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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.

As the years change over the World Council of Churches interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca on 31 December condemned the vicious Yemen attack hitting civilians. Sauca also expressed solidarity and prayers with churches and responders who continue to help hundreds of injured and traumatized people of the earthquake in Croatia and Norway landslide.

In the aftermath of armed attacks by both the US and Iran, WCC reiterates its call for restraint and de-escalation of the confrontation.
“Further escalation and conflict between the United States and Iran can only serve short-term political interests, while threatening the permanent destruction of many lives, communities and precious cultural and environmental heritage,” said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. “I appeal to political leaders on all sides of this confrontation to put the interests of the people of the region ahead of their own interests, and to seek peace through dialogue and negotiation rather than confrontation.”

Born in Nazareth, Galilee, Rev. Dr Saïd Ailabouni moved to the US at the age of 19 to become a physician. But he was so angry at God that he went to study theology instead, becoming a Lutheran pastor. Now he is leading the Middle East & Europe desk of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Since leaving his hometown 50 years ago, he visits his Palestinian family regularly. As the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel approaches, Ailabouni agreed to share some of his lifetime observations with the Word Council of Churches.

Salpy Eskidjian Weiderud, leader of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process, has received an International Religious Freedom Award from the US Department of State. The awards “honor extraordinary advocates of religious freedom from around the world” and will be presented on 17 July in Washington, D.C.

WCC News spoke to Rev. Douglas Leonard, coordinator of the Ecumenical United Nations Office and World Council of Churches (WCC) representative to the United Nations in New York, after attending a summit in Washington D.C. that brought together some 45 representatives of churches and faith-based organizations committed to developing an advocacy plan that responds to the current political situation in the Holy Land.

Rev. Robina Winbush, a World Council of Churches (WCC) Central and Executive Committee member known for her fierce advocacy for justice, died suddenly on 12 March.

At a global conference on xenophobia in Rome, a panel of four religious leaders from, respectively, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic traditions, spoke candidly about how xenophobia can sometimes be woven deeply into the fabric of these traditions.

This year it is five hundred years since the Reformation. This has been commemorated throughout the year. A lot has happened in the world. The Reformation is ongoing in churches around the world. Discussions are constantly held about how a church should be today and how to reach out with the gospel. WCC News meets Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien this year, one of the most experienced and prominent women among Lutheran bishops in the world.

When WCC’s long-time partner, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, another small but important step towards a safer world was taken. Not only was it a recognition of global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, but also an affirmation of the role Christian churches have played at local and grassroots levels to raise awareness and mobilize people against nuclear proliferation.

In a statement issued 6 December, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed grave concern over President Trump’s announcement that the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

For decades, the tourist industry in the Holy Land has been dominated by Israeli tour operators who rely mostly on Israeli hotel owners and land arrangement providers. Visiting Palestinian territories is seldom prioritized and excursions rarely take Palestinian perspectives into account. Most visitors are thus not provided opportunities to familiarize themselves with everyday life of the Palestinian people.

Visiting Geneva on 20-22 September, representatives of the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations and the leadership of Norwegian Church Aid dedicated time with colleagues at the WCC, the Lutheran World Federation and ACT Alliance, to explore and learn more about ecumenical work around the world.

Around 60 participants from Christian churches all over the world gathered in Beit Sahour for peace consultations two weeks ago.

Rev. Dr Sharon Watkins, chair of the board of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), spoke at the National Press Club (USA) on 21 June as part of a coalition of Christian leaders expressing opposition to federal budget cuts in the USA that would harm people living in hunger and poverty.

Expressing concern regarding recently announced US measures related to refugee admissions and entry into the US by seven Muslim-majority countries, the World Council of Churches (WCC), ACT Alliance (ACT), and The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) affirmed that faith calls all Christians to love and welcome the stranger, the refugee, the internally displaced person - “the other.”

Analyzing efforts to protect religious communities and groups and build peace in Syria and Iraq, the WCC and Norwegian Church Aid presented a joint study on protection needs of religious and ethnic minorities in Syria and Iraq. The findings were announced on 12 December to the media and public at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

If we do not adjust aid better to the needs of the minorities in Syria and northern Iraq, we run the risk of building walls instead of bridges. As the populations of Syria and Iraq feel the toll of armed conflicts in their countries, the World Council of Churches and Norwegian Church Aid are now releasing a unique joint study, “Protection needs of minorities from Syria and Iraq,” today, 28 November, in Oslo, Norway.

When the WCC joined the Blue Communities Project on 25 October, water and eco-justice advocates from around the world offered congratulations, while at the same time urging WCC member churches to join the quest for global water and sanitation rights.