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GEM School: a North Star of economic justice

On a recent morning walk right before dawn, I could still see the stars. I saw the Polaris Star, or North Star, which is the brightest star in its constellation. It reminded me of the Underground Railroad and the network of people in North America who led Black people from southern bondage to northern freedom by following the North Star. 

GEM School explores how to make new economic world order a reality

Held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – a city of socioeconomic contrasts – from 21 August to 1 September, the 6th edition of the Ecumenical School on Governance, Economics, and Management for an Economy of Life (GEM School 2023) gathered 24 participants to rethink economic systems for a more equitable, sustainable planet.

Climate crisis fuels existing water injustice

2021 has shown how vulnerable and unprepared even wealthy, industrialized countries are in the face of the escalating climate crisis. Devastating flooding, unprecedented heat waves and out-of-control wildfires have hit parts of Europe and North America. Yet this is just a foretaste of catastrophes that have long since become a bitter reality in other parts of the world. They are almost always a matter of too much or too little water. Yet water problems are often the result of discrimination and political failure, especially in times of climate change.

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung: “Prayer is a radical action”

Recently the World Council of Churches (WCC) published “The Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula.” The article below is linked to the questions in Chapter 15 in the book, a chapter that highlights the road ahead for peace and reconciliation on the peninsula. In this interview, Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, president of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, reflects and shares his deep wisdom, and emphasizes the importance of working for peace and justice.

With blue umbrellas for unity, the people stand for peace in Korea

At a Peace Convocation on 20 June, people holding blue umbrellas as a symbol of unity prayed, walked and called for peace together. The convocation, coordinated by the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, commemorated 70 years since the start of the Korean War. Held at the White Horse Hill Memorial in Cholwon, the observance took place on one of the most ferocious battlefields of the Korean War.

Conciliar Unity: Whither Vision and Direction?

In a recent interview for Christian Conference of Asia News, four ecumenists from regional and international conciliar fellowships from Asia, North America and the WCC, responded to questions about the role and challenges of ecumenical councils and the importance of conciliar unity in a changing ecumenical and ecclesial context.

#WCC70: A prayer about health and healing

Dr Erlinda N. Senturias, from the Philippines, gives thanks that WCC has created safe spaces for the churches to talk about HIV and AIDS. She asks that the ecumenical movement continue to be a beacon of support for this ongoing journey of health and healing.

The motor engineers of the ecumenical movement

Some forty professionals working on ecumenical relations in different member churches in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East as well as North and South America, are currently gathered in Geneva, Switzerland. Their four-day meeting affords them an opportunity to learn about the various WCC programmes as well as from each other.

Religion: Way of war or path to peace?

From Paris to Pakistan, Orlando to Myanmar, Iraq to Nigeria, each day witnesses conflict and violence perpetrated in the name of religion or committed against persons because of their religious identity.

Interfaith initiative at UN calls 191 governments to ban nuclear weapons

“Nuclear weapons are incompatible with the values upheld by our respective faith traditions”, representatives of some 50 Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish organizations said on 1 May. The inter-religious statement came in a joint call to the 191 governments participating in the world’s largest disarmament treaty. The call, co-sponsored by the WCC, was made during civil society presentations to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York City.