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In writing a story for the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Elias Crisóstomo Abramides of Argentina, from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, is writing the story of his life. His service at the WCC opened for him the gate to meeting and loving “the very good Creation of God”: love, respect and admiration for the life of his neighbours and for all creation.

A leader in Colombia’s administration in Bogota at the third Global Gathering of the Global Christian Forum (GCF) praised the Christian community and religious groups for the role they have paid in the South American country’s peace process.

"Churches can play a fundamental role in building peace in Colombia," said Colombia president Juan Manuel Santos, on 28 February, during his keynote speech at a public forum promoted by the World Council of Churches (WCC), in Cartagena, Colombia.

The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network began the 2018 edition of its annual Lenten campaign “Seven Weeks for Water” in Bogota, Colombia, on 14 February. WCC leaders, members of WCC Reference Group of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, and local churches participated in a ceremony at La Giralda, headquarters of the Colombian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“The Amazon, the green heart of the Earth, is mourning and the life it sustains is withering,” begins a statement released by the World Council of Churches Executive Committee as it met in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November.

From 15-20 September, about 40 Ecumenical Officers of member churches from all over the world spent four days discussing and sharing common issues at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey and the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

"Since 1983 Argentina is enjoying the longest period of democracy in our history – it is a great achievement and that is why we need to take care of it." Pride in the peaceful change from military dictatorship to democracy 35 years ago and concern over recent developments in her country was the message that Estela Barnes de Carlotto brought with her to a meeting in Geneva reinvigorating the friendship between the WCC and the Association of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, of which she is the president.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, sent a letter of condolences to the Methodist Church in Uruguay on the passing of Rev. Oscar Bolioli, on 18 June.

Some 40 participants, coming mainly from Latin American countries, attended a consultation promoted by the WCC entitled “Together Towards Life: Mission in the 21st Century”, from 30 April – 4 May, in Rosario, Argentina.

The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network (WCC-EWN) hosted the Brazilian Semiarid Articulation (ASA) on 25 April for a dialogue on human rights and water justice in Brazil. Representatives of the EWN and the ASA discussed human rights within the framework of the right to water, and they also focused on alternatives for sustainable living offered by ASA.

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), received former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at the Ecumenical Centre on 10 March, in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The Nobel Peace Prize awarded today to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is a sign of hope and encouragement on the path to peace, and towards the end of the 52-year-long conflict”, said Mr. Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), commenting on the announcement of the award by the Norwegian Nobel Committee earlier today.

Faith-based organizations and religious leaders must be included in efforts to address the challenges of human trafficking and forced migration, representatives of the United Nations, international organizations, Member States and civil society have said.

“The remarkable development to overcome poverty in Brazil has been an inspiration for many others, and it is extremely important that justice for the poor continues to be on the agenda for the leadership of Brazil”, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC. Tveit has been in São Paulo, Brazil, from 7 – 9 September, attending the Pentecostal World Conference and meeting local church leaders.

It was with sadness that WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit received the news of the passing of Rev. Juan Abelardo Schvindt of the Evengelical Church of the River Plate (IERP), on 23 August.

To raise awareness on the work of churches and church-related organizations engaged in peace-building efforts in Colombia, the WCC and Caritas Internationalis are promoting an event in New York on 18 August.

“The vision for mission and the many ministries of the Methodists in Brazil have deep value and impact for the people,” wrote Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), in a letter to the 20th General Council of the Methodist Church in Brazil on 8 July.

In a statement adopted by its Central Committee meeting in Trondheim, Norway, the WCC “welcomes the news of the historic bilateral ceasefire agreement concluded by the government of Colombia and the FARC-EP in Havana on 23 June 2016.”

“Bishop Pagura was one of the pillars of Latin American and world ecumenism in the last fifty years, a faithful and courageous champion of human rights and the cause of peace in Latin America and around the globe”, wrote Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), after the passing of Bishop Emeritus Federico José Pagura, on 6 June, in Argentina.