The unbearable toll of lives lost, and the impact on the affected communities and nations, must engage the concern, solidarity and action of the international community and all people of goodwill, to stem the bloodshed and to confront the brutal ideologies behind such atrocities.
With the aim of further developing the work of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the field of interreligious relations, the WCC is opening a new survey seeking information about experience and activities of WCC member churches in interreligious relations.
An interfaith peace prayer service in Rome organized by the Sant'Egidio Community on 20 October drew Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh and Hindu leaders who and prayed together.
Protestants in Germany have commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, made by German church leaders to an international ecumenical delegation shortly after the Second World War, in which they confessed their failings and shortcomings in opposing National Socialism and the Third Reich.
Only a church that overcomes ethnic, racial and national hatreds can be a credible sign of freedom and reconciliation, the interim general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca has said in an address to mark the 75th anniversary of the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt by German Protestant leaders after the Second World War.
World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent joyful greetings to Jewish friends and colleagues across the world on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah and the forthcoming High Holy Days.“May this be a time of blessing, joy and peace for you,” writes Sauca. “Certainly, this last year has brought a time of extraordinary challenges for us all.”
Churches across the globe are exploring how their investments can be an instrument of mission and advance goals of racial, economic and ecological justice.
Last September I visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the first time as part of my sabbatical year. How does one encounter these two places that are such containers of pain, suffering and for me, as an American, complicity? To be a tourist feels wrong and I ended up contemplating the World Council of Churches (WCC) model of pilgrimages of justice and peace as a way to be in a space of suffering, and as a way to practice accompaniment, commitment and perhaps even hopefulness.
On 6 August, a “Joint Interfaith Statement on the 75th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” was released, reaffirming the existential threat to humanity that nuclear weapons pose.
A spacious square in front of the sea: this was the place chosen by the Uruguayan Council of Christian Churches to produce a video message during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Respecting the physical distancing measure, eight religious leaders gathered at Plaza Virgilio.
With four panelists and a lively discussion, the South African Council of Churches hosted a webinar entitled “Conversation on Annexation with Christians in the Holy Land” on 2 July.
On 17 June, six new master students finished their yearlong studies with the graduation ceremony of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Château de Bossey. WCC News met with them at the graduation.
As the UN secretary-general António Guterres shared a message on 12 May with religious leaders about how our shared vulnerability to the coronavirus pandemic reveals our common humanity, World Council of Churches (WCC) leaders agreed that solidarity is a foundation of a meaningful global response.
The film “Off the Road,” directed by Jose Permar, has been awarded by the interreligious jury at the 51st Festival Visions du Réel Nyon, held from 17 April through 2 May.
National, religious and ethnic borders are of no relevance to the COVID-19 virus. As we watch its effect on the entire world, we are reminded of the interconnectedness of the entire human family.
Justice is a topic widely discussed in different disciplines, and it nearly always includes an adjective that accompanies or complements it and helps us make sense of the type of justice under discussion. Some examples include retributive justice, punitive justice, restorative justice, transitional justice, etc. But beyond this theoretical discussion, what does it mean to act in a just way in daily life? In our path as Christian women and men, what does it mean to be just?
Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC General Secretary delivers a speech "What’s love got to do with it? Climate Justice and Care for the Earth" at an international conference on Sustainability and Climate in Religion in Bergen, Norway.
