Search results

By Juan Michel (*)

Amid ongoing fighting and humanitarian crises in several regions of Sudan, and risks of failure in implementing the 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between north and south, the Sudanese people and churches face "tremendous tasks and challenges", an international ecumenical team of church representatives was told at the beginning of an eight-day solidarity visit to the country.

An international ecumenical team of church representatives will pay a solidarity visit to churches and ecumenical organizations in Sudan from 26 March to 2 April. The team led by the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will split in four groups to visit Darfur, Khartoum, Rumbek and Yambio before joining Sudanese church leaders, women and youth for a three-day conference in Juba.

A new World Council of Churches (WCC) initiative aimed at supporting Christians living in conflict situations around the world has begun. "When one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers with it," Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the WCC said in a videotaped address to experts in international relations and ecumenical partners at a recent consultation held in Geneva, 8-10 December.

There is an "international responsibility to protect people at risk in the Darfur region of Sudan and in neighbouring Chad," affirmed the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, calling upon the Council's member churches to bring that responsibility "to the attention of their governments".

While the situation on the horn of Africa remains tense, Ethiopians prepare themselves to sound the bell for a new millennium of hope for peace, reconciliation and transformation. The country, home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, follows its own calendar, which dates the birth of Jesus Christ seven years later than the Gregorian calendar. That is why on Wednesday, the 12 September 2007 according to the Gregorian calendar, Ethiopians celebrate the first day of the year 2000. The so-called Ge-ez calendar corresponds also to the liturgical year of the World Council of Churches' two members in the country, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus.

Free high resolution photo available, see below

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is convening an international conference called "Churches together for Peace with Justice in the Middle East" in Jordan, 18-20 June. The event will address prospects for peace in Israel and Palestine and launch a new church advocacy forum.

By Fredrick Nzwili (*)

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev Dr. Samuel Kobia, visited the Eritrean capital of Asmara on 16-19 May 2007. He met church representatives and the president of the country and affirmed the Council's commitment to churches engaged in peace, reconciliation and nation building efforts.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is launching an international, inter-church advocacy initiative for peace in Israel and Palestine - the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum - at a conference June 17-21, 2007, in Jordan.