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Prayers for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas of Armenia and Azerbaijan were offered on 4 April in the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. Joining in the Geneva service of common prayer were staff from ecumenical and other international organizations including the WCC and the LWF.

On Wednesday 10 June, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan formally received a delegation led by Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, who introduced the visiting‬ leadership of the WCC Central Committee: Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC Central Committee, Metropolitan Dr Gennadios of Sassima and Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, vice-moderators, and the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Introducing 2015 as “a sacred year in the life of our people and our land,” Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, welcomed the 20-member WCC Executive Committee to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin at the start of their semi-annual meeting that is taking place from 8 to 12 June.

WCC general secretary Olav Fykse Tveit preached at the 7 May ecumenical service in Washington, D.C.’s National Cathedral commemorating the centennial of the Armenian genocide.

The WCC remembers today, 24 April, the 1.5 million Armenian victims – children, women and men – who died 100 years ago.

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.

Church leaders meet in Armenia to address the ongoing violence and human calamity in Syria and challenges for faith communities in the crisis there.

Leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church have marked the 99th anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide with calls for recognition of that historic event. Beginning in April 1915, more than one million Armenians were killed by troops of the Ottoman Empire, a world power with its capital in what is now the Republic of Turkey.

The WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, concluded on 8 November, acting to inspire churches to renew their commitments to justice and peace. Through varied encounters and dialogue within the fellowship of churches, the Assembly has made concrete decisions and recommendations setting priorities for the future work of the WCC.

The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches elected eight new presidents today during a closed session at its proceedings in Busan, Republic of Korea.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit was honoured with the “Friend of the Armenians” award by the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) in the United States, as an acknowledgement of his efforts to support Armenian churches throughout the world.

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), participated in the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, had extensive conversations with the Catholicos of All Armenians, Supreme Patriarch Karekin II, visited different facilities and institutions of the Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as the Memorial to the Armenian Genocide at Tsitsernakaberd, and spoke at a theological seminary at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. This was part of Tveit’s official visit to Armenia, which took place from 21 to 23 September 2011.