With less than a week before hotly contested local elections, church leaders in South Africa have appealed for calm and asked political leaders of all political parties to help contain dissent. The run-up to the elections on 3 August has been marred by recurrent bouts of violence, intimidation and even political assassinations.
Forty years after the Soweto uprising, leaders of churches in conflict-torn countries gathered in South Africa to study the ways of peace and reconciliation.
Many people were gathered at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa on 11 June. To remember, to continue the walk never finished on 16 June 1976, when hundreds of young people were killed by apartheid police and soldiers after student uprisings. Today, 40 years later, representatives of the victims and of the conscripted soldiers walked together for justice, peace and reconciliation.
WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit was one of the keynote speakers along with government representatives and church leaders at the commemoration of the Soweto Uprising.
On his way to a Peace-building and Reconciliation Consultation in Johannesburg, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary stopped off to visit South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu.
WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, went to Cape Town to talk with Archbishop Emeritus Tutu, the former leader of the Anglican church during the turbulent apartheid days.
Welcome message by Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC associate general secretary for Public Witness and Diakonia, at the consultation organized by the WCC and the South African Council of Churches.
The South African Council of Churches is all set to continue working for the unity of Christian witness and supporting communities in the country affected by poverty, unemployment, inequity and corruption.
The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has congratulated new leaders of the South African Council of Churches, elected recently at its Triennial Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, 25 to 26 February.
Statement on the Marikana-Lonmin Massacre in South Africa, adopted as part of the Report of the Public Issues Committee by the World Council of Churches Central Committee.
In an Easter message, more than 60 South African church leaders and Christian, Jewish and Muslim lay theologians have conveyed their solidarity with Palestinian Christians in their Kairos call.
Prof. Maake J. Masango addresses the main theme of the Faith and Order Plenary Commission meeting, Called to be the One Church, as a witness of the union of Presbyterian Churches in the context of apartheid.
"Deeply saddened by the brutal wave of violent xenophobic attacks and murders of foreign nationals, migrant workers and refugees" occurring since early May in South Africa, the World Council of Churches (WCC) urged the country's government "demonstrate leadership by bringing to an end this murderous violence and promoting the observance of human rights".
Aide Memoire summarizing the discussions at a 2-5 December Global Consultation on Genetics and New Biotechnologies held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Participants stated that "the creativity of science needs to serve the common good" and alerted about the risk of biotechnology leading to "increased dependency and threat to biodiversity". "Communities can be devastated by the intrusion of genetically modified seeds and bio-piracy", participants said. They recognized the "need for dialogue with scientists", so as to move "beyond a reactive mode", and called for the "restoration of the churches' prophetic voices and public witness in the growing debate regarding the ethical use of genetics and biotechnologies".
While 50 people from eight countries were paying a solidarity visit to Jerusalem and the Occupied Palestinian Territories last week, related advocacy activities focusing on the situation in Israel and Palestine were taking place on five continents.
The purpose of this study initiated by WCC/EHAIA is to review the responses of the churches to HIV and AIDS in South Africa within the context of the country and its peoples.
The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) enters its second year of operations by welcoming 25 new accompaniers, the largest group since the project started in August 2002. Three have also stayed on from the previous group, bringing the total number of accompaniers on the ground to 28.
