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2024 Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith Based Organizations in International Affairs - Address by Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC General Secretary

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay opened the 10th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs on 23 January in New York City, with reflections on the theme Human Rights and Dignity: Towards a Just, Peaceable, and Inclusive Future.” 

General Secretary

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.

Weaving the web of peace and justice: a journey for reconciliation in the Korean Peninsula

In an exclusive interview, a prominent figure in the field of peace and justice, the former general secretary of National Council of Churches in Korea and former executive secretary for the Christian Conference of Asia, Rev. Hong-Jung Lee, shared insights into his journey and experiences working towards peace and justice in the Korean Peninsula. Drawing on his extensive experience and involvement in various ecumenical organizations, he shed light on the importance of healing, reconciliation, and the role of churches and Christians in advancing peace in Korea.

On Korean Peninsula, “the churches and the country need reconciliation and unity”

Rev. Dr Hyunju Bae represents the Presbyterian Church of Korea on the World Council of Churches central and executive committees and serves on the WCC Gender Advisory Group. She is a former professor of New Testament Studies at the Busan Presbyterian University, Republic of Korea, and now a co-president of the Korea Christian Environmental Movement Solidarity for Integrity of Creation.  Below, she reflects on a recent prayer vigil for peace, as well as other ecumenical activities in South Korea.

WCC, Religions for Peace will release joint message on statelessness: “Belonging—Affirmations for Faith Leaders’

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and Religions for Peace will issue on 9 May a joint message on statelessness, Belonging—Affirmations for Faith Leaders”.

The document is one of the most recent fruits of WCC work that has been ongoing for more than a decade around the issue of statelessness. It is currently available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Belonging - Affirmations for Faith Leaders

Background

Genesis of the document

Recognising that we all live in multi-religious societies, African church leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 2016 World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) regional workshop on “Birth Registration and Gender Discriminatory Nationality Laws in Africa”, stressed the need to develop inter-faith strategies and affirmations in our advocacy work for the human rights of stateless people.

WCC Programmes

Fr Ioan Sauca: “God is on the side of those who are suffering”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has, since the first day of the war in Ukraine and even in the months before, been working and praying earnestly for peace in this conflict and throughout the world. From the beginning, the WCC has called for an immediate end to armed hostilities, to stop the war and has appealed also for an immediate end to indiscriminate attacks with an escalating impact on civilians in Ukraine. WCC News met online with the WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca to get the latest update on the work of the WCC.