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Iranian rector Ayatollah M. Seyyed Abolhassan Nawab and Ms Zahra Sedigh, from the Iranian Mission to the UN, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 27 July, discussing education and formation, as well as the importance of strengthening the role of interreligious cooperation.  

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.

As a “Living Together” celebration in Bagdad opened on 6 March, religious and ethnic leaders from Iraq celebrated diversity and, at the same time, candidly addressed challenges to inclusive citizenship. They were joined by representatives of Iraqi executive and legislative authorities as well as representatives from UN agencies and embassies.

Convening for a 10th round of dialogue, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue met at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute from 4-8 December, sharing their mutual visions for justice and peace in Iran.

Recognizing the deep need for, “renewed dialogue within the ecumenical movement,” the WCC 11th Assembly released a statement “strongly affirming the commitment of the WCC and its member churches to peace making through inter-religious dialogue and cooperation at all levels,” and calling for a global ceasefire in all armed conflicts around the world.

Church leaders in Iran warmly welcomed WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca and the WCC delegation: Prof. Dr Simone Sinn, dean of the Bossey Ecumenical Institute and Dr Abraham Silo Wilar, programme executive for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, during their visit to the country in the first week of March. Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Diocese of Teheran, met them at the premises of the Saint Sarkis Cathedral in Tehran with members of his church.

Signing a celebratory certificate commemorating 25 years of fruitful dialogue, leaders from the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization in Tehran met online on 27 October.

About 65 scholars of Buddhist-Christian relations gathered in St Ottilien, near Eresing, Germany for a conference to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Rev. Dr Lynn A. de Silva (1919-1982), a pioneer of Christian Buddhist dialogue. Organised by the European Network of Buddhist Christian Studies in association with the World Council of Churches (WCC), the conference focused on the theme “Buddhist-Christian Encounter – A Visionary Approach”.

‘History’ and ‘Time’ were the thirteenth and fourteenth subjects covered in a workshop which took place in Erlangen, Germany, 12-14 December as part of a project “Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses.”

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit hosted a lunch on 12 December in gratitude to the services rendered by the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura at the Château de Bossey with ambassador Heidi Grau, Head of the human security division at the Swiss FDFA, and the UN and WCC teams on Syria.

Respect for the other lies at the heart of peace education and was a key thread through a debate entitled “Education for Peace in a multi-religious world”. It was held on the 2018 World Human Rights Day at the United Nations Office in Geneva.

Three weeks have now passed since this year’s edition of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden was wrapped up and delegates from all over the world headed home, inspired to “float” the issues, as the WCC Ecumenical Water Network chairperson, Bishop Arnold Temple from Sierra Leone, put it.

Ten weeks after Pope Francis visited the WCC in Geneva as “a pilgrim in quest of unity and peace,” church leaders of different churches representing the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church are meeting in Germany this week to continue their task of “walking, praying and working together.”