On the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay lamented the destruction of so many lives and called for an immediate end to the conflict.
In a sermon entitled “Being church today in a world in crisis,” offered at the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba on 17 December, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shared thoughts of hope and transformation.
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.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed concern and sadness upon hearing about alleged actions taken against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Can ecumenical peacebuilding guide the way towards shared interests in the Russia-Ukraine war, which exemplifies the clash of fundamentally different value systems, ethical frameworks, and historical narratives? Peter Prove, director of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs reflects on the issue in the inaugural edition of Geneva Policy Outlook, a new online publication.
There’s a reason why Orthodox theologian and human rights lawyer Natallia Vasilevich prefers to speak of the role of Christians rather than the role of churches in Belarusian society.
Signing a celebratory certificate commemorating 25 years of fruitful dialogue, leaders from the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization in Tehran met online on 27 October.
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.
At a meeting at the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue in Tehran, Iran on 20-23 August, delegations from the World Council of Churches and the Iranian Shia community gathered, with a sense of warmth and a willingness for deep exchange, for a bilateral dialogue.
For Dr Vahid Sohrabifar from Iran’s city of Qom, attending the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Interreligious Studies at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey was inspiring due to the diversity he encountered on the course.
The latest edition of the quarterly WCC journal features a discussion of the roots of religion and violence in the Middle East. Five presentations drawn from three WCC-sponsored conferences of recent years explore aspects of the religious concepts of “promised land,” the “theology of land” and how to go about “reading the Hebrew Bible in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Students of communication and theology will address questions of media and globalization and then explore how these relate to the theme of religion in mass media, as part of a global summer school held from 23 to 31 July in Jamaica.
Mere days after terror attacks in Beirut and Paris, the theme of an interfaith meeting of Christians and Muslims at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on “Religion, Peace and Violence” was entirely appropriate, said participants.
The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in his recent visit to Iran underlined the important role of faith leaders, religious communities and governments to work together for the cause of “justice and peace”.
An international team representing the WCC and its longstanding dialogue partner the Center for Inter-religious Dialogue in Tehran held the seventh round of dialogue under the theme “Modernity and Spirituality”, leading to a stimulating exchange with their Shia Muslim counterparts.
The story starts with Peter. Not biblical Peter, just a kid named Peter who's a little bit overweight, who has bumps on his face, and, oh, yeah – sometimes, he doesn't smell very good.