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With the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, we pray for the people and churches of Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria.

World Health Day is April 7 when the World Health Organization commemorates its 76th anniversary. This year the theme is 'My Health, My Right, which reminds us to advocate for equitable access to health services and work towards a healthier, more inclusive world.  

World Council of Churches president from Europe Rev. Dr Susan Durber shared reflections at the Christian Aid assembly, expressing appreciation for the meaningful gathering of churches and ecumenical leaders. 

In February 2023, members of the Stop Killer Robots coalition met in Costa Rica to consider the impact of digital dehumanisation - a process in which humans are reduced to data points, on which decisions are made which can negatively impact us.  The potential of such automated harm includes injury or death from the use of autonomous weapon systems.

1.1 The representatives of Specialized Ministries, organizations connected to member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) serving the one ecumenical movement in the areas of mission, diakonia, relief and advocacy, gathered for an online Pre-Assembly 9 and 10 March 2022 in preparation for the WCC 11th Assembly, taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany, in September 2022.

Presentation of Dr Mwai Makoka, the World Council of Churches programme executive for Health and Healing, at the meeting of WCC, EKD, German Federal Foreign Office and TransAtlantic Network, 13 October 2021.

Address of Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches at the meeting of WCC, EKD, German Federal Foreign Office and TransAtlantic Network, 13 October 2021

Recently during the PJP harvest gathering meeting of WCC, at a workshop on revisiting the Seven Weeks for Water – Lenten campaign of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network, Dr Agnes Abuom was asked to reflect on the linkage between the WCC’s water justice campaign and the WCC’s overarching theme of Pilgrimage of  Justice and Peace? Having attended several PJP meetings and Lenten campaigns herself, she responded in a pre-recorded video message. The following is the transcript of her video message.

Farewell greetings to Rev. Dr. Cornelia Fullkrug-Weitzel by Dr Agnes Abuom.

The fourth reflection of the “Seven Weeks for Water 2019” of World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Water Network is by Rev. Dr Raj BharatPatta, an ordained minister of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church in India. He has recently completed his PhD on the topic Subaltern Public Theology for India from the University of Manchester, UK. He served the Student Christian Movement of India as its national General Secretary and also the National Council of Churches in India as one of its Executive Secretaries, particularly focusing on Dalit and indigenous people. He currently serves as an Authorised Presbyter at the Stockport Methodist Circuit in UK with a pastoral charge of three churches. In the following reflection, he narrates the story of Hagar through her voice, when she was left in the desert to fend for herself without an adequate supply of water to survive with and to keep her son Ishmael alive. Patta, draws similarities between the Dalit communities in India and that of Hagar, when it comes to access to water.

Plenary presentation delivered by Prof. Isabel Apawo Phiri at the 11th All Africa Conference of Churches Assembly Kigali, Rwanda

The seventh reflection of the of the "Seven Weeks for Water", of World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Water Network, is by Raquel de Fátima Colet, a consecrated Catholic member of the Company of the Daughters of Charity of the Province of Curitiba/Paraná/Brasil. She is a member of the Ecumenical Movement of Curitiba (MOVEC).  In the following reflection she relates the beatitudes in the context of respecting and protecting our waters. She says, “The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) present us with a path to follow Jesus, in the commitment to his Kingdom of love, justice and peace. From Latin America, from its exuberant nature and the lives of our peoples, today we want to proclaim the beatitudes of caring, translated into our prophetic participation in the promotion of a fair and equal access to water a universal gift and right”.

9.5 Theses for a new quest for unity and peace through Ecumenical Diakonia (In the month commemorating 500 years of Reformation, a modest contribution to our joint reflection and actions for a new transformation of the world towards unity, justice and peace, might be expressed in one-tenth the number of theses that initiated the transformation called the “Reformation”.)

“To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.” 

(Revelation 21:6) 

It is not a coincidence that our holy book, the Bible, comes from a desert area: Palestine, Jordan and Egypt. In fact, water has been and continues to be truly the source and essence of life. What the Israelites experienced in biblical times, drought and water shortages, is the experience of Palestinians today.

The last in the series of theological reflections of the Lenten campaign “Seven Weeks for Water” is by Prof. Chung Hyun Kyung, a Korean Theologian teaching at the Union Theological Seminary in the USA. She reflects on the issues related to water from a Salimist (Korean eco-feminist) perspective. She highlights how we cannot serve both God and the Mammon at the same time and that Lent provides an opportunity to repent from our sins of abusing resources of mother earth, particularly of water, driven by capitalism. She emphasizes strongly on the “restorative justice” in making our relationship with God and nature – a just one!

The second biblical reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2015 is by Advocate Rajendra Sail, a founding member of an ecumenical social change organization, Raipur Churches Development & Relief Committee (RCDRC), in Chhattisgarh (Central India). Through this reflection, he challenges the rampant commodification of water by the profit oriented corporates, when people are denied access to water for a dignified living.

The fourth Biblical reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2014 is by the “Green Bishop” Geoff Davies, executive director of the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environmental Institute. Citing several examples from the Bible, he brings a strong critique of the anthropocentric  understanding of our theology  and  encourages us to become “earthkeepers”. He also strongly advocates that water  is a gift of God and no one should be denied of this life giving resource.

At the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Ricardo Petrella, a professor, author, and water activist from Italy, reported that Nestlé and Coca Cola are buying up large tracts of land in Brazil that contain permanent water springs. Those multinationals are investing vast sums of money in Europe in the bottled water market. Their aim in South America is the same. The International Monetary Fund has put pressure on African governments to accept water privatization as a condition for their receiving subsidies for development. 

At the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Ricardo Petrella, a professor, author, and water activist from Italy, reported that Nestlé and Coca Cola are buying up large tracts of land in Brazil that contain permanent water springs.