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The Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit discussed the churches and peacemaking challenges in Moscow with Patriarch Kirill, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, and with Metropolitan Hilarion, chair of the Russian Orthodox Church’s department of external church relations.

Fr Rex R. B. Reyes, Jr. vividly remembers what he calls “the fateful morning of 8 November” 2013.

While the Geneva 2 talks for peace in Syria are scheduled to begin in Switzerland today, 22 January, churches from around the world continue to call for visible actions to be taken to put an end to the conflict in Syria, leading the way towards justice, peace and stability.

A call for solidarity with the poor was delivered to a gathering of religious, political and civil society leaders from all over the world by one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The meeting on the topic “Bound to Live Together: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue” is taking place from 11-13 September in Munich, Germany.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, and the interim general secretary of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) Rev. Prof. Dr Viorel Ionita, expressed shock and sadness in a letter of condolence to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia concerning the bombing at the Domodedovo Airport on 24 January.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit will pay an official visit to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, on 27-29 June.

"God’s grace and Your Holiness’ genuine commitment has made Your first year as Spiritual Head of the Russian Orthodox Church a blessed and fruitful period, a year of great achievements in all fields of life of the Russian Orthodox Church," wrote WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in a letter to Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia on 1 February.

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, an Oxford-educated cleric who served as the Moscow Patriarchate's representative to European organizations in Brussels, has been appointed as head of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department of External Church Relations. Bishop Hilarion is also a member of the Central and Executive Committees of the World Council of Churches.

In a letter congratulating Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad on his election as the new patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia expressed the appreciation of the worlwide ecumenical fellowship for this "outstanding Orthodox theologian, leader and hierarch".

With "deep sadness" the officers of the World Council of Churches (WCC), who were meeting in Geneva this week, received word of the death of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Alexy II.

A pastoral delegation sent by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to Georgia and Russia has not been able to visit South Ossetia from the Georgian side of the ceasefire line. Unable to make the half-hour drive to Tskhinvali from within Georgia, they are now traveling thousands of kilometers to reach the enclave from the Russian side instead.