Search results

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank, on 19 February, urging an end to the “seemingly endless cycle of violence and suffering.” 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will welcome a “Bethlehem Reborn – Palestine – The Wonders of the Nativity” exhibit that will open in a live-streamed ceremony on 12 September, then be available to the public from 13 September-5 October daily. The multimedia touring exhibit highlights the rehabilitation of the Church of the Nativity in all its artistic beauty, historical significance, and spiritual messages. 

Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, Mission of Palestine to Switzerland; Ambassador Dr Omar Awadallah,  assistant minister for United Nations and Specialized Organizations;  and Doa Nofal, second secretary at the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 6 July to discuss the current situation in Palestine.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay received Rev. Dr Munther Isaac, moderator of the Global Kairos for Justice Coalition, and Mr Rifat Odeh Kassis, in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 12 April, to discuss the continued and escalating crisis in Palestine in the light of the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel and the ever-increasing security measures restricting the freedom of Palestinian people.

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.

In an oral statement delivered to the UN Human Rights Council, the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs expressed grave concern about inadequate COVID-19 vaccine access for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.

Damaris, a Nigerian woman, described her experience of 2020: “We’ve gone through hell.”

Damaris and her sisters were kidnapped in March 2020 and threatened with death as their kidnappers demanded money. Her father had to sell everything and beg on the streets to meet their demands. “We are just a common people in Nigeria,” she said. “We don’t know what we did.”

With the annual olive harvest season in the Holy Land soon to draw to a close, the WCC convenes a webinar on the topic ’Uprooting Identities or Planting Just Peace?’ on 2 December.

Church leaders from across the world are expressing their grave concern over the government of Israel’s plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

In the aftermath of armed attacks by both the US and Iran, WCC reiterates its call for restraint and de-escalation of the confrontation.
“Further escalation and conflict between the United States and Iran can only serve short-term political interests, while threatening the permanent destruction of many lives, communities and precious cultural and environmental heritage,” said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. “I appeal to political leaders on all sides of this confrontation to put the interests of the people of the region ahead of their own interests, and to seek peace through dialogue and negotiation rather than confrontation.”

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed great hopes for the success of the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, which has begun its work this week.

The work of the World Council of Churches (WCC) related to disarmament continues to endure and expand, even as the world faces increasing injustice and tensions that threaten peace on a daily basis.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel is reporting that nine homes in Wadi-Al-Hummus have been demolished, with at least two families forcibly removed from their homes, as observed by Ecumenical Accompaniers on site. Over 100 families were removed altogether and prior to the demolitions.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) met formally on 25-27 June in Paris, under the theme “The normalization of hatred: challenges for Jews and Christians today”. This meeting took place at a time of significant challenges in public and religious life for many communities around the world. At the meeting Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, presented the WCC policies on antisemitism and the WCC’s work for human rights for all. The WCC News met with him after the meeting.