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“The member churches of the World Council of Churches have pledged themselves to stand against all genocides, wherever they happen,” said the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the council (WCC), on the morning of 10 June after a solemn service of remembrance at the Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum overlooking the capital city of Yerevan. The service took place in the context of the one-hundredth anniversary of an era of great suffering following mass arrests, executions and deportation of Armenians beginning on 24 April 1915.

Humanity cannot ignore its responsibility for creation, the WCC general secretary, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has stated in Stuttgart during the German Protestant Kirchentag.

Tens of thousands of people from Germany and beyond have converged on the city of Stuttgart for a five-day festival of faith, debates, music, worship and culture. Open-air services in different parts of the city marked the start of the German Protestant Kirchentag, or church convention, which began on 3 June and continues until 7 June.

WCC member churches in Nigeria, represented through the Christian Council of Nigeria, have been actively engaged in observing the recent Nigerian elections, continuing its stated conviction that effective participation of Nigerians in the processes of governance is very important in shaping the nation’s future.

The newly chosen general secretary of the Anglican Communion, Rev. Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the bishop of Kaduna in Nigeria, has served on the WCC Central Committee and has worked with the Council on interfaith dialogue.

Should robots make life and death decisions? Religious leaders are asked to tell governments “Never”.

Ahead of World Water Day on 22 March, a number of Christian organizations are reflecting on the significance of water – a scarce resource threatened and denied to millions around the world.

In many countries, national elections can provoke tension and uncertainty. Nigeria is no exception. The elections, originally scheduled for the middle of February, have now been postponed to 28 March, partly as a result of the security situation.

Attacks last week on French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, along with attacks on Paris police and shoppers at a Jewish grocery there, triggered vigorous reflections on freedom of expression, religious values and the role of churches in a WCC Communications Forum.

The WCC has expressed deep shock over the attacks by extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, which is said to have cost the lives of more than 2,000 people, including children used in suicide bomb attacks.

Following the attack on the Great Mosque of Kano in Nigeria on 28 November resulting in the deaths of over 100 people, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit extended sympathies for those bereaved or wounded.

The “pilgrimage is both a way to continue working for the one ecumenical movement and a way to move forward in our times that offer new dimensions, opportunities and practices,” said the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.