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World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay marked 11 January as a “significant moment for justice and the rule of law,” as public hearings commenced in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on allegations against the State of Israel of violations of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. 

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep concern about increased violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank. 

In an 8 July letter sent to President Joe Biden, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca appealed for Biden’s attention to the plight of churches and Christians of the Holy Land.

Biden is scheduled to visit Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia on 13-16 July.

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca called on the Palestinian Authority to investigate recent attacks on Christians in the West Bank, and to ensure justice and dignity for all citizens.  “The WCC call follows two attacks last week against Christians in the Nablus and Bethlehem areas,” said Sauca.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) was honoured as a top non-governmental organization for its work during 2021, receiving a third-place Geneva Engage Award on 1 February for effective and inspiring social media outreach and engagement.

Today the world joins in mourning the passing of a towering figure in the struggle for freedom and for human dignity and rights.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) has facilitated churches’ engagement in a wide range of critical issues of the world since the last WCC Assembly in Busan, concluded the 58th meeting of the WCC CCIA, gathering church representatives in Johannesburg and online in the 75th anniversary year of the Commission’s creation.

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed mounting concern and profound grief at the rising toll of people killed and injured in the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine.

In a 9 May statement, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of Jerusalem expressed their profound concern over the recent violence in East Jerusalem.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemns the violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex during the night of Friday 7 May, in which more than 200 people are reported to have been wounded. Reacting to the news, WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca called on Israel to respect the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City in the interest of peace and stability. We also call for all to refrain from further violence, and from provocative and destabilizing actions.”

More than 40 interreligious advisors from the World Council of Churches (WCC) gathered for a webinar on 20 April to explore the increasingly important role of interreligious relations in the WCC’s work in international affairs.

In an address entitled “An instrument of faith,” Dag Hammarskjöld, the second UN secretary-general, referred to churches as “the guardians of and spokesmen of the deepest beliefs and the loftiest dreams of man.”

As members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) fellowship and national councils of churches gathered online on 22 June, they pledged to walk beside their sisters and brothers on the Korean Peninsula in their quest for peace.