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In an address entitled “An instrument of faith,” Dag Hammarskjöld, the second UN secretary-general, referred to churches as “the guardians of and spokesmen of the deepest beliefs and the loftiest dreams of man.”

After more than ten years heading the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit says this is the time that "we should remind one another that we believe in God as the “Good shepherd” who promised to be with us also in times of crisis,” especially in this time of the global COVID-19 crisis.

South Sudanese church leaders have welcomed a new cabinet, which the country’s president Salva Kiir Mayardit announced on 12 March.

The unveiling of the cabinet ended months of anxious waiting for a new unity government which was mandated by a 2018 peace pact, known as the Revitalised Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. The government has 34 ministers and 10 deputies.

A recent consultation took important steps to find a faithful paradigm of thinking over the issue of "Freedom of Religion or Belief."Twenty-two church leaders and theologians gathered in Hattersheim am Main, Germany, 25-27 February, to discuss this issue in light of the global rise of ethno-nationalisms, xenophobia, interreligious intolerance, patriarchal hegemony and racism.“Given the present rise of ethno-nationalisms that use religion as identity markers and for legitimization of violence, it is imperative that we as people of faith be able to support the freedom of religion and work towards a world in which all people of faith have the freedom of expression, articulation and propagation of their faith,” said Philip Vinod Peacock, executive secretary for justice and witness of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

At an event held in Rome on International Women’s Day, 3 March, women gathered for an event, “Women Makers of Human Fraternity,” to express social friendship and mutual respect. The gathering for women of faith, organised by the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, received the document of two religious leaders, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb and His Holiness Pope Francis, signed in Abu Dhabi on 4 February 2019: “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.”

The WCC stands firm in viewing “antisemitism as irreconcilable with the profession and practice of the Christian faith”.

Amid persistent worldwide spiritual and moral appeals for peace, reconciliation, and support, the government of South Sudan and holdout opposition groups recommitted to cessation of hostilities in a peace declaration brokered by the Sant’ Egidio, a Rome-based lay Catholic movement.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemned attacks across the world that have occurred during a violent week during which many have lost their lives or lost their loved ones. “Violent attacks on innocent human beings in the name of any religion cannot be accepted, and should not be accepted by any religion.”

On International Human Rights Day, observed on 10 December each year, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is not only commemorating the day but actively continuing its human rights work on many levels. For more than 70 years, the WCC has supported member churches and partners from many countries and contexts as they work to support their governments in making human rights a reality for all.

At an event entitled “The role of religions in settling conflicts,” held on 7 November in Geneva, peace-builders spoke out on the necessity of expanding the space for resolving conflict through dialogue and negotiation.The event, held as part of Geneva Peace Week, was organized by the Permanent Observer Mission in Geneva of the Sovereign Order of Malta in collaboration with the Permanent Missions of Azerbaijan, Lebanon, the Holy See, the World Council of Churches (WCC), and the International Catholic Migration Commission.

Religions for Peace ist das größte und repräsentativste multireligiöse Bündnis weltweit und wie auch bei anderen multireligiösen Strukturen ist der Ökumenische Rat der Kirchen (ÖRK) samt seiner ökumenischen Familie in den Leitungsgremien dieses Bündnisses stark vertreten.

Religions for Peace is the world's largest and most representative multi-religious coalition, and as in other multi-faith groups, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its ecumenical family figure strongly in its leadership bodies.

The first-ever International Congress on Discrimination Based on Work and Descent was held in New York on 21-23 September alongside the UN Climate Summit. Over 100 participants including 10 parliamentarians from different parts of the world gathered, strategizing on forming a global network.

Zu diesem informellen Dialog hatten sich religiöse Autoritäten mit Delegierten von Regierungen, der Zivilgesellschaft, der akademischen Welt und der Vereinten Nationen getroffen, um über die Finanzierung von Maßnahmen zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel und die damit einhergehenden Schäden und Verluste zu reden.

At an informal dialogue, faith leaders gathered with representatives from governments, civil society, academia, and the United Nations to talk about financing adaptation, and loss and damage, related to climate change.

In an era in which places of worship have become, too often, targets for violence, United Nations officials and religious leaders gathered in New York City on 19 September to talk over plans for preventing attacks against people of faith.

Twenty-five ecumenical theologians and leaders gathered for public lectures coordinated by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Tokyo, Japan, on 17 September under the theme “Global Manifestations of Racism Today”.

Lectures and responses reflected on racism as a major concern of the ecumenical movement. Reflections focused on understanding global manifestations of racism today, and reaffirming the intersection of race and ethnicity with other determining characteristics．

Born in Nazareth, Galilee, Rev. Dr Saïd Ailabouni moved to the US at the age of 19 to become a physician. But he was so angry at God that he went to study theology instead, becoming a Lutheran pastor. Now he is leading the Middle East & Europe desk of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Since leaving his hometown 50 years ago, he visits his Palestinian family regularly. As the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel approaches, Ailabouni agreed to share some of his lifetime observations with the Word Council of Churches.

A century after the landmark Paris Peace Conference that followed the First World War, representatives of churches from throughout Europe gathered in the French capital to seek ways of strengthening peace in the 21st century.

At the most glorious moment in her career, Rev. Prof. Dr Sang Chang discovered that society is not always friendly and that politics can be devilish. But thanks to God, she got over it. Without bitterness and even more determined in her fight for gender equality and social justice.