Speaking through reflections and a sermon during an international peace gathering in Berlin, World Council of Churches moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm reflected on how people of faith can work to overcome suffering in a wounded world.
Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, spoke on a nuclear weapons-free world during “The Audacity of Peace” gathering in Berlin.
With a focus on peacebuilding and human rights protection, The United Evangelical Mission’s International Summer School 2023, organized in cooperation with the World Council of Churches and other partners, took place in August and September in Hofgeismar, Germany.
A graduation ceremony marked the end of an intensive course in interreligious studies for seven students from six different countries who lived together at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey. The theme of this year’s program was “Health and wholeness of life in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.”
Vandalism targeting churches, cemeteries, and Christian properties in addition to physical and verbal abuse against Christian clergy have increased in the past months in the Holy Land, amid ongoing political tensions within Israeli society.
Iranian rector Ayatollah M. Seyyed Abolhassan Nawab and Ms Zahra Sedigh, from the Iranian Mission to the UN,visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 27 July, discussing education and formation, as well as the importance of strengthening the role of interreligious cooperation.
The world needs young leadership very badly because those from the older generation have not delivered, the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has told young Christian, Jewish, and Muslim participants at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum.
Das Ziel des Emerging Peacemakers Forum ist es, jungen Menschen zu ermöglichen, einen Beitrag für den Aufbau einer besseren Zukunft für sich selbst und für die Menschlichkeit zu leisten, so der Generalsekretär des Muslimischen Ältestenrates bei einer Veranstaltung in Genf.
Nelson Mandela's maxim that to build peace, you need to transform your enemy into a partner is invaluable, a French ethics foundation leader of Lebanese origin has told young Christian, Jewish, and Muslim participants at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum.
The Emerging Peacemakers Forum aims to empower youth to contribute to building a better future for themselves and humanity, the secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Elders said at a meeting in Geneva.
Participants of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum being held at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland from 5-14 July, visited Palais des Nations and learned about the United Nations work in Geneva.
50 young people from 24 countries have sent a message of hope to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2023. The message was delivered during a special ceremony during the second edition of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum, held at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland.
A woman who works with youth in Kenya—young people who once turned to heinous crimes—had a group of young Christians, Jews, and Muslims weeping tears of compassion and joy as she recounted her tough upbringing and how she helps turn those youth from crime to community.
The World Council of Churches (WCC), the Muslim Council of Elders, and Rose Castle Foundation will host an Emerging Peacemakers Forum on 5-14 July for 50 young men and women working in civil society and international organizations, or for influential people in their societies, at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey.
By far the largest region, both in terms of population and geographical size, the Asia region faces an array of pertinent issues for the churches to address and engage in. Stretching from Iran in the west to Japan in the east and from Nepal in the north to New Zealand in the south, the region encompasses a wide range of cultures and religions.
Hope and commitment were central in the report that the Africa region presented to the WCC central committee on 26 June. As is customary during these meetings, central committee members, advisors, stewards, and staff from each region met for prayer and sharing and to identify issues affecting the life and witness of the churches in their region.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Prof. Rev. Dr Jerry Pillay, in his first report to the WCC central committee, reflected on the WCC 11th Assembly theme, provided insight into the Strategic Plan 2023-2030, shared information about programmatic work, and offered a vision for the future.
H.E. Judge Mohammed Abdel-Salam, senior adviser of H.E. Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Elders and co-president of Religions for Peace, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva on 5 June.