to the the film “Foxtrot” by Israeli filmdirector Samuel Maoz. The film portrays the ongoing presence of violence and death in the Israeli and Palestinian society due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The film won the Don Quijote Prize of the international film clubs (FICC) as well.

In a 26 February statement, the WCC expressed its dismay at the dramatic escalation of military actions against civilians in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, Syria.

An “Interreligious Dialogue for Peace, Promoting Peaceful Coexistence & Common Citizenship” in Vienna on 26 February is creating a first-ever joint action plan for Arab religious leaders to lead the way in repairing the divisions created by extremists, and rebuilding social cohesion and common citizenship in the Arab region.

In spite of a seemingly bleak outlook for a solution to the conflict in Palestine and Israel, religious leaders all over the world persist in their advocacy for justice and peace in the Holy Land. That became evident at the WCC peace consultations in Beit Sahour this summer, where 60 leaders and representatives from Christian churches and faith-based organizations around the world gathered to manifest their support for a peaceful end to the occupation of Palestinian territories.

As young people earned an interreligious studies certificate at the World Council of Churches Bossey Institute, they completed their three-week course with unified thoughts on promoting peace. In a communique issued on 13 July, they identified themselves as Jews, Christians and Muslims - children of Abraham - with a unique openness.

Protecting human freedom and dignity is a vital contribution to peace-building by religious communities, said Ecumenical Patriarch His All-Holiness Bartholomew I as he spoke at the Al-Azhar International Peace Conference on 27-28 April in Egypt.

Speaking at the Al-Azhar International Peace Conference on 27-28 April in Egypt, the Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, Pope Francis and WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit address topics of misinterpretation of religious text, the culture of peace in religion, and global peace and how it is affected by poverty, illness and exploitation.

The brutal attacks on two churches in Alexandria and Tanta on Palm Sunday with more than 40 victims are not the first attacks on Christians in Egypt. In January, the so-called Islamic State declared threat on Coptic Christians and killed eight. In December 2016, a blast at the Cathedral in Cairo killed 30 people.

The WCC this week installed at its headquarters in Geneva a tapestry of traditional Palestinian embroidery donated to the WCC.

Speaking in Bethlehem on the evening of 8 December, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reflected on the light from the very first Christmas in the very same town, and what that light means in a global search for just peace.

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit urged an immediate cessation of airstrikes and bombardments on Aleppo. The conflict in Aleppo, Syria, has intensified in recent months, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the city.

As Christians around the globe begin to commemorate 500 years of Reformation, a ceremony has been held in Vatican City in honor of Lutheran World Federation (LWF) president Bishop Munib Younan, from the Evangelical Luthern Church In Jordan and the Holy Land.

The WCC is committed to a just peace in Palestine and Israel with a view that this conflict is about justice with deep moral dimensions that must be given proper weight by all if we are to reach a lasting solution. Religion can both contribute to the increase of the level of conflict, or help establish peace. Read the interview with the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

In a “Statement on the Forced Displacement Crisis,” a call for the world’s nations to “honour the letter and spirit of their obligations under international law, including human rights and refugee law and especially the right of asylum” was issued on 28 June by the WCC Central Committee.

The WCC general secretary issued a statement urging the international community to put an end to the “culture of impunity” in Syria. The statement comes on the heels of news reports from Syria of an air strike that targeted the Kammouneh Syrian refugee camp, killing at least 28 people and severely injuring dozens of others.

“We are not speaking of people leaving one less-than-affluent suburb to go to a more affluent one because they seek a better quality of life; these are people leaving war-torn, poverty-stricken and conflict-filled near-anarchic states to find protection and safety for themselves and for their families.”