When Rev. Frank Chikane was leading the South African Council of Churches in calling out injustices of the apartheid system, their work did not stop even after the council’s office building was bombed to the ground in 1980s. Moderating the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC) since 2016, Rev. Chikane has been engaged in addressing injustices in many parts of the world. WCC Communication asked Rev. Chikane to look back at his term at the commission and the ongoing calling of churches to address injustices in the world today.
As Norwegian Church Aid continued a digital visit with its global partners, leaders from the organization met with the World Council of Churches (WCC) to discuss creative responses to the world’s increasing needs, and the vital role of church leaders in those responses.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held 18-25 January, will draw together churches across the globe to reflect on the hope and joy in Matthew 2:2, “We saw the star in the East, and we came to worship him.”
A compilation of the most-read stories published by the World Council of Churches (WCC) reveals a global fellowship focused on a better future even amid the grave challenges the world faced during 2021.
صدرت مبادرة "المشاورة الدينية بشأن التماسك الاجتماعي في العراق التي عقدت في بيروت خلال الفترة من 13-15 ديسمبر،2021 بيانا ختاميا، الذي يُعد ثمرة لمشاركة واسعة النطاق بين الأديان شملت الزعماء الدينيين والعرقيين من كافة المكونات العراقية التي تعمل معا من أجل السلام في العراق والشرق الأوسط.
A “Religious Consultation on Social Cohesion in Iraq,” held 13-15 in Beirut, released a final communiqué, the fruit of wide interreligious participation that included religious and ethnic leaders of all Iraqi components working together for peace in Iraq and the Middle East.
Invited by the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches, 40 representatives of religious authorities and leaders of various Iraqi religions, congregations, and ethnic groups, came together in Beirut to follow up on recommendations of the 2017 conference held in Beirut under the title "Interfaith Consultation of Social Cohesion in Iraq", and to discuss emerging challenges and future prospects for social cohesion in Iraq.
Middle East Council of Churches secretary general Dr Michel Abs welcomed World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca on 14 December at the headquarters of the Middle East Council of Churches General Secretariat in Beirut. The president of the National Evangelical Union in Lebanon and president of the Council for the Evangelical Family, H.E. Rev. Dr Habib Badr, as well the General Secretariat team in Beirut, also received Sauca.
On 15 December, Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches paid a visit to His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of the Antioch and All the East at the patriarchal residence in Balamand, Lebanon.
An interfaith consultation held 12-16 December in Beirut, Lebanon, offered the chance for participants from different traditions to share their vision for social and religious cohesion in Iraq, assessing the current context and envisioning the way forward.
An online conference, “The Future of Interfaith Dialogue,” held 7-8 December, discussed principles for common formation as a vital element for the future of interfaith dialogue. Via panel discussion, participants discussed how the future of interfaith dialogue is best accomplished by encouraging common formation in which people, especially young people, of different faiths learn together with a common goal, and in the course of the learning discover more about each other.
A recent webinar remembered past massacres that took place in the Middle East, and speakers underscored the importance of telling the stories so that that past is not forgotten.
Upon request of churches and ecumenical partners worldwide, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has extended the deadline for applications for workshops to be part of the “Brunnen” space of the WCC 11th Assembly in 2022. The new deadline is 15 January 2022.
Two upcoming online events, entitled “Missing and Murdered: Addressing Femicide and Sexual and Gender-based Violence in our Global Context,” will address the shadow pandemic of violence against women.
