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View of campaign card reading 'Out of the Darkness: Easter Solidarity with the Holy Land', showing an olive tree with bright sunlight in the background.

WCC publishes new materials for “Out of darkness” series in Palestine and Israel

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has published online new materials related to the 2024 WCC-EAPPI Easter Initiative: “Out of the darkness – Easter solidarity with the Holy Land.”

22 March 2024

Event

Easter Initiative 2024

01 March - 05 May 2024

The Easter Initiative is an annual activity of the WCC-EAPPI, setting out to connect the stories of Easter with current realities in Palestine and Israel, to spotlight the challenges of a life marked by violence, war and occupation alongside nurturing hope and highlighting groups and individuals striving for a just peace.

Sunlight rising from the horizon behind a skyline of buildings including churches and mosques.

WCC-EAPPI Easter Initiative “to remind the world of what is needed to bring about peace”

A World Council of Churches (WCC) Easter Initiative will lift up the call to roll away the heavy stone of violence, war and occupation, pain and suffering, and to remind the world of what is needed to bring about peace, to transform swords into ploughshares.

06 March 2024

WCC submits comments on draft UN “Pact for the Future”

The World Council of Churches (WCC), on 12 February, submitted comments to the zero draft of the “Pact for the Future,” the envisaged outcome of the UN Summit for the Future.

12 February 2024

Commission on International Affairs

Background document

WCC comments to the zero draft of the "Pact for the Future"

The World Council of Churches comments to the zero draft of the “Pact for the Future,” the envisaged outcome of the UN Summit for the Future, submitted on 12 February 2024 (extended version).

12 February 2024

Christiane Gebauer sitting on a chair at the international symposium on Social Justice in a Digital Age is held in Berlin, Germany

In conversation with Christiane Ehrengruber: unveiling the power of prayer and identity

Meet Christiane Ehrengruber, a 27-year-old professional working in digital communication and social media for Evangelische Mission Weltweit in Germany. With a background in Protestant theology and a history of volunteering in university politics and international ecumenism, Ehrengruber’s insights into the significance of prayer, the theme of Christian unity, and the challenges faced by churches provide a unique perspective on navigating faith in today's world.

01 February 2024

Church leaders in Pakistan call for international solidarity to bring justice

Church leaders in Pakistan are calling for international solidarity and for measures to ensure the safety and security of Christians in Pakistan. Their messages come in the wake of church burnings in the city of Jaranwala, in eastern Pakistan, where 24 churches have been burned, affecting at least 600 families.

18 August 2023

Old must join young in solving global problems, interfaith peacemakers conference told

A young Christian from the United Kingdom has said that the young generation needs the older generation to work with them to tackle the world's problems, as neither group can do it alone.

20 July 2023

World desperately needs young leadership, UN refugee chief tells young Christians, Jews, and Muslims

The world needs young leadership very badly because those from the older generation have not delivered, the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has told young Christian, Jewish, and Muslim participants at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum.

14 July 2023

WCC general secretary to emerging peacemakers: “Go out and be disciples and children of God”

WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay offered a reflection during the graduation ceremony on 13 July of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum as young leaders celebrated their two-week long time of collaborating, dialogue, and insight.

14 July 2023

Learning and hoping: peacemakers give and receive messages to the world

Messages of hope related to climate change and global conflicts from renowned global peacemakers have inspired young Christians, Jews, and Muslims at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum, held 5-14 July at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey. The young peacemakers have spent nearly 10 days crafting the next generation of peacebuilding.

The forum is organized in partnership between the Muslim Council of Elders, the WCC, and the Rose Castle Foundation.

11 July 2023

Emerging Peacemakers Forum to convene at WCC Ecumenical Institute at Bossey

The World Council of Churches (WCC), the Muslim Council of Elders, and Rose Castle Foundation will host an Emerging Peacemakers Forum on 5-14 July for 50 young men and women working in civil society and international organizations, or for influential people in their societies, at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey.

05 July 2023

Making Africa Day, “as Christians we are stakeholders in the present and future of Africa”

A webinar on 25 May, “Exploring the nexus between racism, xenophobia and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and African Union (AU) free movement protocol,” marked Africa Day by focusing on the potential of faith communities, especially Christians, in bridging the gaps that continue to frustrate the free movement of people and goods around the continent.

31 May 2023

Interview

WCC general secretary to Patriarch Kirill: “the war in Ukraine must come to an end”

Exclusive interview: World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shares details on a recent meeting with Patriarch Kirill, including topics discussed at the meeting, what the WCC contributed to the dialogue, and steps forward.

25 May 2023

Moderator of Central Committee

Lecture - Speech

Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm: "Just Peace through Military Force? Peace Ethical Considerations in Light of the War of Aggression against Ukraine"

Lecture of the World Council of Churches central committee moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm delivered at the Kitzingen deanery, a regional church district near Würzburg, Germany.

22 May 2023

Addressing the "Living Together" meeting

At “Living Together” celebration in Bagdad, religious and ethnic leaders see “with our own eyes what diversity means”

As a “Living Together” celebration in Bagdad opened on 6 March, religious and ethnic leaders from Iraq celebrated diversity and, at the same time, candidly addressed challenges to inclusive citizenship. They were joined by representatives of Iraqi executive and legislative authorities as well as representatives from UN agencies and embassies.

07 March 2023

Statement: public statement

Christian Witness and Action for Human Dignity and Human Rights (statement)

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

(Luke 4:18-19)

The current global context is marked by escalating conflicts, divisions, inequalities, resurgent racism, xenophobic attacks on migrants, antisemitism, violations of the rights of women and other forms of discrimination, threats against human rights defenders, as well as authoritarianism, populist nationalism, and religious and other forms of extremism, that threaten grave peril for the physical security and human dignity and rights of diverse communities and individuals around the world.

12 November 2022

Executive committee

A boy rings a bell to call students to class at the Jairos Jiri School in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Churches in Africa, disability organizations condemn smuggling of disabled children for begging

Churches in Africa and disabled persons organizations are condemning the use of disabled children as beggars and slaves, amid media reports of cross-border smuggling of the children between Kenya and Tanzania.

01 July 2022