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In a 23 July statement, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia urged a peace resolution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, calling on both sides to enter into dialogue.

Dr Jurjen Zeilstra is a historian and theologian. His biography “Visser 't Hooft, 1900-1985 Living for the Unity of the Church” served as a dissertation in the humanities at the Amsterdam Free University in order to receive the degree of Ph.D. in 2018. Willem Visser 't Hooft led the World Council of Churches (WCC) during its formative stages. Below, Dr Zeilstra reflects on what it was like to study the life of Visser 't Hooft.

Was 1920 to the ecumenical movement what the ancient used to call annus mirabilis, an amazing year? If you are confined like me you may take time to think about it. We start our ecumenical tour of 1920 one year earlier.

Religions for Peace is the world's largest and most representative multi-religious coalition, and as in other multi-faith groups, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its ecumenical family figure strongly in its leadership bodies.

His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Supreme Head of the Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Church, and Catholicos of the East, met with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at St Daniel Monastery in Moscow on 3 September.

His Holiness Catholicos Paulose II thanked Patriarch Kirill for the hospitality, stressing that “forty years have elapsed and now we as primates of our Churches can resume the exchange of visits. Your Holiness, your love and insight have helped to make it possible. Once again, thank you for it”.

The National Council of Churches in Korea has initiated a new part of a global peace treaty campaign, extending to Constantinople, Russia and Eastern Europe during 2019. Ultimately the goal is to end the Korean War and establish a permanent peace regime by turning the current armistice to a peace treaty.

The WCC responds to misleading media reporting on Ukraine: World Council of Churches does not interfere or comment on internal discussions in the Orthodox family.

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church Department of External Church Relations, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 5 June, during a visit to Switzerland.

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church Department of External Church Relations, visited the WCC at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 5 June, during a visit to Switzerland.

Journals have played a significant role in the history of the ecumenical movement, according to an event held during the European Academy of Religion in Bologna, Italy.

Established more than 600 years ago, the Sretensky monastery in the centre of Moscow was a place of imprisonment and execution of those persecuted for their political or religious beliefs during repressive Soviet times.

Hundreds of high-ranking Russian orthodox clergy along with representatives of some other churches, government and state institutions gathered for a Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on 1 February, celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Local Council and enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) continues its mission of being a platform for churches to come together, to understand each other better and to work together for the good of their societies, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches during a meeting with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church on 30 January.

Orthodox Christians in central and eastern Europe and other parts of the world celebrated Christmas on 6-7 January. The WCC General Secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, Deputy General Secretary Fr Ioan Sauca and H E Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic from the Holy See attended the Holy Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Russian Orthodox church in Geneva on 7th January. The Orthodox liturgy was led by Fr. Mikhail Goundiaev, Representative of the Moscow Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches and International organizations in Geneva.

The WCC continues to receive messages of thanksgiving and encouragement from member churches, sister organizations and the wider ecumenical movement as the fellowship marks 70 years in working for Christian unity and action.

At WCC’s ecumenical workcamps in the late 1950s, a young Govaert Chr.Kok of the Netherlands would learn lessons for life – and encounter a very special person.

His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, met with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on 31 August at the Phanar, home to the patriarchate in Istanbul, to discuss matters of inter-Orthodox concern.