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Protecting human freedom and dignity is a vital contribution to peace-building by religious communities, said Ecumenical Patriarch His All-Holiness Bartholomew I as he spoke at the Al-Azhar International Peace Conference on 27-28 April in Egypt.

The brutal attacks on two churches in Alexandria and Tanta on Palm Sunday with more than 40 victims are not the first attacks on Christians in Egypt. In January, the so-called Islamic State declared threat on Coptic Christians and killed eight. In December 2016, a blast at the Cathedral in Cairo killed 30 people.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has condemned as “cruel and despicable” the actions of those responsible for the lethal blast on the St Petersburg metro that killed 14 people and injured at least 49, calling for prayers for the victims and their close ones.

Repeated and new forms of violence in Middle East, notably in Jerusalem, Damascus and Baghdad, is strongly condemned, and calls for more prayer and strengthened peace efforts to halt extremists seeking do divide humanity, says the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) general secretary.

The WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, condemns the latest terrorist attack against people in Istanbul celebrating the New Year.

How will Christmas 2016 be in the Middle East? Two Christians, one refugee mother in Lebanon and one pastor in Qamishli in northeast Syria, tell how difficult the message of Jesus’ birth becomes in times of war and unrest.

World Mental Health Day event on breaking the chains of stigma in mental health and restoring human dignity for persons with mental illness was held the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, sponsored by Frascarita International, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Fondation d'Harcourt and the Belgium government.

The Grand Imam of Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar mosque and university, Prof. Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb, will visit the WCC to give a public lecture and participate in high-level dialogue on interreligious peacemaking. “We are honoured to welcome one of the world’s highest-ranking and most influential Muslim leaders to Geneva, and I very much look forward to his lecture and to sharing views with him on the many challenges that we as religious persons and leaders face together,” says WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Leading religious scholars representing the major world religions have issued a declaration saying it is imperative that religions be a “positive resource for human rights”. The Declaration of Human Rights by the World’s Religions was released 15 September in Montreal, Canada at the 3rd Global Conference on World’s Religions after September 11.

The grand imam of Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar mosque and university is to visit the World Council of Churches (WCC) to give a public lecture and participate in high-level consultations on interreligious peacemaking.

“I have an absolute confidence in your youthful and great enthusiasm and your heightened state of awareness that you will be ambassadors of peace, mercy and cooperation among all peoples.” This message, from Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Dr Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, visibly uplifted and inspired young people attending a seminar, “Youth Engagement, Religion and Violence,” in Cairo this week.

As the northern hemisphere slows down into its annual summer holiday mode, the German Tourism Watch says that tourism has failed many poor countries. "Tourism has not fulfilled its promise to bring poor countries more development and prosperity," Antje Monshausen, the tourism expert of the globally-active development organisation of the German Protestant churches, Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World) has said. "The equation: more tourism = more development has not borne fruit.”

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemns the terrorist attack claimed by so-called Islamic State that took place in Kabul on Saturday 23 July, apparently directed against a demonstration organised by the Hazara community of Afghanistan. The death toll has reached at least 80, with several hundreds injured. The casualities include a number of members of the Afghan security forces who were seeking to protect the demonstration.

How can we begin building peace in an era of religious extremism and acts of terror? Start by reaching out in your own neighborhood, suggests Rev. Arshad Gill, general secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan.

French President François Hollande praised Protestant churches and organizations for their work in areas such as health, social inclusion and support for refugees and migrants during a meeting on 13 April at the presidential Elysée Palace with 300 Protestant leaders and representatives.

A bomb attack by terrorists using the name of religion in Lahore on Easter Sunday marked the third time Christians have been targeted in Pakistan in three years, illustrating the vulnerability of people in the country.