Search results

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemned an attack at a mosque in Egypt during which hundreds of people are believed dead. Tveit expressed sorrow for the lives lost as news continued to unfold of the attack on 24 November.

His Eminence Dr Mohammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, general secretary of the Muslim World League visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland on 9 November, where he discussed with WCC leaders both the meaning and importance of “just peace.”

As the “city of peace” observed Geneva Peace Week from 6-10 November, a special panel discussion held on 8 November explored the role of religion in preventing violence.

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit spoke on 7 November at a Muslim World League symposium in Geneva entitled “The Role of Religions on the Strengthening of World Peace.”

Rev. Dr Peniel Rajkumar is programme executive for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation with the World Council of Churches (WCC). He helped to organize the first formal WCC dialogue between Christians and Confucians in WCC history.

For the first time in its history, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has initiated a formal dialogue with Confucians. Organised in collaboration with the Council for World Mission and the Korea Forum for Science and Life and with the support of the National Council of Churches in Korea, the Sungkyunkwan University, the City of Andong and the Korea Foundation for Culture and Ethics, the dialogue commenced on 27 October with an interreligious consultation on Christian-Confucian relations in Seoul

Together with the heads of the Coptic, Syrian, Armenian and Indian Orthodox Churches, the Evangelical Church in Germany celebrated on Saturday evening in Berlin an ecumenical prayer for Christians in the Middle East. The jointly prepared service was the highlight of a historic visit. For the first time, Pope Tawadros II, Patriarch Ignatius Afrem II, Catholicos Karekin II and Catholicos Baselios Morthoma Paulose II visited together in Germany to inform political and church representatives on the bad and sad situation in the region of origin of Christianity.

A consultation in Arusha, Tanzania, has issued a communique entitled “Sustainable Peace in Burundi.” The meeting, organized by the World Council of Churches and the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, drew together Burundian religious leaders on 18-19 October.

Offering greetings on the occasion of Diwali, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit emphasized the bonds of common humanity and focused on the well-being of all.

Meeting on 12-15 September in Lisbon, Portugal, the Joint Working Group (JWG) of the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church focused its work on peace-building and the concerns of migrants.

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.

Security built on the assumption that the power to destroy serves the purpose of peace is unsafe security, states World Council of Churches (WCC) president for Europe and Archbishop emeritus Dr Anders Wejryd, adding that trust is necessary for a real peace.

Muslims and Christians were gathered together in Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on 27th July. Side-by-side for just peace in the Holy Land. After almost two weeks of tension, violence and killings in Jerusalem. Meetings between church leaders and the Islamic leadership inside the mosque plaza were cheered by the community even amid wafts of tear gas and the rumble of explosives from time to time. Catholic Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah, who was supposed to be heading the Christian delegation, was denied entry through Lions’ Gate and, instead, sent his message.

On 18-19 July, 35 young leaders from 14 countries across Asia – part of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Youth in Asia Training in Religious Amity (YATRA) – travelled to the Indonesian city of Bandung to meet with faith leaders and young activists engaged in interreligious dialogue and work.

After 50 years of occupation, Palestinians in the Holy Land haven’t given up their hopes for freedom. Still, Palestinians – and many Israelis as well – hope. They hope that a nonviolent solution to the conflict will come, and that both peoples eventually will live together in peace and reconciliation.

Last week, young Jewish, Muslim and Christian students learned about communication and peacebuilding during a workshop at the Ecumenical Centre, all with the hope of serving as peacemakers in their own contexts. The session was led by Marianne Ejdersten, director of WCC Communication.

The first ever action plan specifically designed to enable religious leaders to prevent incitement to violence - the Plan of Action for Religious Leaders and Actors to Prevent Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to Atrocity Crimes - was launched on 14 July by Secretary-General António Guterres at a meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

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 Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), on 11-12 July, held an international consultation on “Towards Revitalising the Ecumenical Movement in Asia.” The gathering of 60 church and ecumenical leaders was organised by the CCA at its headquarters in Chiang Mai, Thailand as a prelude to its Diamond Jubilee celebration.

Friday evening when the leaders of the G20 states will be meeting in Hamburg and discussing global economic, social, environmental and political issues, the churches in Germany are inviting people in Germany and all over the world to a common peace prayer.