COP27 is being held 7-18 November, in the cradle of civilization: the magnificent Egypt. Behind the backdrop of ancient pyramids, the Red Sea, Mount Sinai, and the Nile River, numerous heads of states and world leaders descended upon COP27 at Sharm El-Sheikh to negotiate and act upon climate change policies which affect us worldwide.
Radically impatient. This is a common sentiment among young people across different backgrounds and regions of the world, criticizing the ongoing inaction of many world leaders, people of power and influence, including the church, on the issue of the climate emergency.
I still recall how athletes took turns to ensure the Ineos marathon was a success. Men and women. For a moment, I thought they would lose the plot and render the race a failure. They were not elderly, just athletes accustomed to running different races, from different parts of the world, united in helping one man send the “no human is limited” message to the whole world.
As a Pentecostal, I have “dreamed dreams” and had visions aplenty, but often it has been the WCC that brought those dreams and visions to life. What is found in this report fulfills a vision that I took with me to Geneva in 1989 in a meeting with then-general secretary Emilio Castro. During that visit, I called on the WCC to bring together 120 Pentecostal scholars from around the world to the WCC 7th Assembly known as Canberra ’91.
Youth participation in the World Council of Churches (WCC) brings a lot of challenges ahead of the young people involved in the ecumenical movement. It is possible to find reflections about the lack of participation of young people in WCC since the first assembly.
A ground-breaking pontifical critique of nuclear weapons affirms the new treaty to ban nuclear weapons. By linking possession and use, Pope Francis is offering a new standard for Catholic debate over nuclear weapons. By offering it now, the pope is making a moral affirmation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons adopted at the United Nations in July. The new treaty--which bans the possession, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons--is cited in this year’s Nobel Peace Prize award to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The World Council of Churches is a member of ICAN and shares the same moral and spiritual critique of nuclear armaments.
Africa space is a religious space, a combination of 54 states from North to East, West to South. Differences in culture and religious persuasion exist, but a unity of purpose is always on peace and development. What is not negotiable is the strong believe in God, the piousness of Africans. That's why we boldly and unanimously walk on the common ground to say this weapon of mass destruction remaining unbanned is totally unacceptable.
I was standing in the control booth at the back of the auditorium when the moderator of the WCC Central Committee declared the 9th Assembly open, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on 14 February 2006. My friend Jean-Nicolas Bazin and I were surrounded by light and sound technicians and we had our eyes on the script of the opening plenary, making sure everything was flowing smoothly and according to plan.
In November 2015 a WCC Seminar on Ecumenism and Spirituality Lived and Practiced by Young People was held in Salatiga, Indonesia. I was really excited because that was the first time I participated in a worldwide ecumenical event.