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It is time to revitalize the Asian ecumenical movement to respond to contemporary realities in Asia, according to Mathews George Chunakara, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, in the article that opens the latest issue of The Ecumenical Review, the quarterly journal of the WCC.

More than 40 religious leaders from Iraq gathered in Beirut, Lebanon under the auspices of the World Council of Churches for three days of constructive interfaith dialogue to identify and analyse opportunities and challenges related to cohesion and highlight the role of religious leaders in re-storing inclusive multi-religious and multi-cultural communities in Iraq after years of conflict.

Aktivistinnen und Aktivisten von ICAN waren in Oslo am Tag vor der Verleihung des Friedensnobelpreises mit der Planung für die Zukunft beschäftigt. „Morgen werden wir still sein müssen, also lasst uns heute viel Lärm machen“, sagte ein Gesprächsführer vor etwa 150 Aktivistinnen, Aktivisten und sympathisierenden Personen der Internationalen Kampagne zum Verbot von Atomwaffen (ICAN).

In a sermon at the Trinity Church in Oslo, Norway on 9 December, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reflected on peacemakers: those who create trust and foster good relations, those who try to bring out the best in us, those who attempt to solve conflicts.

Trinity Church in Oslo, Norway, will host a prayers for peace ecumenical service on 9 December, the same weekend the city will host the awards ceremony for the Nobel Prize.

In many ways, the World Council of Churches (WCC) pilgrimage of justice and peace hinges on protecting, advocating, and educating people about human rights. In Nigeria, a series of workshops in November promoted human rights across a number of WCC programme areas, including the Churches’ Commitments to Children, preventing gender-based violence, and engaging with the United Nations human rights system.

In a pilgrimage of justice and peace in Burundi on 8-10 November, African women of faith met some of the world’s most pressing problems - poverty, violence and climate change - with faith, hope and action.

The WCC Executive Committee met in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November to approve the 2018 plan and budget and prepare for renewal of the WCC strategic plan. The Executive Committee also discerned the way forward for the WCC’s involvement in Palestine and Israel by learning more about the particular situation in Jordan and the Middle East, then discussing the challenges of the churches and the WCC response. The Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, All Palestine and Jordan, Theophilos III, welcomed the group.

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.