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During an ecumenical morning prayer held 15 May, the World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and partners observed the UN International Day of Living Together in Peace, holding in prayer many nations across the world facing challenges to living together in harmony.

A Global Peace Prayer on 22 March will draw Christians together in hope for a better future. A communique from a prayer planning committee explained that Christians are called into prayer and advocacy for peace. “In a global context where war and violence abound, the practice of peace has become even more urgent,” reads the message.

Ein weltweites Friedensgebet am 22. März soll christliche Gläubige in der Hoffnung auf eine bessere Zukunft zusammenbringen. Das Kommuniqué eines Planungsausschusses für dieses Friedensgebet erklärt, dass christliche Gläubige zu Gebet und Fürsprachearbeit für Frieden aufgerufen sind. „In einem globalen Kontext, in dem es zu viel Krieg und Gewalt gibt, ist ein Engagement für Frieden dringlicher geworden denn je“, heißt es in dem Kommuniqué.

Der Exekutivausschuss des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen hat bei seiner Tagung in Amman Programmpläne und Haushalt für 2018 genehmigt und die Erneuerung des ÖRK-Strategieplans vorbereitet. Weiterhin hat der Exekutivausschuss sich über die besondere Situation in Jordanien und dem Nahen Osten informiert und auf dieser Grundlage Perspektiven für das weitere Engagement des ÖRK in Palästina und Israel entwickelt. Diskutiert wurden in diesem Zusammenhang insbesondere die Herausforderungen, vor denen die Kirchen stehen, sowie mögliche Maßnahmen des ÖRK. Willkommen geheißen wurde das Leitungsgremium durch den Patriarchen der Heiligen Stadt Jerusalem und ganz Palästinas und der Gebiete jenseits des Jordans, Theophilus III.

The WCC Executive Committee met in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November to approve the 2018 plan and budget and prepare for renewal of the WCC strategic plan. The Executive Committee also discerned the way forward for the WCC’s involvement in Palestine and Israel by learning more about the particular situation in Jordan and the Middle East, then discussing the challenges of the churches and the WCC response. The Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, All Palestine and Jordan, Theophilos III, welcomed the group.

The World Council of Churches organised in June 2017 a pilgrimage in the Holy Land for eight young Christians from all over the world. Participants said it was a unique experience to discover biblical and spiritual places.

In einer Rede in Bethlehem am Abend des 8. Dezember sprach Pastor Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, Generalsekretär des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK), über das Licht am allerersten Weihnachtstag in derselben Stadt, und was dieses Licht in dem weltweiten Bemühen um einen gerechten Frieden bedeutet.

Speaking in Bethlehem on the evening of 8 December, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reflected on the light from the very first Christmas in the very same town, and what that light means in a global search for just peace.

Christians need a "spirituality of resistance" to face oppression, violence and experiences of defeat, the WCC general secretary said in an address at Germany’s biggest Protestant gathering.

The prospect of armed robots taking human lives, and whether to ban autonomous weapons before they are made, concentrated the minds of governmental and non-governmental delegates at a United Nations forum in Geneva in mid-April.

Should robots make life and death decisions? Religious leaders are asked to tell governments “Never”.

The “pilgrimage is both a way to continue working for the one ecumenical movement and a way to move forward in our times that offer new dimensions, opportunities and practices,” said the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Der Zentralausschuss des ÖRK, das höchste Leitungsgremium der Organisation, hat vom Thema „Pilgerweg der Gerechtigkeit und des Friedens“ inspiriert die Ausrichtung der Arbeit des ÖRK von 2014 bis 2017 festgelegt.

Inspired by the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, the Central Committee of the WCC, a chief governing body of the Council, has set directions for the work of the Council from 2014 to 2017.

When Dr Ulysses Burley III visited Palestine and Israel six months ago, he came away with an even stronger determination to work for social justice, wherever and however he can.

A reflection on the recent United Nations meeting on the Non-Proliferation Treaty, by Jonathan Frerichs, WCC programme executive for peace building and disarmament, and member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

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.

A communiqué adopted at a WCC consultation describes human trafficking as a “serious human rights violation” and its consequences are “most horrific results of the economic and social disparities that increase the vulnerability of millions of people”.

The WCC Executive Committee, currently meeting in Switzerland, is working to translate the mandate of the WCC 10th Assembly into strategic plans and visible actions, focusing on the churches’ efforts toward a “pilgrimage for justice and peace”.

A space set up by the WCC's Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) at the WCC’s 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, shares the realities of people living in the Palestinian occupied territory, through images, presentation and conversations stressing the need for peace in the region.