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The World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee adopted a "Statement on eco-justice and ecological debt" on Wednesday, 2 Sept. The statement proposes that Christians have a deep moral obligation to promote ecological justice by addressing our debts to peoples most affected by ecological destruction and to the earth itself. The statement addresses ecological debt and includes hard economic calculations as well as biblical, spiritual, cultural and social dimensions of indebtedness.

“Tears are not enough.” Fernando Enns spoke that phrase in introductory remarks to the World Council of Churches central committee on 28 August. It was repeated several times during a morning plenary session on the WCC’s upcoming International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC).

“Brothers and sisters, what should we do?” (Acts 2:37b)

Conflicts in Congo and Gaza, recognition of the International Year of Reconciliation, the impact of the global economic crisis on the WCC budget and an update on the election of a new general secretary were topics of discussion and action by the WCC Executive Committee which met in Bossey, Switzerland, 17 to 20 February 2009.

By Juan Michel (*)

Are there viable alternatives to the international financial architecture responsible for the current global financial and economical crises? Members of a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation will explore this issue at this year's World Social Forum.

Radical changes and tangible commitments from world leaders are needed if an equitable and sustainable global economic system is to be built, says an ecumenical delegation attending a UN conference on financing for development starting tomorrow in Qatar.

There is a "gradual retreat of neoliberalism" in the region, according to participants in a Latin America and Caribbean ecumenical consultation to examine the links between poverty, wealth and ecology.

The legacies of the slave trade, and how churches can respond to past and present forms of slavery, are going to be discussed at an ecumenical conference to be held 10-14 December in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. About sixty theologians, church leaders, social scientists and activists, mainly from Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean will gather in the country where nearly one million Africans and later indentured servants from Asia were exploited as human commodities and many more transited on their often deadly passage into slavery.

A severe reminder "of the wealth that was built and sustained on the continued extraction and plunder of Africa's resources as well as on the exploitation of Africa's people" was addressed to Christians in the global North by the participants in the African ecumenical consultation "Linking poverty, wealth and ecology" last week.

When does the pursuit of economical wellbeing turn into greed? This is one of the questions to be discussed at a 5-9 November ecumenical consultation in Dar es Salaam. Joint church strategies and actions for addressing the interlinked problems of poverty, excessive wealth, and ecological degradation in Africa are intended results.

Calling for alternatives to enforced free trade, churches and church-related organizations world-wide, along with other religious groups and community partners, are gearing up for the Trade Week of Action, 14-21 October.

By Annegret Kapp*

The Faith and Order standing commission has called for a meeting of the plenary commission to take place in October 2009. The plenary commission - noted as the most diverse church-based theological forum in the world - will bring a wealth of confessional and regional perspectives to Faith and Order's work for the unity of the church. The call for a full commission meeting was voiced as the standing commission met at the Villa Notre Dame, Crans-Montana, Switzerland, from 12 - 18 June 2007 under the leadership of its moderator, Metropolitan Vassilios of Constantia.

By Marian McClure (*)

The Ecumenical Institute at Bossey has announced plans for a strengthened teaching faculty that will reinforce its position as a leading world centre for ecumenical formation and research.

By Anto Akkara (*)

By Juan Michel (*)

At the World Social Forum in Nairobi, speakers at a workshop organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) said that wealth, poverty and ecology are strongly linked to each other and to society's commitment to the common good.

Ceremonies in Nairobi's Holy Family Roman Catholic Basilica and All Saints Anglican Cathedral and a procession from one to the other church are part of events being organized by the All Africa Conference of Churches/Caritas Ecumenical Platform to mark the opening of the 7th World Social Forum (WSF).