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On 30 January, the Church Council of the Church of Norway appointed World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit as the new presiding bishop for the Church of Norway.

The WCC’s interreligious training programme YATRA (Youth in Asia Training for Religious Amity) launched by the World Council of Churches after its 10th Assembly is to be launched in a new format. From its earlier focus on Youth in Asia, the programme is now renamed to "Young Adults Training for Religious Amity" and expanded to the global ecumenical movement, allowing young people from other regions to participate. This is largely due to the increasing demand for a training of this kind in other parts of the ecumenical fellowship. The expansion is also possible due to the collaboration with other ecumenical partners including the World Communion of Reformed Churches, World Methodist Council and the Council for World Mission.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned an attack on a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi´s home north of New York City, on 28 December, stabbing and wounding five people. Several state and local officials have described the location of stabbing as a synagogue.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Office for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue met on 10 December to reflect on their next joint project entitled “Serving a Wounded Humanity: Towards Interreligious Solidarity.” They were joined by a number of Catholic and Protestant experts and professionals, representatives from some of the dicasteries of the Holy See and Pontifical universities, diplomatic corps, religious missionaries and Christian charities.

With great sadness, the World Council of Churches (WCC) received news of the demise of Prof. Vuyani Vellem on 4 December. A member of the WCC’s Commission on Ecumenical Education and Formation, Vellem was director of the Centre for Public Theology and associate professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He also served as deputy secretary of the South Africa Council of Churches.

The escalating protests, accompanying violence, and increasing polarisation in Iraq are of grave concern for all who care for this country and its people, said World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit on 5 November.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and Churches Together in Wales held the first-ever meeting of interfaith officers involved in interreligious engagement. The gathering, from 31 October to 3 November, was held in Cardiff, Wales, and explored the theme “Towards Fostering Dialogue Ecumenically

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Council for World Mission assembled theologians, activists, practitioners and religious leaders for a consultation on interfaith dialogue and liberation from 22-24 October in Nairobi, Kenya.

As the Youth in Asia Training for Religious Amity opened at the Yonsei University Chapel in South Korea on 18 September, participants were already learning to live into the theme “Stewards of Hope, Seekers of Harmony.” For the first time, the training includes not only young people from Asia but from across the world, and is being co-coordinated by the World Council of Churches (WCC) Programme for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, the Council for World Mission, and youth representatives from the ecumenical movement.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is currently working on learning from its member churches and other partners about the realities around the world of racism, discrimination, and xenophobia, WCC director of international affairs Peter Prove has told a gathering at the United Nations in Geneva.
Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Prove was speaking on 17 September at a side event during the 42nd UN Human Rights Council from 9 - 27 September at the Palais des Nations.

Young people are trailblazers, pioneers, visionaries and leaders who have the potential to create a positive, sustainable legacy for future generations on a global scale.
On 12 August, International Youth Day, youth led a TED-style talk and discussion in Geneva, with five young speakers from different parts of the world, four virtually and one live. The stories and experiences shared connected them to theme “Transforming Education,” while inspiring the audience for a call to action.