As the latest set of World Council of Churches (WCC) ecumenical accompaniers left Palestine and Israel, ushering in a new set who will take the mantle, a handover ceremony brought heartfelt prayers for a just peace in the region.
Mount Zion, located just outside the current walls of the Old City, via Zion Gate, is of great importance to Christians because this is the area of Dormition Abbey, the Cenacle (the traditional spot for remembering the Last Supper and washing of the Apostles’ feet), and where the Holy Spirit descended upon them in the event of Pentecost.
On Palm Sunday, accompaniers from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel walked in the traditional procession, carrying messages of solidarity with Gaza Christians during an especially painful time.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has published online new materials related to the 2024 WCC-EAPPI Easter Initiative: “Out of the darkness – Easter solidarity with the Holy Land.”
Father Frans Bouwen, a priest in the Catholic church who has been living and working for ecumenism in Jerusalem since 1969, has a stark description of the situation in Palestine and Israel today.
A World Council of Churches (WCC) Easter Initiative will lift up the call to roll away the heavy stone of violence, war and occupation, pain and suffering, and to remind the world of what is needed to bring about peace, to transform swords into ploughshares.
World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, who, in a 1 March statement, condemned an attack against civilians that occurred while residents of Gaza gathered for food aid.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) Jerusalem Liaison Office Advisory Group convened on 20 February under the leadership of WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog formally received World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay on 20 February, to discuss the current situation in Israel and Palestine, and the war in Gaza.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and delegation met with Sheikh Azzam Khatib, director of Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem on 18 February, reiterating the WCC’s commitment to maintaining Jerusalem as a city of all three Abrahamic religions.
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.”
En estos momentos de guerra, dificultad y dolor, el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) acompaña a las iglesias y el pueblo de Palestina e Israel en su camino con la oración, la acción y la esperanza de un futuro mejor.
El secretario general del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, se reunió con los patriarcas y líderes de las iglesias en Jerusalén el pasado 17 de febrero, y fue recibido con gratitud “en este momento difícil y complicado para todos los pueblos de esta región, y especialmente para la comunidad cristiana de Tierra Santa”, como dijo su beatitud Teófilo III, patriarca de Jerusalén, en su discurso de bienvenida.
During a time of war, struggle, and pain, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is accompanying the churches and the people in Palestine and Israel on their journey with prayer, action, and hope for a better future.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem on 17 February, and was received with gratitude “at this difficult and complicated time for all the peoples of this region, and especially for the Christian community of the Holy Land,” said His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in a welcome address.
Member churches, religious leaders and local Christian groups in Palestine and Israel—as well as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli president Isaac Herzog—will meet with World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay as he visits the area beginning 16 February.
Six ecumenical accompaniers have returned to Palestine and Israel, resuming in-person operations for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. Ecumenical accompaniers, who were evacuated beginning of October 2023, had been continuing their support and accompaniment online.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay said the WCC is “deeply disturbed” by reports of continuous assaults on the Armenian community and other Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.
In a heartfelt message of solidarity, Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), extended his deepest condolences to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and their families, which is currently mourning the tragic deaths of two women in the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, among the many thousands already killed in Gaza.