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Against the background of the Russian invasion and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a high-level WCC leadership delegation visiting Ukraine undertook an intensive series of consultations in Kyiv on 11 May 2023, with church leaders, Ukrainian government officials, and others.

A delegation from the World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance is visiting Türkiye this week, expressing solidarity and support for churches on the ground responding to grave needs in the wake of the 6 February earthquake.

Greeks have watched their country burn, knowing that the flames also consume many other parts of the world, says the Church of Greece.

In an opening address at a Forum on Modern Slavery in Istanbul on 7 January, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew spoke on “Awareness, Action and Impact.” After many centuries of progress and advancement, we still live in a world where injustice and slavery continue to thrive, and where human dignity is exchanged for the sole purpose of greed, gain, and profit, reflected Bartholomew.

Protecting children from any kind of violence has always been and should remain an essential message of Christianity, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has told a gathering at the World Council of Churches (WCC) for World Children’s Day.

The World Council of Churches and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) invite the media to celebrate World Children’s day on Wednesday, 21 November at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

The Orthodox Church of Albania, with a Festive Divine Liturgy on 2 August, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the election and appointment of Archbishop Anastasios as the head of the church.

The Ecumenical Patriarch, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, delivered a public address at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 24 April as part of his official visit to Switzerland on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his enthronement as Ecumenical Patriarch and the 50th anniversary of the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy.

He earned the title “Green Patriarch” as a religious leader addressing alarming environmental issues over at least two decades. In 2008, Time Magazine named His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as one of 100 Most Influential People in the World, for “defining environmentalism as spiritual responsibility”.

Renowned for his friendly attitude and his inspiring speeches, nothing seems impossible for this man. He has faced a multitude of difficulties including severe illness and persecution. At age 62, he committed to rebuild the church in the only officially declared atheist state.

Representatives of the WCC visited Greece to strengthen efforts in support of refugees in Europe and the Middle East.

Joined in prayer, Christian churches around the world will again observe the ecumenical “Time for Creation” (1 September to 4 October), this year bolstered by Pope Francis’s recent proclamation of 1 September as the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.”

Invoking prayers for creation, eco-justice and peace with the earth, Time for Creation, a Christian global event, is observed worldwide by many member churches of the WCC. This year, the Council has invited a focus on the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace” – a call issued by the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea in 2013.

In a session on 4 July in Geneva, Switzerland, the WCC Central Committee focused on one of the world’s most threatening challenges – climate change.

The WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, concluded on 8 November, acting to inspire churches to renew their commitments to justice and peace. Through varied encounters and dialogue within the fellowship of churches, the Assembly has made concrete decisions and recommendations setting priorities for the future work of the WCC.

In one of their first decisions as the Central Committee for the World Council of Churches, the 150-member committee made history Friday by electing Dr Agnes Abuom of Nariobi, Kenya as the moderator of the highest WCC governing body.

In a call to celebrate Time for Creation, Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, encouraged the churches to pay attention to the “human interventions impacting the ecological balance”.

What are the connections between widespread poverty and ecology? Seventy-five scientists, activists, philosophers and theologians are meeting from 26 to 30 September at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, in Kolympari, Greece, to understand the intertwined dynamics of economic development and environmental sustainability.