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World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca extended warm congratulations to Rev. Anne Burghardt, who will serve as the new general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The election of Rev. Anne Burghardt marks  the first woman and the first Central and Eastern European pastor to head the LWF.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca shared greetings with the Council Meeting of the Lutheran World Federation.

Pastor Allen Nafuki, assembly clerk of the Presbyterian Church in Vanuatu, passed away on 13 June. He had planned to be his church’s only delegate to the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe in 2022.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), with an open letter and prayer, shared its hopes for peace on the eve of the first summit between the U.S. and Russian presidents, which will take place in Geneva on 16 June.

A group of 26 stewards from all over the world are convening online this week for their orientation into serving during the upcoming World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee meeting. 

The young people from all over the world will meet on 14-16 June for a programme that includes ecumenical formation as well as an introduction into the proceedings of the WCC central committee, which will convene 23-29 June. 

 

Bringing churches together in a spirit of reconciliation and justice is embodied at Bossey, a message its director brought home as he opened an online conference on ‘teaching ecumenism in the context of world Christianity’.

Grief and anger in Canada and across the world have followed the news that the remains of 215 children were found on the grounds of the Kamloops Residential School in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.

During a “Season of Creation Intergenerational Dialogue” webinar on 3 June, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca gave closing remarks, reflecting on how the earth can be a home for us all.

In a video message, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee Dr Agnes Abuom bid goodbye and expressed deep appreciation to Rev. Prof. Dr h.c. Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, who is retiring as president of "Brot für die Welt" and "Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe" after leading the German charity for 20 years. Füllkrug-Weitzel is also a WCC Thursdays in Black ambassador.

As the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee meeting opened online on 17 May, moderator of the WCC central committee Dr Agnes Abuom took time to offer a very personal thank-you to the WCC leaders and fellowship surrounding her with care and prayers.

After family members of a DanChurchAid employee were killed in Gaza during the current hostilities, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent a letter of condolence to both DanChurchAid and Norwegian Church Aid, WCC partner organizations that have been working in Gaza since the early 1950s.

Archbishop Rev. Dr Soritua Albert Ernest Nababan, a global ecumenical leader, passed away on 8 May in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the age of 88. He was the World Council of Churches (WCC) president from 2006-2013 and served as the former Ephorus (Archbishop) of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan, the largest Protestant church in Indonesia and the largest Lutheran church in Asia with a membership of 4 million people.

Rev. Dr Santanu Kumar Patro, registrar of the Senate of Serampore College (University), passed away on 5 May in Calcutta. The news of his death was met with outpourings of grief and gratefulness from students, faculty and friends of seminaries and institutions responsible for theological education in South Asia and beyond.

His Eminence the Most Rev. Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan (Metropolitan Emeritus) of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, passed away on the 5 May in Kerala, India. He was 104 years old. Churches and the global ecumenical community are celebrating a remarkable life, lived in full, in service of God and humanity with holiness, humility, humour and helpfulness. His funeral will be held on 6 May.

With well over a year past since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Easter celebrations in 2021 were bound to be unusual. Yet even amid such circumstances, the Ecumenical Institute chapel at Château de Bossey saw students and faculty gather to mark Orthodox Easter last Saturday evening.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent greetings to the 22nd Baptist World Congress, convening virtually this year under the theme “Together.”

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed deep alarm at the recent decision of the Japanese government to approve the release of tritium-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. 

Extraordinary efforts to develop vaccines against COVID-19 and roll out mass vaccination programmes provide hope to millions of people around the globe. Throughout the pandemic, public health organizations have collaborated closely with non-government- and faith-based organizations. That has made a difference, both in getting factual information about vaccines across to the public, and in encouraging people to act in solidarity by getting vaccinated.    

 

During a multilateral dialogue on Fratelli tutti, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca spoke on “Fraternity, Interreligious Dialogue and Social Justice.”

He joined religious leaders as well as representatives from the UN, International Labour Organization, World Health Organization, and International Red Cross on 15 April for the online event. He spoke on a panel with representatives from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Royal Institute of Interfaith Studies, and Latin American Rabbinical Seminary of the Conservative Movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina.