Search results

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, who, in a 1 March statement, condemned an attack against civilians that occurred while residents of Gaza gathered for food aid.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Jerusalem Liaison Office Advisory Group convened on 20 February under the leadership of WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay. 

Israeli president Isaac Herzog formally received World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay on 20 February, to discuss the current situation in Israel and Palestine, and the war in Gaza. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and delegation met with Sheikh Azzam Khatib, director of Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem on 18 February, reiterating the WCC’s commitment to maintaining Jerusalem as a city of all three Abrahamic religions. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank, on 19 February, urging an end to the “seemingly endless cycle of violence and suffering.” 

Member churches, religious leaders and local Christian groups in Palestine and Israel—as well as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli president Isaac Herzog—will meet with World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay as he visits the area beginning 16 February. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC), in partnership with CAPNI and UFUQ, is reaffirming its ongoing commitment to fostering sustainable peace through justice and inclusive citizenship in Iraq. This reaffirmation follows successful completion of a project to revise national educational curricula, promoting inclusive education and pedagogy.

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.  

During the 75th commemoration of what Palestinians refer to as the nakba, or “catastrophe”—when hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted during Israel's creation in 1948—World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with member churches in the Holy Land.

As a “Living Together” celebration in Bagdad opened on 6 March, religious and ethnic leaders from Iraq celebrated diversity and, at the same time, candidly addressed challenges to inclusive citizenship. They were joined by representatives of Iraqi executive and legislative authorities as well as representatives from UN agencies and embassies.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep concern about increased violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank. 

On 24 November, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas formally received the acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca for a meeting to discuss just peace in Palestine and Israel. 

H.E. Mor Boutros Kassis, who has been serving the community for the last seven years as a temporary bishop, was installed as archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo on 15 October.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent joyful greetings to the Church of South India (CSI) as it celebrates its historic 75th anniversary.