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World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay held productive talks with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Anglican Communion leaders.

His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphany of Kyiv and All Ukraine visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 10 April at the request of the WCC general secretary, the Rev. Prof Dr Jerry Pillay, to discuss the current situation in Ukraine, the role of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine (OCU) in working toward peace, the continued involvement of the WCC in addressing the war, and the process for membership with the WCC. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has made new staff appointments during 2024, including three new commission directors. WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay warmly greeted them as they began to serve in their particular ministries.

In a contribution to the Church of Sweden’s publication “150 Years of International Engagement,” World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay celebrates the church’s vital legacy and reflects on its evolving character.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay extended warm greetings to the participants and hosts of the 2023 Taizé Youth Gathering in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) congratulated Danish Bishop Henrik Stubkjær, who was newly elected as the next Lutheran World Federation president. 

In a joint greeting to the Lutheran World Federation Assembly, gathered in Krakow, Poland from 13-19 September, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Pillay and WCC moderator Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm reflected on the assembly’s theme, “One Body, One Spirit, One Hope.”

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and Rev. Rita Famos, president of the Protestant Church in Switzerland, and member of the WCC central committee, met with Ambassador Simon Geissbühler, head of the Peace and Human Rights Department at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, on 7 September in Bern.

On 28th August, during a visit with Ambassador Andranik Hovhannisyan, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the UN Office, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with those making efforts to lift the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by reopening the Lachin corridor.

In pastoral letters to His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew, His Beatitude Hieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, and the Evangelical Church of Greece, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay conveyed sincere sympathies as wildfires raged across the land.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shared greetings to the Conference of European Churches 16th General Assembly, taking place in Tallinn, Estonia under the theme “Under God’s blessing – shaping the future.” 

With the topics of the war in Ukraine and climate protection as the focal points, the 38th German Protestant Kirchentag takes place in Nuremberg, Germany from 7 to 11 June. The World Council of Churches’ presence in the Kirchentag’s exhibition space “Market of Opportunities” (hall 9, stand 9-C32) enables lively encounters and an opportunity to learn more about the ecumenical movement.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay served as a keynote speaker at the Ninth Conference for Research in Diakonia and Christian Social Practice, hosted by the International Society for the Research and Study of Diakonia and Christian Social Practice and VID Specialized University. The theme of the conference was “Contested Spaces of Diaconia – Seeking Justice, Safety and Well-Being.”

On 17 May 2023 in Moscow, a WCC delegation consisting of general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, director for International Affairs Mr Peter Prove, and programme executive for Ecumenical Relations and Faith and Order Dr Vasile-Octavian Mihoc met with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Participating in a Ökumenetag (ecumenical day) in Karlsruhe, Germany, on 22 April, former World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Fr Ioan Sauca reflected back on the WCC 11th Assembly, and expressed deep gratitude to the host churches.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shares an Easter message of hope and renewal, reflecting on the moment when Jesus Christ, on the cross cries: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”