Search results

Archbishop Yevstratiy of Chernihiv and Nizhyn at the press conference

Ukrainian archbishop to media: “It is a question about security for the whole world”

Ukrainian archbishop Yevstratiy of Chernihiv and Nizhyn, in a press briefing at the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly, told journalists that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has applied to become a full member of the WCC and the Conference of European Churches.

05 September 2022

H.E. Archbishop Yevstratiy giving speech

Churches stress the need for reconciliation, unity and peacebuilding in Ukraine

War in Ukraine, church dialogue, and humanitarian response were in sharp focus on third day of the World Council of Churches 11th Assembly. Church leaders from Ukraine together with heads of ecumenical organisations emphasised the need for reconciliation, unity, and peacebuilding.

03 September 2022

Address of Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen, general secretary of the Conference of European Churches

Address of Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen, general secretary of the Conference of European Churches at the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany.

02 September 2022

Address of professor Dr Sergii Bortnyk, Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Address of professor Dr Sergii Bortnyk, an observer from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, professor at the Kiev Theological Academy (UOC) and director of the Academic Initiative Charitable Foundation for Academic Theology in Ukraine at the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany.

02 September 2022

Address of H.E. Archbishop Yevstratiy of Chernihiv and Nizhyn, Orthodox Church of Ukraine

Address of H.E. Archbishop Yevstratiy of Chernihiv and Nizhyn of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Deputy Head of the External Church Relations Department of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine at the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany.

02 September 2022

From the Ashes of War: The first WCC Assembly in Europe – Amsterdam 1948

As participants in the First Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) gathered at Amsterdam during August 1948, the Netherlands bore witness to the violence of the Second World War. The port of Rotterdam was rising from near destruction. Many other cities, towns and villages across Europe were struggling to recover. To the east, Germany and Austria were divided into zones of occupation administered by the Allied Powers. Two months earlier, tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western occupiers of the former German capital led to the start of the Berlin Airlift. Since 1945, publications had been increasing their use of the term “Cold War”.

26 August 2022

Ambulance car in front of the Banchen monastery in Ukraine

Monastery in Ukraine responds to the consequences of war

During the recent solidarity visit to Ukraine, a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation was welcomed at the Banchen monastery in the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine, witnessing its active involvement supporting and sheltering victims of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.

09 August 2022

WCC meets Ministrer of culture of Ukraine

WCC acting general secretary in Ukraine: “We came here to show our solidarity”

During the recent solidarity visit in Ukraine, a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation has met with various state institutions working with religious issues, listening and learning from the victims of the ongoing war and asking for support in giving permission to the members of the delegation of Ukrainian Churches to leave the country and attend the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe.

08 August 2022

WCC delegation visits Ukraine amidst the ongoing war

The World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed the solidarity of its worldwide fellowship with the people of Ukraine while meeting churches and state institutions during a visit to Ukraine from 1 – 5 August.

06 August 2022

"Ban plan” outlines what the world needs to do to eliminate nuclear weapons

A “ban plan” outlining what the world needs to do to eliminate nuclear weapons is the “strongest condemnation of nuclear threats by a multilateral UN conference,” said Jennifer Philpot-Nissen, programme executive for Human Rights and Disarmament for the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs.

30 June 2022

Interview

Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber of the Evangelical Church in Germany: “only together can we meet the challenge of our times

Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber of the Evangelical Church in Germany, a member of the WCC central committee, reflects below on her hopes and prayers as the assembly draws ever-closer.

28 June 2022

Boy looking out of the window of the train

As Europe feels the suffering of war, WCC Lutheran member churches share perspectives on war and peace

Sharing the concerns of World Council of Churches (WCC) Lutheran member churches around the world, a Lutheran confessional meeting took place during the recent central committee meeting at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva.

24 June 2022

Interview

WCC general secretary-elect Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: “If we learn to trust the work of the Holy Spirit, we can find each other even through difficulties”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee elected Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay as the ninth general secretary at its 17 June meeting. Below, Pillay reflects on his longstanding passion for ecumenism and his expectations for the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe.

23 June 2022

Building damaged by Russian bombs in Borodyanka village near Kyiv, Ukraine

WCC central committee statement on war in Ukraine: “war, with the killing and all the other miserable consequences it entails, is incompatible with God’s very nature”

Deploring the illegal and unjustifiable war “inflicted on the people and sovereign state of Ukraine” the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee lamented “the awful and continuing toll of deaths, destruction and displacement, of destroyed relationships and ever more deeply entrenched antagonism between the people of the region, of escalating confrontation globally, of increased famine risk in food insecure regions of the world, of economic hardship and heightened social and political instability in many countries.”

18 June 2022

Statement: public statement

WCC Central Committee Statement on the War in Ukraine

Statement on the War in Ukraine by the WCC Central Committee meeting, 15 - 18 June 2022.

18 June 2022

Central Committee

Address by Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay to the WCC Central committee

Address by Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay to the WCC Central committee meeting on 17 June 2022.

18 June 2022

Central Committee

WCC general secretary-elect believes growing up in South Africa will help his approach to conflict and suffering

The general secretary-elect of the World Council of Churches (WCC) believes that growing up during a period of conflict and suffering in South Africa will stand him in good stead when he takes up his position as the head of the ecumenical body in January as a leader who believes in dialogue.

18 June 2022

Women’s meeting brings heartfelt reflections, resolve for the future

Almost 70 women—members of World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee and staff—met together on 16 June for an hour of sharing, networking, and marking “Thursdays in Black,” the growing global campaign for a world free from rape and violence.

17 June 2022