As the humanitarian crisis continues to escalate in the blockaded enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation visited Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
A World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation nearly reached the Lachin corridor on 19 September, the same day Azerbaijan launched attacks against Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) region.
Carla Khijoyan, World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive for the Middle East, shares her journey of how the Emerging Peacemakers Forum was initiated. She was formerly the WCC programme executive for Youth Engagement in the Ecumenical Movement.
A World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation will visit the Armenian Apostolic Church on 18-22 September. The visit will include an audience with His Holiness Karekin II, the Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians.
On 28th August, during a visit with Ambassador Andranik Hovhannisyan, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the UN Office, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with those making efforts to lift the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by reopening the Lachin corridor.
A young Christian from the United Kingdom has said that the young generation needs the older generation to work with them to tackle the world's problems, as neither group can do it alone.
The world needs young leadership very badly because those from the older generation have not delivered, the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has told young Christian, Jewish, and Muslim participants at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum.
WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay offered a reflection during the graduation ceremony on 13 July of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum as young leaders celebrated their two-week long time of collaborating, dialogue, and insight.
Nelson Mandela's maxim that to build peace, you need to transform your enemy into a partner is invaluable, a French ethics foundation leader of Lebanese origin has told young Christian, Jewish, and Muslim participants at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum.
The Emerging Peacemakers Forum aims to empower youth to contribute to building a better future for themselves and humanity, the secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Elders said at a meeting in Geneva.
A parliamentarian from the UAE has cautioned a group of young Christian, Jewish, and Muslim peacemakers that terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have shown proficiency in using social media to attain their goals.
Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, Mission of Palestine to Switzerland; Ambassador Dr Omar Awadallah, assistant minister for United Nations and Specialized Organizations; and Doa Nofal, second secretary at the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 6 July to discuss the current situation in Palestine.
The Christians, Jews, and Muslims laughing and chatting together, learning about peace were not in an aspirational story; they are authentic, live young people having fun at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum.
“We carry the cross with dignity and hope.” These were the opening words as Middle East Christians stood to bear witness at the World Council of Churches central committee meeting, to the burdens and challenges – but also the resilience – that they live on a daily basis in the land where Christianity was born.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shared joyful congratulations with Archbishop Hosam Naoum, who was installed as new primate of Anglican Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
TheMiddle East Council of Churchesannounced that the 22 April each year—the day of the kidnapping of the two Archbishops of Aleppo, Metropolitan Boulos Yaziji and Metropolitan Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim— will be named “The Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented.”
Marking 10 years since the kidnapping of archbishops of Aleppo Paul Yazigi and John Ibrahim, the Middle East Council of Churches held an “Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented” on 24 April.
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.
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.
