Displaying 1581 - 1600 of 2017

Climate talks must not fail again says WCC

In a statement to the high-level segment plenary of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, a delegation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has criticized the lack of action during the last decade.

A young Mapuche speaks up for her people

Natividad Llanquileo is a young woman from the Mapuche people, an indigenous group that makes up some 4 percent of the Chilean population. In late November, she visited Geneva – seat of the United Nations Human Rights Council and other UN bodies – to inform the international organizations about the ongoing negotiations between the representatives of the Mapuche political prisoners and the Chilean government.

Pope Benedict and WCC leader reaffirm common goals for visible church unity

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, met in a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Saturday for nearly a quarter of an hour. The two church leaders discussed a number issues including visible church unity and the situation of Christians in the Middle East. "We had a very open and friendly conversation," Tveit said after the audience. "He emphasized in a very kind and also a very strong way the importance of the World Council of Churches' work and the ministry I am called to do as general secretary."

Living Letters team to visit the Philippines

An international team of church representatives will pay a solidarity visit to churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society movements in the Philippines from 1 to 5 December. It will be the last in a series of "Living Letters" visits to various countries organized ahead of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in May 2011, in order to accompany people and churches who long for peace, security and reconciliation in the midst of conflicts and violence.

Church representatives in Cancun to call for moral decisions

A World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation seeks to promote spiritual values at the climate talks in Cancun, Mexico. After the Copenhagen summit's failure to deliver a fair, ambitious and binding treaty in 2009, this year's conference is anticipated by many with cautious hope.

Photo petition gives a face to call for climate justice

People around the globe are called to put their names and faces behind the call for strong international action on climate change. An international coalition of Christian organizations is organizing a photo petition that will bring the messages of all those who care for creation to the United Nations climate talks.

Christian-Muslim conference condemns attack on church in Iraq

Christian and Muslim leaders and scholars meeting at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, site of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central offices today issued a joint statement of condemnation for the criminal attack on the Church of Our Lady of Najat (Sayidat al-Nejat) in Baghdad this past Sunday, 31 October.

Christians and Muslims call for mutual commitment to justice

Two panel discussions in Geneva, Switzerland highlighted the second morning of the “Transforming Communities” international consultation on Muslim-Christian relations. Panellists focused the attention of approximately 60 delegates on the topics “Beyond Minority and Majority” and “From Conflict to Compassionate Justice.”

Nigerian and Palestinian keynote speakers provide a focus for UN Advocacy Week

“We hope to learn from the lessons of history,” Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Nigeria told activists gathering for the sixth annual United Nations Advocacy Week (27 September to 1 October) organized by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC). For the first time, UN Advocacy Week is being held in Geneva rather than New York City, in conjunction with the 15 th session of the UN Human Rights Council in the Swiss city.

Living Letters visit to Australia completed

A World Council of Churches’ Living Letters team recently visited the Northern Territory of Australia visiting the communities of Galiwink’u, Mapuru, Wadeye, Hermannsburg, Amoonguna, Mount Nancy Town Camps.