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By Marcelo Schneider (*)

“As women, we have a bond that helps us to engage in interfaith dialogue at the grassroots level in communities. Together we can identify the issues that concern all of us,” said the Rev. Krise Anki Gosal from the Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa, Indonesia.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (RABIIT) on 12 July issued a report on their joint commitment to help in resolving the tensions in Nigeria. The report reflects a new Christian-Muslim model of cooperation for peace between religions and further interfaith dialogue.

World Council of Churches (WCC) participants in the Rio+20 Conference have joined a broad religious coalition in rejecting the official outcome document of the United Nations-sponsored event.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has been playing an active role in the two major events that are taking place in Rio from 12 to 23 June: the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio+20, and the People’s Summit.

Emerging geo-political trends in Asia and their impact on international relations and the shaping of a new world order were analyzed and discussed at the 51st meeting of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

“The growing church in the People’s Republic of China today presents four characteristics: independent and autonomous, post-denominational, fast growing and faced with lots of challenges and emerging difficulties,” said the Rev. Gao Feng, president of the China Christian Council (CCC), in a speech in China on 14 June.

A high-level international delegation of Christian and Muslim leaders issued a joint statement at the end of their visit to Nigeria on 25 May, expressing hope for their “visit to demonstrate an international model of Muslims and Christians working together in inter-religious engagement aimed at fostering peace and harmony between people of different religions.”

An inter-religious delegation of senior Muslim and Christian leaders has begun a fact-finding visit to Nigeria on 22 May, where in recent months an increase in violence has threatened relations between the two religious communities in Northern Nigeria.

Religious insights can offer immense resources for peacemaking, Professor Johan Galtung, a pioneer in the discipline of peace studies, has said in a lecture at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

Jessie Fubara-Manuel shares her views on violence, the HIV pandemic and struggles of women in churches to become part of the solution in Nigeria. She is a Presbyterian elder, a poet and a human resources consultant and has been involved with the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA) programme.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has expressed great appreciation for recent comments by Mehmet Görmez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate in Turkey, who sharply criticized the Fatwa (religious order) of Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti endorsing the destruction of churches, criticizing it as baseless and against Islamic principles.

“Christians are to acknowledge that changing one’s religion is a decisive step that must be accompanied by sufficient time for reflection and preparation, through a process ensuring full personal freedom.” This assertion is one of the guiding principles for Christian mission in India suggested in early March by a consultation convened under the leadership of the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore University (BTESSC).

The key role played by young people during the transformations in the Arab world throughout the past year was a recurrent theme for the recent World Council of Churches (WCC) Christian-Muslim consultation on “Christian Presence and Witness in the Arab World”.

A World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation in Kigali discussed peace and security issues in Africa, with more than ninety church and ecumenical leaders. Together, they also reflected on Rwandan experiences of ethnic violence, genocide and church initiatives of reconciliation in the past.

At an interfaith gathering in Assisi, called by Pope Benedict XVI, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said, “The cross is not for crusades but a sign of God’s love embracing everybody”.  He praised the role of “young change makers” in pursuit of peace and called faith leaders to engage in dialogue by addressing conflicts and accepting “the other”.

When the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit attends a day of prayer for peace in Assisi, Italy on 27 October, he will be accompanied by Clare Amos of the Church of England the new WCC programme executive for inter-religious dialogue and cooperation.

With the rise of religious fundamentalism and religious extremism in the world, as well as recently emerging tensions in India over the issues of conversions, a genuine need exists to review Christian -Hindu relationships afresh, according to the participants of a consultation organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on Christian self-understanding in the context of Hindu religion.

During a recent visit to Indonesia, the moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, the Rev. Dr Walter Altmann brought the solidarity of the worldwide fellowship of WCC member churches to the members of the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) in the city of Bogor, West Java where worship activities have been restricted recently.

The 200 th anniversary of the University of Oslo in Norway provides opportunities for celebration, reflection and assorted special events. On Tuesday 20 September 2011 the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, was featured in a series of presentations on justice, peace and the role of religion in global perspective.