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WCC shares Week of Prayer for Overcoming Racism and Xenophobia

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is sharing materials for a Week of Prayer for Overcoming Racism and Xenophobia” in the week that includes the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March and the UN International Day for the Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade on 25 March.

Ukraine: Responding to humanitarian need

When the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, churches had already been responding to humanitarian need in the country for eight years, since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.  The work being undertaken by churches in meeting the needs of those displaced by the war is not new, but the scale is staggering as 14 million people have been displaced in the six months since the invasion began.

WCC executive committee appoints three new WCC staff leaders

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee has appointed, by consensus, three new WCC staff leaders: a programme director for Unity and Mission; a programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia; and a director of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism.

Churches´Commission for Migrants in Europe release European church leaders’ statement on response of Europe to refugees

The Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe - CCME released a statement that speaks about the response of Europe to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. The statement addresses the concerns of discriminatory treatment of non-Ukrainians and minority ethnic people in this context and the more general question that the generosity shown in recent weeks often has not been extended to those fleeing from elsewhere.

Below, Dr Torsten Moritz, general secretary at the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, reflects on why church leaders requested such a statement, and what lies at the heart of some of their different inputs.

On UN International Day of Conscience, WCC officially releases volume “I Belong”

On the UN International Day of  Conscience, 5 April, the World Council of Churches (WCC) releases a new volume of I Belong – Biblical Reflections on Statelessness”. The day highlights the need for the creation of conditions of stability, peaceful coexistence, respect for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, language or religion.

WCC posts job openings for leadership staff

Following the decision of the Executive Committee during its meeting of November 2021, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is posting the opening of three staff leadership positions. The openings include programme director for Unity and Mission, programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia, and director of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order.

Programme to Combat Racism began during apartheid, but xenophobia fight still churches’ focus

When the World Council of Churches (WCC) launched the Programme to Combat Racism after years of in-depth theological reflections and prayer in 1971, South Africa's insidious racist apartheid policies were in full throw. The programme brought the WCC into the world's spotlight. Yet racism did not start 50 years ago. And it did not end with the casting out of apartheid at the end of the 20th century. During that era, figures such as Nobel Peace Prize laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela fought racism in society and the church.