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In the field of multilateral relations, the major partner of the Catholic Church is the World Council of Churches (WCC). Founded in 1948, it is the broadest and most inclusive ecumenical organization, bringing together 350 Christian denominations including Orthodox, Lutherans, Reformed, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists as well as United and Independent churches. Altogether they represent over 500 million Christians worldwide.

Almost 30 international students from the WCC's Bossey Ecumenical Institute, Switzerland, are embarking on a future of ecumenism, dialogue and unity that began with months of intense study and fellowship.

The leaders of the Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches met 24-27 May in Targoviste, Romania, to discuss cooperation in peace building and the ecumenical challenge and opportunity posed by migrants and refugees.

The landmark visit of Pope Francis to the World Council of Churches on 21 June will be a centrepiece of the ecumenical commemoration of the WCC's 70th anniversary.

The Vatican and the World Council of Churches today announced that Pope Francis will visit the WCC this June. The formal announcement took place on 2 March at a joint press conference in the Vatican.

As part of a Pilgrimage Reference Group meeting in Bogota, Colombia from 6-10 February, a WCC delegation visited the headquarters of the Conference of Latin American Bishops (CELAM).

In an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican, World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee moderator Dr Agnes Abuom and WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit discussed how Christian unity is vital in bringing a true sense of justice to issues the world is facing today. The meeting also focused on how deepening relations in the one ecumenical movement.

Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt have taken a significant ecumenical step by signing a common declaration that Roman Catholics and Copts may recognize each other’s baptisms. The agreement is, in the eyes of the World Council of Churches (WCC), a “sign of hope”.

Roman Catholic and WCC representatives are forging new ways of working together on today’s most pressing issues.

From 13 to 17 September 2016, members of the Joint Working Group overseen by leaders of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches will meet at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland. Part of the focus for the meeting, is to review relations between the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church.

Reflecting on the relevance of religion in today’s world, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit spoke at a sustainable development seminar in Rome on 4 May, posing a question to the participants: “Is religion able to bring hope to people of today?”

Future collaborative work of the Roman Catholic Church with the WCC was the focus of the latest meeting of executives of their Joint Working Group in Geneva.

“Church leaders and other leaders of faith communities played a vital role in Paris,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, in an interview during the week following the COP21 UN conference on climate change.

A WCC delegation visited Ireland from 28 November to 1 December to explore how the international ecumenical community may best support churches in the global fellowship and work together on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

Meeting from 17 to 24 June, the newly reconstituted Commission on Faith and Order of the WCC has begun to define its principal trajectories for ecumenical study and common activity from 2015 until the next WCC Assembly in 2020.

The “pilgrimage is both a way to continue working for the one ecumenical movement and a way to move forward in our times that offer new dimensions, opportunities and practices,” said the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

At the Central Committee meeting of the WCC, leadership of the Council’s consultative bodies was announced. These bodies will steer through the work of the WCC in accomplishing the call from its 10th Assembly to engage in a “pilgrimage of justice and peace”. The WCC assembly was held in the Republic of Korea in 2013.

In an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit stressed the significance of Christian unity. He also expressed appreciation for Pope Francis’s call to pray for peace in Syria and his call for churches to remember the poor, encouraging Christians to work for economic justice.