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The World Council of Churches (WCC) congratulates Palestinian Lutheran pastor Rev. Dr Mitri Raheb on receiving the 2011 “Deutscher Medienpreis” (German Media Prize). The award recognizes his individual work and Palestinian churches’ efforts for peace.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reaffirmed churches’ commitment to justice and peace in the Middle East, while stressing the importance of a common vision for living together by Christians and Muslims in the Arab world.

Official statistics indicate the existence of three million people who were pushed away from their land and property in Colombia due to armed conflict that has taken place for years in the country. Human rights organizations claim, however, that the number of "displaced people" is actually close to 5 million people.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has today urged strong positive action by the United Nations on behalf of Palestine. While the WCC has advocated justice for Palestinians and Israelis for decades, the United Nations Security Council’s consideration of full membership for Palestine was hailed by the WCC and regional churches as an opportunity for peace.

From Fiji to Rwanda, prayers and signs of commitment are being offered for the annual International Day of Prayer for Peace on 21 September. This year’s observances are taking place in parishes and on Facebook , led by people who attended a World Council of Churches peace convocation in Jamaica this May.

by Theodore Gill (*)

Conflicts over water threaten peace in the world, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, told a gathering in Germany on the banks of the River Danube to mark the end of the WCC’s Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV).

The need for increased dialogue among churches in the Middle East and with churches in the East and West were only two of the many concerns addressed by 30 theologians, social scientists, politicians and church representatives at a recent conference in Volos, Greece.

The volatile and precarious situation of Christians in the Middle East was of deep concern to the members of the February 2011 meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, and it will be highlighted in an upcoming conference on Christians in the Middle East to be held in Greece.

“If we don’t have dreams about what we want to become true, we are not quite realistic,” says the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). “A radical realism in the form of dreams is required to open the space for serious dialogue on the challenges we are facing together.”

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has said the recent agreement reached between two Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, holds not only the hope and promise for a healing process within the Palestinian community but also creates the atmosphere for a seeking "a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Israel/Palestine".

As part of a week-long series of events to promote a just peace in Israel and Palestine, Palestinians and Israelis will be praying for peace in front of several Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the separation wall and in houses of worship in Jerusalem and across Palestine.