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A delegation composed of the “collegial general secretariat” of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) visited the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 17 September to discuss with World Council of Churches (WCC) leadership how to strengthen ties between the two organizations by connecting programmatically.

Participants at a symposium exploring challenges and opportunities for a more just digital future held a lively discussion on and offline on how the digital era has changed the notion of public space.

While the concept of “public space” has been around since ancient times, the landscape has turned digital, resulting in a confrontation between the so-called “elite” on the one hand and those fighting for a just society on the other.

If digital social justice begins with connectivity, perhaps it ends when that connectivity is usurped by oppressive regimes, extremists, fake news and hate speech. A “press club”-style conversation on 13 September found theologians, politicians, church communicators, activists and journalists from around the world weighing in on the short but exceedingly complex question, “Digital instruments – Blessing or Curse?”

Besides the dangerous monopoly structures in the digital economy, there is a danger for liberty and justice as they are crucial for pluralistic democracies in the digital world, says Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. Bedford-Strohm is also chairperson of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany and was a keynote speaker at the opening of the symposium exploring challenges and opportunities for a more just digital future, in Berlin on 13-15 September, and co-organized by the EKD.

As a teenager growing up in East Germany in the 1980s, Dr Ellen Ueberschär learned of freedom of speech in her church parish and believes that fundamental digital rights will not prevail on their own or through voluntary commitments by corporations.

At a conference to promote freedom of religion and preservation of spiritual, cultural and historical heritage, held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from 8-12 September, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reflected on “Holy Places and our Human Identities.”