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After 50 years of occupation, Palestinians in the Holy Land haven’t given up their hopes for freedom. Still, Palestinians – and many Israelis as well – hope. They hope that a nonviolent solution to the conflict will come, and that both peoples eventually will live together in peace and reconciliation.

Last week, young Jewish, Muslim and Christian students learned about communication and peacebuilding during a workshop at the Ecumenical Centre, all with the hope of serving as peacemakers in their own contexts. The session was led by Marianne Ejdersten, director of WCC Communication.

The need for urgent ecumenical responses to the dangerously escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula was the focus of a meeting of the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Development Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula (EFK) held in Leipzig, Germany on 7-8 July.

In a moving worship service on 8 July in Bethanienkirche, Leipzig, Germany, a pastor from North Korea Rev. Kang Myong-chol, Chair of the Korean Christians Federation and a pastor from South Korea Rev. Kim Young-ju, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea presided over Holy Communion together, closing a meeting that underscored the need for urgent ecumenical responses to the dangerously escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.

As a student back in the seventies, it took a while for Rifat Kassis to come to terms with being both a good Christian, and a Palestinian living under occupation. His call to become a reverend in the Lutheran Church in Palestine brought him to Germany to study theology 40 years ago.

The heads of churches in the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) in Addis Ababa have expressed gratitude to Ethiopia’s government, churches and its people for sheltering their South Sudanese neighbours fleeing conflict in their homeland.

At an International Peace Consultation on 20 June, the National Coalition of Christian Organizations in Palestine issued on open letter to the WCC and the ecumenical movement, stating, “There is still no justice in our land.” In today’s Palestine, discrimination and inequality, military occupation and systematic oppression are the rule, the letter states: “Today, we stand in front of an impasse and we have reached a deadlock. Despite all the promises, endless summits, UN resolutions, religious and lay leader’s callings – Palestinians are still yearning for their freedom and independence, and seeking justice and equality.”

Participating in a new World Vision campaign called “It takes a World to End Violence against Children,” World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri spoke at a Geneva-based event on 13 June, reflecting that churches and organizations working together can prevent and address “a tragic reality.”

Writing 100 years after the Balfour Declaration and fifty years after Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories captured in the 1967 War, the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) executive committee lamented the ongoing failure of the parties to seek just peace and remarked on “an indelible stain on the conscience of members of the international community” for their failure to resolve the situation.

Governments’ foreign policies need to change to focus on issues such as global inequalities that drive conflicts in many parts of the world, the moderator of the WCC Central Committee, Agnes Abuom, said at a forum in Berlin with German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel.

Les politiques étrangères des gouvernements doivent évoluer et se concentrer sur des enjeux tels que les inégalités à l'origine de conflits dans de nombreuses régions du monde, a déclaré Agnes Abuom, Présidente du Comité central du COE lors d'un forum à Berlin avec le ministre allemand des Affaires étrangères, Sigmar Gabriel.

Marking an important milestone in the history of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Institute at Château de Bossey, the first candidate of the institute’s doctoral programme successfully completed his research with a viva voce examination at the University of Geneva on 24 May.

The conference “Re:Action - believers for peace in time of nationalism and xenophobia” was held in Croatia from 30 March to 2 April 2017. Seventy participants from different religious backgrounds attended the event organized by "Believers for Peace" and "Church and Peace".

"You can use either name,” he jokes when introducing himself. A cheerful man with a strong passion for dialogue, peace and reconciliation, Zoughbi Zoughbi sees his job as a "way of living - or a commitment, rather than a task", as he puts it.

Responding to overnight missile attacks on a Syrian air force base by U.S. forces, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit on 7 April urged all parties in the conflict to cease hostilities and commit to peaceful negotiations toward a transitional governance within the framework of international law.