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“Multi-Religious Perspectives on the CRC@30”
The 30th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
July 15, 2019, 1:15 – 3:15 pm at the Ford Foundation

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit
General Secretary

After 52 participants from 22 countries from different confessional and faith traditions gathered 16-19 June in Wuppertal, Germany, they have released "Kairos for Creation – Confessing Hope for the Earth”.

The report points out that underlying these disturbing trends are “production and consumption patterns, human population dynamics and trends, trade, technological innovations and local through global governance.”
In every single area of recommended action, churches are well-placed to make significant contributions. We have the capacity and the responsibility to act.

The executive committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Bossey, Switzerland, on 22-28 May 2019, recalls the many initiatives and expressions of concern about the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and Papua Barat (together referred to herein as “West Papua” or “Tanah Papua”) by national, regional and international ecumenical and church-related organizations over many years.

Report of the WCC General Secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit to the WCC Executive Committee Meeting in Bossey, May 22-28, 2019.

Brothers and sisters, welcome to the Executive Committee meeting. It is a joy to see each one of you. A lot has happened both positive and not so good, since we last met at the stop in our pilgrimage together in Uppsala, Sweden; this stop for was a moment to learn and be exposed to the Swedish ecclesial landscape and we are grateful to the Church of Sweden for their support and solidarity.

Food is central to life and our faith. It is a blessing and a gift of God, in the form of the abundant creation which we depend on for our sustenance. Food is also a reflection of the quality of our relationships with each other- our caring for the other and the sharing of resources and the hospitality we show each other. Food is central to our worship life, our liturgy and the Eucharist, which helps us to be one with God and with each other.

"What’s Love Got to Do with It? The Ecumenical Future of the Churches", Inaugural Michael Huffington Lecture by Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit World Council of Churches general secretary on 3 April, 2019

Are we in a time when the message of the threats of climate change is on its way to sink into our shared consciousness? After being active in the climate debates in the ecumenical and interreligious discussions and advocacy work with not so much of a visible impact on policies and action I am wondering if we are getting closer to the point where we should have been 20 years ago. A point that says that humanity needs to choose another way if we are going to secure a decent future for coming generations and to save ecosystems and peoples opportunities to have a good and peaceful life together.

Presented by Peter Prove at the International Seminar on the Ecumenical Diaconal Ministry of North/South Korea, 4-5 March 2019, Seoul

The sixth reflection of the “Seven Weeks for Water 2019” of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network is by Dinesh Suna, coordinator of the network. Suna comes from the Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church in Odisha, India. In the following reflection, Suna emphasises that "the lost, the least and the last" are at the heart of both the Bible as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. From the gospel according to Luke, Suna identifies parables by Jesus that demonstrate Jesus’s preference for vulnerable communities and challenge us to have that positive bias towards them.

The fifth reflection of the “Seven Weeks for Water 2019” of World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Water Network is done jointly by Dr Manoj Kurian and Ms Athena Peralta, the Coordinator of WCC-Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and Programme Executive of WCC Economic and Ecological Justice programmes respectively. In the following reflection, they underline the nexus between water, food and climate change and how our irresponsible consumption pattern on one can influence the other sectors.  They further challenge us to review our footprints on water, climate change etc and encourage us to take actions this Lent for making our planet more sustainable.

The third reflection of the “Seven Weeks for Water 2019” of World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Water Network is by Grace Ji-Sun Kim, an ordained minister of PC (USA). She received her PhD from the University of Toronto and works as an Associate Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion. She is a prolific writer and the author or editor of 16 books including, Making Peace with the Earth. Kim is part of the World Council of Churches working group on climate change. In this reflection, she recollects her early days in Korea and how she looked at the water then and now, as an eco-feminist theologian. She further reflects on the promise of God "I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground…" and contrasts it with today's consumeristic lifestyle, which is polluting our water bodies and denying millions from enjoying this life-giving gift of God – Water!

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit sent a greeting to a conference about religious and ecclesiastical diplomacy held in Greece on 28 February - 3 March.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit spoke on the future of work at an event held on 25 February 2019 in Geneva commemorating the centenary of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

From the 30th January to 1st February 2019 about 30 climate activists, climate injustice survivors, researchers and representatives of different religious and spiritual traditions came together in Dhaka for a workshop on “Interfaith Reflections on Just Transitions: Linking Climate and Economic Justice”.

Speech of Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC General Secretary at the Open University of Cyprus – Archdiocese of Constantia and Ammochostos, January 10, 2019, Paralimni

Statement from the faith communities to the Plenary of the High Level Ministerial Segment of the 24rd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24), the 14th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP14) - United Nations Climate Change Conference Katowice, Poland December 2018

Message by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP 24), Poland, December 3-14, 2018