Search results

Archbishop Rev. Dr Soritua Albert Ernest Nababan, a global ecumenical leader, passed away on 8 May in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the age of 88. He was the World Council of Churches (WCC) president from 2006-2013 and served as the former Ephorus (Archbishop) of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan, the largest Protestant church in Indonesia and the largest Lutheran church in Asia with a membership of 4 million people.

On 6 August, a “Joint Interfaith Statement on the 75th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” was released, reaffirming the existential threat to humanity that nuclear weapons pose.

At the the 57th session of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of Churches on International Affairs in Brisbane, Australia, Bishop Philip Huggins thoughtfully summed up why this year is a crucial one for the planet.

Bei einem Treffen mit Dr. Syafiq A. Mughni, dem Sondergesandten des indonesischen Präsidenten für Dialog und Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Religionen und Kulturen, hat der Generalsekretär des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) seine Dankbarkeit für das Engagement des Sondergesandten für Menschenrechte zum Ausdruck gebracht und das Bekenntnis des ÖRK zu Zusammenarbeit im Engagement gegen Fremden- und Islamfeindlichkeit hervorgehoben. „Die Menschenrechte müssen als universelle Grundprinzipien verstanden werden“, erklärte Tveit. „Als Menschen und als Christinnen und Christen ist es unsere Pflicht, uns für die Rechte aller Menschen einzusetzen.“

In an encounter with Dr Syafiq A. Mughni, Special Envoy of the President of Indonesia for Interfaith and Intercivilizational Dialogue and Cooperation, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed his appreciation for the Special Envoy’s promotion of human rights, and stressed the WCC’s commitment to cooperation in confronting xenophobia and Islamophobia. “We have to see human rights as universal principles”, said Tveit. “It is our duty as human beings and also as Christians to fight for the rights of everybody”.

In a 29 April message, the Rt Rev. Dhiloraj Canagasabey, Anglican Bishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka and a member of the World Council of Churches Central Committee, reflected on the Easter Sunday violence in Christian churches in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa and also in some hotels.

In the wake of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, the Omnia Institute for Contextual Leadership, based in Chicago, lifted up points of hope that peace will win in the end. In a 25 April message, Shanta Premawardhana, president of the institute, wrote that every person of every faith of every nation deserves to wake up in peace. “Every child deserves to feel safe, welcomed, and alive to the promise that each day brings,” Premawardhana wrote. “I'm sure you know that this is why we build Interfaith Peacemaker Teams in Sri Lanka.”

Mit Entsetzen und Empörung hat der Ökumenische Rat der Kirchen (ÖRK) die Nachricht aufgenommen, dass bei Anschlägen in der Al Noor Moschee und in einer weiteren Moschee im Vorort Linwood in Neuseeland 49 Menschen getötet und mindestens 20 weitere verletzt worden sind

It is with deep shock and indignation that the World Council of Churches received the news that 49 people have been killed and at least 20 were wounded in terrorist attacks at the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch and at the mosque in the suburb of Linwood in New Zealand.

Eine ökumenische Delegation unter der Leitung des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) besuchte vom 15. bis 22. Februar Indonesien. Auf dem Programm standen mehrere Begegnungen in den Provinzen Papua und Papua Barat, wo es zunehmend zu Gewalt und Diskriminierung gegenüber indigenen Einwohnern gekommen ist, wie kürzlich in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung von fünf UN-Mandatsträgern im Bereich Menschenrechte beklagt wurde.

An ecumenical delegation coordinated by the World Council of Churches (WCC) visited Indonesia on 15-22 February, including the provinces of Papua and Papua Barat - where increasing violence and discrimination against indigenous Papuan people was recently highlighted in a joint statement by five UN human rights mandate-holders.

From 29 January to 1 February, 30 representatives from various faith traditions gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh for a workshop on “Interfaith Reflections on Just Transitions: Linking Climate and Economic Justice”. The workshop was organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Council for World Mission and was hosted by the National Council of Churches in Bangladesh.

“The seeds of peace come from the ground.” That is the vision that Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana, former director of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation at the World Council of Churches and now president of OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership, tries to follow with his organization.

Auf einer internationalen Konferenz gegen Fremdenfeindlichkeit in Rom tauschte eine Gruppe von vier religiösen Würdenträgern aus der buddhistischen, christlichen, hinduistischen und islamischen Tradition offen ihre Gedanken darüber aus, wie Fremdenfeindlichkeit manchmal tief in den Strukturen dieser Traditionen verankert ist.

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.

Im Osten Indonesiens seien die Beziehungen zwischen katholischen und protestantischen Gläubigen auf lokaler Ebene nicht so komplex wie die Gespräche über Dogmen auf höheren kirchlichen Ebenen, sagt eine Pastorin der Protestantischen Kirche der Molukken.