Search results

Young participants in a WCC interfaith summer course representing Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions hope to make a strong contribution towards dialogue in their home countries. Dialogue can break down stereotypes and build up peaceful communities, they say.

At the occasion of the Islamic festival of Eid al Fitr (the end of Ramadan), the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC has extended greetings to the worldwide Muslim community in a message issued on 17 July.

Reflections on the past, present and the future of Christian-Jewish relations were shared by Dr Clare Amos, the WCC programme executive for inter-religious dialogue and cooperation, at a major conference of the International Council of Christians and Jews in Rome.

“The WCC is grateful for new momentum in collective efforts to manifest our common faith in God the creator and our commitment to common service,” said the WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, as he spoke at the 50th anniversary gathering of a joint WCC-Roman Catholic group.

Meeting from 17 to 24 June, the newly reconstituted Commission on Faith and Order of the WCC has begun to define its principal trajectories for ecumenical study and common activity from 2015 until the next WCC Assembly in 2020.

During the week of 22 June 2015, the 50th anniversary of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC will be celebrated by church leaders. A public event to mark the anniversary will be held at the Centro Pro Unione in Rome, Italy on 23 June.

Young ecumenical leaders from Asia have met in Siam Reap, Cambodia to examine how religious traditions can offer resources to overcome religious violence in a changing Asian context.

Members of the WCC Commission on Youth (ECHOS), visited Al Azhar Mosque and University on 12 May for a meeting with the grand sheikh and the Egyptian minister of Religious Affairs.

Exploring in depth the concept of multi-religious belonging in the light of lived experiences, and discerning how churches can respond to it from pastoral and theological perspectives, was the focus of a consultation organized by the WCC and the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio, the United States.

The WCC is hosting the annual meeting of an international group of people with responsibilities for ecumenical relations in several member churches of the WCC. The spring session of the gathering of the Ecumenical Officers Network is taking the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace” as the inspiration for learning, reflective study and discussion on current developments in the ecumenical movement.

To address confusions about the respective roles of intra-church and inter-religious dialogue, or dialogue among Christians as contrasted to dialogue among world faiths, a group engaged with the WCC is to prepare a short guide that will offer definitions for sometimes confusing terminology used in such dialogues, setting out different goals of the two forms of dialogue and offering practical suggestions and examples about the methodologies and issues.

The WCC is inviting young adults from Asian churches to participate in a two-week-long training programme called Youth in Asia Training for Religious Amity. The deadline to submit applications is 31 March.

With aspirations to learn and contribute to the work of the WCC inter-religious dialogue and cooperation department, Matias Ikkala from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has commenced working this week as a WCC intern.

During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, officials of the Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation team of the WCC and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue met in Rome.

In a shared recognition of the need to promote inter-religious dialogue in a world faced with conflicts often fuelled by religion, on 13 January the secretary general and officials from the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue visited the WCC offices and met with the general secretary of the WCC, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Amid the ongoing offensive by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which recently caused the destruction of the Armenian church and genocide memorial in Deir Zor, Syria – an incident condemned by the WCC – staff members of the council reflect on what such incidents may mean for Christians and other faith communities in the region.

In South Asia, where conflicts are often fueled by religion, a WCC conference stressed the role of Christians and Hindus as eminent stakeholders in their common search for justice and peace – beyond majority and minority politics.

On the occasion of Diwali, a Hindu festival known as the “festival of lights” celebrated in autumn every year, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has extended greetings to Hindus, emphasizing the need for strengthening inter-religious dialogue and collaboration for the cause of justice and peace.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has welcomed publication of an open letter by a group of 126 Muslim scholars to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, leader of the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” (IS) and his followers.