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World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay extended condolences to the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and those who lost loved ones and invited prayer and support for the people of Taiwan in the wake of the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Taiwan on 3 April.  

With a historic show of unity, Ethiopian churches meeting at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey made the decision to establish a council of churches in their country.

On 7 March, participants of the “Living Together” meeting in Bagdad representing various religious and ethnic groups of the country met with the president of Iraq His Excellency Dr. Abdullatif Jamal Rashid, presenting their concerns and challenges for religious and ethnic diversity in Iraq.

Following the devastating Turkey-Syria earthquake on 6 February, the presidents of the Middle East Council of Churches held an emergency meeting to discuss the disaster and how to respond.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca extended condolences in the wake of a supertanker explosion and fire in the Matanzas supertanker port in Cuba. Blackouts and toxic fumes were still affecting the area.

Offering a churches’ perspective during a dialogue on humanitarian aid on 10 June, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca spoke on the faith and spiritual foundations for helping one another.

The systemic injustices of racism, colonialism and slavery—and how they feed into increases in violence and atrocities—held the attention of hundreds of people who attended the online Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs on 25 January.

The Ecumenical Network on South Sudan (Europe and North America Hub), on the occasion of International Peace Day on 21 September, released a call entitled “High Time for Peace and Accountability in South Sudan.”

During a regional consultation on 27 April focused on how churches in Africa are living out their commitment to a Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace in the context of COVID-19, World Council of Churches (WCC) moderator, Dr Agnes Abuom, reflected that Africa is experiencing a number of socio-economic and spiritual challenges and opportunities.

The fatal blast in Beirut last month became yet another blow to an already plagued country. In recent months, a financial crisis with a free-falling currency and rising unemployment has further undermined the Lebanese economy. Add to that one million Syrian refugees and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the contours of a fragile nation facing monumental challenges emerge.

With the announcement on 6 February of a Global Prayer Campaign for peace on the Korean Peninsula, World Council of Churches (WCC) leaders and partners looked back at 30-plus years of history and forward to events planned for 2020.

Erich Weingartner, who previously helped lead the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, has also represented CanKor, a Canadian interactive resource on North Korea. From the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, he was also founding head of the Food Aid Liaison Unit of the World Food Programme.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), with the Korea Institute for National Unification, reflected on international cooperation for improvement of human rights and ecumenical cooperation for diakonia ministry in North Korea.

They came from governments, the United Nations, civil society, churches and other faith-based organizations to discuss the impact of Cyclone Idai that has wreaked death, havoc and destruction on Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in recent weeks.