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As a year of exceptional and increasing conflict draws to a close, and as we pray for peace for all in 2024, “that prospect seems nowhere more remote than for the suffering and traumatized people of Gaza,” said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on 8-14 November, released a statement that demands an immediate ceasefire, and the opening of humanitarian corridors in Palestine and Israel. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed concern over a violent protest by rightwing Jewish activists against an Evangelical Christian event in Jerusalem on 28 May.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep concern about increased violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank. 

As Orthodox institutions and individuals called for unimpeded access to the Holy Sepulcher for Holy Fire Saturday and Easter, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem rejected restrictions announced by Israeli police.

Easter for Christians, Passover for Jews, and Ramadan for Muslims coincided on the weekend of 15-17 April this year. Still, violence in the holy city of Jerusalem shared by the three faiths was a reminder of the fragility of their relationships.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee expressed solidarity and accompaniment in prayer to churches and people in the Holy Land, in a statement published 20 May.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed great sorrow on hearing the news of the loss of many lives caused by the disaster at the Lag B'Omer festival in Israel.

The fatal blast in Beirut last month became yet another blow to an already plagued country. In recent months, a financial crisis with a free-falling currency and rising unemployment has further undermined the Lebanese economy. Add to that one million Syrian refugees and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the contours of a fragile nation facing monumental challenges emerge.

Church leaders from across the world are expressing their grave concern over the government of Israel’s plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

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.

The WCC stands firm in viewing “antisemitism as irreconcilable with the profession and practice of the Christian faith”.