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Roman Catholics and Lutherans, in committing to forging ahead as pilgrims together, are significantly contributing to the wider ecumenical movement, acknowledged the WCC executive committee last week at its meeting in China.

“Towards an Integrated World” is the theme of an opportunity for Muslim-Christian dialogue that unfolded during the visit of religious leaders from Egypt to the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva and the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland on 30 September and 1 October 2016.

Rev. Dr Hielke Wolters is leaving the WCC after serving for nine years - the last seven years as associate general secretary - but he is not leaving the ecumenical movement to which he has been dedicated since his student days. Officially is he going to retire, but only on the paper. He has many thoughts and plans to realize as he moves back to the Netherlands to serve, in one way or another, the church or the wider ecumenical movement. Wolters said to WCC News with a smile: “I’m open for any suggestion and I know that God will lead me in the right direction when that time comes.”

In the wake of the highly-anticipated Chilcot report, the World Council of Churches (WCC) stands by its original position, first adopted in 2002 via a wide consultative process with its member churches, that all possible efforts should have been exhausted to prevent the war in Iraq.

Hosting the meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee in Trondheim, Norway, has proven to be a gift to the Church of Norway, according to a senior church official.

Tarek Mitri knows that his identity as a Christian affects what people expect of him. The Lebanese academic, whose career has spanned politics, diplomacy and a stint on the staff of the World Council of Churches, has learned to handle reactions from people who have set ideas about what he will, and should, say on public issues.

The first female presiding bishop of the Church of Norway says she has had to learn to be clear about where she stands on controversial issues, such as the marriage of same-sex couples – which she supports –while at the same time expressing respect for the point of view of colleagues who oppose it.

The worsening refugee situation, which now counts round 65 million people among those fleeing their homes worldwide, calls for the church to be more outspoken, says Trondheim pastor Marianne H. Brekken.

Anticipating the award ceremony of the 2015 Olof Palme Prize on 29 January, the WCC secured interview time with laureates Rev. Dr Mitri Raheb, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, and Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, well-known for his contributions in the Haaretz Daily Newspaper, portraying the lives, the people and the victims in occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

Violence in the name of religion echoed in the distance, demanding a response, through the November 2015 meeting of the 25-member Executive Committee of the WCC in Bogis-Bossey and nearby Geneva, Switzerland as it planned the work of the Council in the coming years.

The Executive Committee of the WCC released a statement in the lead-up to the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris expressing hope that the event will achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C.

Today 35 bishops and church leaders from 20 countries gathered in Munich, Germany to discuss the refugee situation and the role of the churches in Europe.

At the 42nd Committee on World Food Security in Rome on 12-15 October, the intergovernmental body continued its quest to coordinate a global approach to food security.

In view of the current refugee crisis, European churches are being encouraged to deepen their efforts in receiving, supporting and protecting refugees who arrive in the region. This call was made in a letter issued jointly by the WCC, the Conference of European Churches and the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe.

Deeply concerned for migrants in many regions, especially those “driven to undertake journeys of desperate risk and danger”, the WCC Executive Committee has declared: “All members of the international community have a moral and legal duty to save the lives of those in jeopardy at sea or in transit, regardless of their origin and status.”

“Denial, impunity and the failure to remember such events encourage their repetition.” This warning was issued by the WCC Executive Committee in a public issues statement on the Armenian genocide of the early 20th century. Meeting in Armenia at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the 20-member committee paid its respects to this year’s commemoration of the tragedy.

Introducing 2015 as “a sacred year in the life of our people and our land,” Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, welcomed the 20-member WCC Executive Committee to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin at the start of their semi-annual meeting that is taking place from 8 to 12 June.

Churches and religious leaders are at the forefront of efforts to mobilize action for a legally binding agreement on world’s climate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris at the end of 2015. The motivation of the WCC for its role in this arena is summarized in the title of its environmental programme: Care for Creation and Climate Justice.

Inspired by the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, the Central Committee of the WCC, a chief governing body of the Council, has set directions for the work of the Council from 2014 to 2017.

When Dr Ulysses Burley III visited Palestine and Israel six months ago, he came away with an even stronger determination to work for social justice, wherever and however he can.