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A webinar on 1 March—Zero Discrimination Day—will explore the theme “COVID-19, Casteism and Caste discrimination: How to mitigate pandemic-reinforced inequality and discrimination.”

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed deep sadness and concern upon receiving the news of the murder of lay pastor William Siraj and the wounding of Rev. Patrick Naeem, the priest in charge of the Martyrs of All Saints Church, Diocese of Peshawar, on 30 January. They were ambushed by two unidentified gunman as they were returning from Sunday worship in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) was honoured as a top non-governmental organization for its work during 2021, receiving a third-place Geneva Engage Award on 1 February for effective and inspiring social media outreach and engagement.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death of Dr John Taylor, who with an initial job title of WCC programme secretary for Christian Muslim relations, later became head of the WCC interreligious office from 1980-83.

A “Religious Consultation on Social Cohesion in Iraq,” held 13-15 in Beirut, released a final communiqué, the fruit of wide interreligious participation that included religious and ethnic leaders of all Iraqi components working together for peace in Iraq and the Middle East.

An interfaith consultation held 12-16 December in Beirut, Lebanon, offered the chance for participants from different traditions to share their vision for social and religious cohesion in Iraq, assessing the current context and envisioning the way forward.

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 offered a greeting to the Conference of the World Council of Religious Leaders on Faith and Diplomacy: Generations in Dialogue, scheduled for 4-7 October in Lindau, Germany.

At the G20 Interfaith Forum, which took place 12-14 September in Bologna, Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, spoke on religious commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those focusing on children, hunger, water and sanitation.

At a conference to promote freedom of religion and preservation of spiritual, cultural and historical heritage, held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from 8-12 September, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reflected on “Holy Places and our Human Identities.”

An intergenerational conversation held online on 7 September will convene past and current directors and commissioners of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, which was founded 75 years ago in the wake of the Second World War.

In the years since it was founded in 2016, the International Centre for Inter-Faith Peace and Harmony in Kaduna, Nigeria has been building a cadre of peacemakers who are witnesses to inter-religious peace and harmony. It also continues to serve as a physical symbol helping Muslims and Christians work together more effectively.

In Nigeria’s northwest state of Kaduna, Christians are bearing the brunt of insecurity and violence, as bandits attack homes, villages and churches, killing Christians and kidnapping others for ransom.

At the centre of the communal violence is religious persecution, territorial ambition and ethnic cleansing in the region where communities have settled along religious lines, according to Rev. John Joseph Hayab, the country director for the Global Peace Foundation, Nigeria.

 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is receiving a Bridge Builder Award for building bridges of understanding between people, nations, and communities at national and international levels. The award is presented by the Jury of the 14th August Committee Norway together with The Oslo Center.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace Reference Group and Theological Study Group, which convened in mid-June, brought reflections, prayers and insights that will form a path toward the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe in 2022.

Jim Winkler, president and general secretary of the National Council of Churches (USA) and Pastor Peter Noteboom, general secretary of The Canadian Council of Churches, shared reflections on their recent gathering. 

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca shared cordial greetings to Buddhist friends across the world observing the festival of Vesak. “May the values of compassion, loving kindness, empathy and equanimity taught by Gautama Buddha, whose birth, enlightenment and death you commemorate on this auspicious occasion, continue to inspire and guide you during this time of pandemic,” wrote Sauca. “We are living in an unprecedented time of uncertainty and widespread suffering due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”