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Sanctions should not harm the support for the most vulnerable, says a report on the impact of sanctions on humanitarian work presented at a side-event of 52nd session at the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva on 10 March.

In a letter to the heads of World Council of Churches (WCC) member churches in Syria, Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep sadness at the loss of more than 40,000 lives in the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey.

Faith-based and humanitarian groups across the world were setting in motion appeals for aid and prayers as response expands in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey on 6 February.

Following the devastating Turkey-Syria earthquake on 6 February, the presidents of the Middle East Council of Churches held an emergency meeting to discuss the disaster and how to respond.

H.E. Mor Boutros Kassis, who has been serving the community for the last seven years as a temporary bishop, was installed as archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo on 15 October.

As Patriarch John X headed the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Cross church in Damascus in Syria, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca shared a message on behalf of a WCC-led delegation visiting the country for the first time since 2008.

On 5 April, World Council of Churches (WCC) leadership and staff met with representatives of WCC member churches from Syria, who came to the Bossey Ecumenical Institute for consultations on the WCC’s longstanding programmatic work relating to Syria. WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, was the convener of the meeting.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reiterated calls for the release of two Syrian archbishops, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi, who were kidnapped near Aleppo, Syria in April 2013.

The Middle East Council of Churches, based in Beirut, Lebanon, has been the convener for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2022 drafting group. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican have now published the material in several languages.

Father Jacques Mourad is a monk and priest of the community of Mar Moussa in Syria. He is very active in Islamic-Christian dialogue and belongs to the diocese of Homs of the Syriac Catholic Church. In 2015, he was captured and held hostage by the Islamic State, before escaping with the help of Muslims. During Advent, Father Mourad visited the Ecumenical Centre, where he led a special midday prayer for peace in Syria and the Middle East.

The Middle East Council of Churches issued a statement related to the case and fate of two Archbishops, Boulos Yaziji and Mor Gregorius Youhanna Ibrahim, who were kidnapped on 22 April 2013.

At the end of the second week of Advent, WCC staff gathered in the Chapel of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva for a special midday prayer for peace in Syria and the Middle East led by Father Jack (Yaqoub) Mourad, head of the Syriac Catholic Monastery of Saint Elian in al-Qaryatayn.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee raised prayers for an end to conflict and for peace in Syria, after more than eight tragic years of death, destruction and displacement.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed great hopes for the success of the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, which has begun its work this week.

As Turkey pursues its military operation in north-east Syria, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is gravely concerned about the humanitarian impact on the people of the region. It is reported that tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing from the first waves of the Turkish attack, and that hundreds of thousands of people are now directly in harm’s way.