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Statement: public statement

WCC Central Committee Statement on the War in Ukraine

Statement on the War in Ukraine by the WCC Central Committee meeting, 15 - 18 June 2022.

18 June 2022

Central Committee

WCC executive committee lights path toward assembly while mourning loss of longtime leader

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, convening via videoconference from 30 May to 2 June, continued the work of planning for the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe even while the members mourned the loss of longtime ecumenical luminary Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima.

03 June 2022

Interview

Man dressed in Orthodox religious garb speaking at podium.

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.

14 April 2022

Message

Strengthening Christian Commitment to Human Dignity and Human Rights

Message of the conference "Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights", organised jointly by WCC, UEM and EKD, gathering 47 participants from 22 countries in Wuppertal (Germany) and online from 9 to 12 April 2022.

13 April 2022

Ecumenical movement

WCC Easter message: Christ’s resurrection “a source of healing, wholeness, and renewal”

Amid feelings of despair in our world, Christ’s resurrection is a source of hope and new life, writes World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca in an Easter message.

13 April 2022

Churches will share perspectives on human dignity amidst escalating conflicts

Addressing the challenges for a common vision of churches on human rights today, the international conference “Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights” will take place on 9-12 April in Wuppertal, Germany. Everyone is invited to follow the public session of the conference on 11 April, when a panel of the keynote speakers will bring together biblical, theological and practical perspectives on human dignity.

08 April 2022

Event

Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights

11 April 2022

Part of the international conference held on 9-12 April in Wuppertal, Germany, the online panel discussion on 11 April will reflect on the challenges for a common vision of churches on human rights today, bringing together biblical, theological and practical perspectives on human dignity.

Wuppertal, Germany / online

South Sudan church official highlights country’s humanitarian crisis, as global attention turns to Ukraine

A church leader in South Sudan is urging the international community to keep its focus on the growing humanitarian crisis in the world’s youngest nation, as the globe beams its attention on the conflict in Ukraine.

17 March 2022

Letter (incoming)

Response by H.H. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca (English translation)

In a 10 March letter, H.H. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia responded to a letter sent 2 March by World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca asking Patriarch Kirill to mediate so that the war can be stopped.

10 March 2022

Member church

A young boy holds the palms of his hands together by his face in prayer. Other school children look on.

South Sudan ecumenical leader: Don’t give up on war-torn country

An ecumenical leader in South Sudan has appealed to the world not to give up on his country, which during the first decade of its independence has repeatedly slid backward into political and ethnic violence.

19 January 2022

Interview

African man wearing a black medical face mask stands in front of a poster at a museum.

Rev. Frank Chikane: “You can’t do unity at the expense of justice”

When Rev. Frank Chikane was leading the South African Council of Churches in calling out injustices of the apartheid system, their work did not stop even after the council’s office building was bombed to the ground in 1980s. Moderating the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC) since 2016, Rev. Chikane has been engaged in addressing injustices in many parts of the world. WCC Communication asked Rev. Chikane to look back at his term at the commission and the ongoing calling of churches to address injustices in the world today.

13 January 2022

Webinar remembers past massacres in Europe

A webinar on 6 December—last in an ongoing series— remembered past massacres in Europe. Panellists explored questions such as: How do we recognise these tragedies, and celebrate the survival, resistance, resilience, and heroes of these communities? How do we honour their martyrdom? What is done to prevent these victims from falling into amnesia or denial?

16 December 2021

African women walk in water carrying a white sack containing food.

South Sudan Church leaders welcome Swedish Prosecution Authority’s move to charge oil consortium for abetting war crimes

Church leaders in South Sudan have welcomed the decision by the Swedish Prosecution Authority to bring charges against the oil company, Lundin Energy, for aiding and abetting war crimes in the world’s newest nation.

24 November 2021

Moderator of Central Committee

Message

Dr Agnes Abuom: Communities of Faith - Crucial Partners for the Future

Address of Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches Central Committee at the meeting of WCC, EKD, German Federal Foreign Office and TransAtlantic Network, 13 October 2021.

13 October 2021

Message

Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca: The Pandemic, the World Council of Churches, and Global Health

Address of Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches at the meeting of WCC, EKD, German Federal Foreign Office and TransAtlantic Network, 13 October 2021

13 October 2021

General Secretary

Bike for peace delegation visits the WCC at the Ecumenical centre in Geneva.

Bike for Peace team wheels by WCC, voicing support for a world free from nuclear weapons

A group of bikers from the Bike for Peace visited the World Council of Churches on 30 August as part of a commemoration in the Place de Nations.

31 August 2021

Commission on International Affairs

Background document

"Massacres committed in Africa during colonial times"

This booklet has been prepared to serve as a background document for the purpose of the webinar on “Past Massacres in Africa”. Its objective is to recognize and list some of the tragic massacres that took place during colonial times in Africa.

25 August 2021

The damaged statue of St. Agnes found in the ruins of a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.

Nuclear weapons threat, climate change linked in many ways

Daniel Högsta is campaign coordinator for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. He reflects below on the tie between climate change and nuclear weapons, as well as on global progress toward a nuclear-free world.

17 August 2021