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War, ethnic conflict, millions of refugees and a deteriorating humanitarian situation provide a bleak background for discussion of the Middle East.

“Science and religion can provide solutions to poverty and injustice.” This was the theme of the 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Alternatives for Poverty Reduction and Ecological Justice (SAPREJ) in Kampala, Uganda, on 4-7 April. The conference was organized by the Kyambogo University and the WCC economic and ecological justice programme.

In an age of religious pluralism and of religious justification of all manner of atrocities, how do religious communities contribute authentically to the public good?

Five decades after publication of his ground-breaking Theology of Hope, German theologian Jürgen Moltmann continues to insist on the power of hope in the "coming of God" as a force for the transformation of the world.

While it was German chancellor Angela Merkel who boldly affirmed the willingness of Germany to receive hundreds of thousands of immigrants, it has fallen to the interior ministry, under the leadership of her longtime ally Dr Thomas de Maizière, that must realize that dream – and keep it from becoming a nightmare – through concrete arrangements for reception and integration of migrants into German society and its economy.

Implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change sharpened discussion of the 2015 papal encyclical Laudato Si’ at a UN conference initiated by the Holy See and several permanent missions to the UN on 15 January in Geneva. Among the presenters were the president of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, the apostolic nuncio to the United Nations and the WCC general secretary.

Capitalizing on momentum from the recent COP21 accord in Paris was the focus of a meeting of the WCC general secretary and the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace on 16 December.

“The political leaders of the world are speaking like preachers. May they continue as believers,” said the WCC general secretary at the opening of the UN climate talks in Paris.

Mere days after terror attacks in Beirut and Paris, the theme of an interfaith meeting of Christians and Muslims at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on “Religion, Peace and Violence” was entirely appropriate, said participants.

"In COP21 we decide whether the glass is half full or half empty, but the glass must be transparent", tweeted climate activist Yeb Saño at the end of a day full of activities engaging leadership and staff members of the WCC, the Lutheran World Federation and ACT Alliance, at the Ecumenical Centre, in Geneva, Switzerland.

In a recent statement, religious leaders called for an ambitious climate agreement, reminding all governments to commit to emission cuts and climate risk reduction. They promised to continue working for climate justice, including divestment from fossil energy.

A recent symposium in Leeds, United Kingdom, reflected on the document Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World and strongly proposed further systemic and academic research on the ethics of evangelization and conversion.

To revitalize and strengthen the ecumenical commitment for justice, healing, reconciliation and peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula, the Ecumenical Forum on Peace in Northeast Asia was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea.