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WCC supports Korean churches’ statement calling for halting military actions and choosing the path of peace

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed grave concern over the rapidly escalating tensions and military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula, and also expressed the WCC’s support for a statement released on 4 November by the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) that calls for halting military actions and choosing a path toward peace.

God’s Creation is celebrated in a gathering of waters

Recalling believers’ mandate to act as stewards and beneficiaries of God’s creation, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly gathered in morning prayer on the first day of September, the Orthodox Day of Prayer for Creation and the start of an ecumenically observed Season of Creation. At the heart of the liturgical action was a combining of vessels of water from each inhabited region of the earth, a “gathering of the waters” reflecting the earliest act of creation in Genesis 1:9.

Care for Creation: Decades of ecumenical advocacy

September 1 marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, five weeks in the liturgical calendar recognized by the fellowship of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and, since 2015, by the Catholic Church. It is an especially religious demonstration of concern for the planet and for threats to the survival of Earth as we know it.

WCC central committee statement on war in Ukraine: “war, with the killing and all the other miserable consequences it entails, is incompatible with God’s very nature”

Deploring the illegal and unjustifiable war inflicted on the people and sovereign state of Ukraine” the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee lamented the awful and continuing toll of deaths, destruction and displacement, of destroyed relationships and ever more deeply entrenched antagonism between the people of the region, of escalating confrontation globally, of increased famine risk in food insecure regions of the world, of economic hardship and heightened social and political instability in many countries.”

Colombian delegation calls upon international community to revive “vital support”

As a group of three laureates of the “National Human Rights Award in Colombia” engaged in meetings with diplomats and United Nations representatives in Geneva, a tray lunch event was organized on 8 June at the Ecumenical Centre by the World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance to offer the delegation the opportunity to share about the deterioration of the peace process in the country and the importance of international solidarity.

On Korean Peninsula, “the churches and the country need reconciliation and unity”

Rev. Dr Hyunju Bae represents the Presbyterian Church of Korea on the World Council of Churches central and executive committees and serves on the WCC Gender Advisory Group. She is a former professor of New Testament Studies at the Busan Presbyterian University, Republic of Korea, and now a co-president of the Korea Christian Environmental Movement Solidarity for Integrity of Creation.  Below, she reflects on a recent prayer vigil for peace, as well as other ecumenical activities in South Korea.

WCC visit to Italy harvests examples of the churches’ unconditional support to refugees and migrants

The Central Mediterranean route is the overseas crossing from North Africa to Italy. Those migrating on this route generally aim to reach Italian shores but leave from a variety of North African countries bordering the Mediterranean. Though in past years most migrants have departed from Libya, which is a destination for migrants as well as a transit country, there is also a proportionally small but growing number of departures from Tunisia, Egypt, and Algeria.

Churches will share perspectives on human dignity amidst escalating conflicts

Addressing the challenges for a common vision of churches on human rights today, the international conference “Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights” will take place on 9-12 April in Wuppertal, Germany. Everyone is invited to follow the public session of the conference on 11 April, when a panel of the keynote speakers will bring together biblical, theological and practical perspectives on human dignity.