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Applications are open for the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey’s 2024 interfaith summer course, during which students earn a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Interreligious Studies.

The Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, at its General Assembly held in Rome on 6-8 November, published a message entitled “Protect people, protect our humanity.”

During an Africa-Europe Ecumenical Forum on Migration, held 15-19 March In Hamburg, Germany, nearly 60 people gathered to discuss, among many other issues, the negative effects of “irregular” migration, caused in part by the growth of inequality within and between countries.

A new joint publication, “Mapping Migration, Mapping Churches’ Response in Europe,” has been released by the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) and World Council of Churches (WCC).

A special event in London was held to remember the 50 years that have passed since the World Council of Churches Programme to Combat Racism began in May 1969.

Catholic and World Council of Churches (WCC) leaders, meeting in Rome to discuss ways of combating racism and xenophobia, have pledged to uphold the rights and dignity of migrants and refugees.

Participants at the conference “Xenophobia, Racism and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration” released a message on 19 September that affirms and upholds the institution of asylum for those fleeing from war, persecution or natural disaster, and invokes respect for the rights for all people on the move.

The conference, held in Rome, was organized jointly by the World Council of Churches and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

At a global conference on xenophobia in Rome, a panel of four religious leaders from, respectively, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic traditions, spoke candidly about how xenophobia can sometimes be woven deeply into the fabric of these traditions.

Representatives of many different Christian churches, meeting at a Rome conference from 18-20 September, are calling for deeper spiritual reflection and greater practical action to support migrants and refugees.

Religious leaders and civil society representatives of different countries and diverse Christian churches gathered in Rome from 18-20 September to discuss the urgent task of combating the world’s increasing fear of so-called “strangers.”

Ten weeks after Pope Francis visited the WCC in Geneva as “a pilgrim in quest of unity and peace,” church leaders of different churches representing the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church are meeting in Germany this week to continue their task of “walking, praying and working together.”

Interview with pastor Martin Robra on the visit of Pope Francis to the World Council of Churches by Antonio Spadaro, SJ

Rising populism, racism and xenophobia - how can churches act against this tide?

Practitioners, ecumenical officers, and representatives of mission and church-based humanitarian agencies came together in Geneva from 1-3 September to formulate an answer.

“We’ve seen in the case of refugees, how the church takes a strong standpoint in welcoming those who have fled. But it isn’t always so easy in the congregations. There are many who feel fear, as we receive not only refugees but sometimes also people of other faiths. In this case, we can see a gap between what the church says, and what is actually lived.”

In the midst of a mounting climate of fear of refugees and immigrants, the WCC is calling on Christians to be true to the Biblical imperative to “welcome the stranger”.

Nearly one hundred representatives of the German member churches of the WCC met from 16 to 18 January at the Evangelical Academy of Loccum in order to share their experiences from the WCC 10th Assembly and to discuss how they would continue their way together on their pilgrimage of justice and peace.