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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.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) co-organised an in-person side event at Civil Society Policy Forum of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC. Participants shared critical civil society perspectives on reforming international financial institutions, the Bridgetown Initiative, and climate finance.

On the day before the official opening of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, representatives from different faiths gathered at Qesm Sharm Ash Sheikh, or The Heavenly Cathedral, home to congregants of the Coptic Orthodox Church, to share their perspectives on the climate crisis.

At a side event during COP26, indigenous voices rang on the theme “Making Peace with Nature: Heeding the Call of Indigenous Peoples.” Held on 3 November, the virtual event drew enthusiastic supporters who waited outside the door of the meeting room in a show of solidarity.

Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee, shared a message with the Conference of the World Council of Religious Leaders on Faith and Diplomacy: Generations in Dialogue, being held 4-7 October in Lindau, Germany.

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca participated in a virtual “High-Level Dialogue on Multi-religious Response to COVID-19 Vaccine” on 19 March with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as leaders from other religious groups.

The brutal killing of Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas, 40, a black man, at the hands of two white security guards outside a supermarket in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on 19 November, the eve of National Black Consciousness Day, has sparked outrage across the country. World Council of Churches (WCC) member churches raised their voices to condemn the killing and to express deep concern regarding systemic racial injustice in Brazil.

During its online meeting, 9-13 November, the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee addressed vital international developments, approved plans for 2021 and pledged support and solidarity with churches across the world at a time of multiple concurrent crises.

An ongoing webinar series convened this week by the World Council of Churches (WCC) continues to offer theological reflections on “Hate Speech and Whiteness.”

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.

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.”

Representatives from multiple faith and religious backgrounds came together in Madrid, Spain on 1 December to find common ground in preparation for the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) 25 in Madrid, Spain.

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.

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.