In Harare it was called Padare —a public procession celebrating a special day or event; In Porto Alegre, Mutirao —celebrating and reflecting together; In Busan, it was Madang —the traditional courtyard, a space for deliberation, celebration, and fellowship. And now in Karlsruhe, it is Brunnen —a well in the marketplace.
Message of His Holiness Pope Francis on the occasion of the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Karlsruhe, Germany, 31 August To 8 September 2022.
As the World Council of Churches (WCC) focuses on final preparations for the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, WCC moderator Dr Agnes Abuom offered some personal reflections on her leadership role within the WCC, the importance of ecumenical work, the loss of ecumenical luminary Metropolitan Gennadios of Sasima, and the most vital part of her own Christian faith.
A weeklong training programme, Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia, organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), was held from 7-14 August at in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The focus was “Youth as Catalysts for Peace with Justice in Asia.”
In a joint message on gender-based violence, sexual abuse, and faith communities, 26 World Council of Churches (WCC) Thursdays in Black ambassadors lament that the scourge of sexual and gender-based violence continues unabated—and call on faith communities to prevent such violence in their own spaces.
This joint report emphasises the work of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Ecumenical Indigenous Peoples Network Reference Group and the Working Group on Climate Change. It affirms that Indigenous perspectives are crucial not only for addressing the burgeoning climate emergency but also for navigating the way forward to a hopeful post-COVID, post-growth and post-fossil fuel future and calls on the WCC to address this at the 11th WCC Assembly and relevant preassemblies.
In an 8 July letter sent to President Joe Biden, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca appealed for Biden’s attention to the plight of churches and Christians of the Holy Land.
Biden is scheduled to visit Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia on 13-16 July.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee elected Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay as the ninth general secretary at its 17 June meeting. Below, Pillay reflects on his longstanding passion for ecumenism and his expectations for the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe.
Ekaterina E. wears the human face of statelessness every day.“Statelessness is about expulsion from the human community” she says, “for me personally, being stateless means I have been separated from my mother for nearly 30 years now.”
Since the election in mid-June of Rev. Dr Prof. Jerry Pillay as new World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, concerns have been raised, predominantly in Jewish media, about his position on Israel and the Jewish communities and their faith.
Statement on Threats to a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine, and to the Christian Presence in the Holy Land by the WCC Central Committee meeting, 15-18 June 2022
The World Council of Churches (WCC) had a pivotal place at a conference organized by the Foundation Dialogue for Peace in Geneva, drawing international speakers that would gladden the organizers of any world gathering as they interlinked trying to feed and heal people and get peace during war.
On 20 June, World Refugee Day, a World Council of Churches (WCC) webinar will focus on statelessness and the recently addopted “Interfaith Affirmations on Belongingness.”
World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed deep shock at a recent attack on a church community during a Sunday morning mass at St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria.
