Displaying 81 - 100 of 248

Symposium to examine role of religion and the UN in working for gender equality in 2021

Senior UN staff, representatives from faith groups and members of civil society will be presenting at the 7th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs on January 26, 2021. This year’s event will focus on “2021: A defining year for accelerating gender equality, equity and justice,” with a series of presentations and discussions on issues including multi-stakeholder collaboration to accelerate gender equality, equity and justice, the urgency for achieving it, women advancing peace and security, and multilateralism and the intersection of religion and human rights.

As olive harvest draws to a close, who is helping the farmers?

Olive farming should be a peaceful activity, but for many Palestinian farmers the harvest season is a time of tension, violent attacks, and destruction of precious olive trees. Farmers in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territories face a barrage of such threats from nearby Israeli settlers.

Fr Jamal Khader: “We need to keep hope alive” in Palestine

It is easy to feel despair of the unjust situation for the Palestinians, who are experiencing daily humiliation, annexation of land, growing settlements, land grabbing and poverty. This year Palestine has been illegally occupied for 53 years. But there are also many people in Palestine cultivating hope, faith and love for transforming the situation.

Brazilian churches call for transformative racial justice

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.

WCC executive committee maps future with hope in uncertain times

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.

The Light of Peace

Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula

The publication aims to provide WCC member churches with resources for recognizing 70 years of unresolved conflict on the Korean Peninsula during 2020. 

The second publication in the series, the content is drawn from a variety of contributors, each with their own experience of, or expertise in, the Korean journey.

Emphasizing the importance of the spiritual response, every chapter again starts with a spiritual reflection, followed by a text, and ends with a prayer.

The publication will serve as an educational, spiritual, and formation resource and encourage churches and individuals to pray for peace, reunification, and an end to the war and division on the Korean Peninsula. It could be used in Bible study or for Korea interest- and other groups.

Hope prevails in times of crisis in Lebanon

The fatal blast in Beirut last month became yet another blow to an already plagued country. In recent months, a financial crisis with a free-falling currency and rising unemployment has further undermined the Lebanese economy. Add to that one million Syrian refugees and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the contours of a fragile nation facing monumental challenges emerge.

Religions for Peace: Hagia Sophia meant to be shared with all the world

In a 24 July statement on Hagia Sophia, Religions for Peace reiterated its commitment to the universality of heritage as something that can create peace and respect for all faiths. “We call for calm, in times when we see the use of religious sentiments and institutions in a manner that is divisive, thus pitting some believers against one another,” reads the statement. “We stand on the side of peace, and of deliberate, intentional, coexistence, particularly as we hear of the voices, and see the actions, of divisiveness and hatred from many quarters.”

”God has promised to be with us also in times of crisis” says Tveit

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.