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The need for the ecumenical movement is an urgent one today, said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit as he spoke this week at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Minnesota (USA).

"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 78-year-old sociology professor recently inaugurated as President of the (South) Korean Red Cross had his first contacts with the divided North while working at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, where he served for more than 17 years until 1999.

During World Humanitarian Day on 21 August, Dr Rebecca Samuel Dali received the 2017 Humanitarian Award from the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation at the United Nations office in Geneva in recognition of her courageous efforts in reintegration of women abducted by the Boko Haram into their local communities in the northern Nigeria. In her visit to the Ecumenical Centre, Dali shares the source of her courage and commitment to help the most vulnerable.

If women will not support each other to step up to the pulpit or become engaged in politics, then gender equality will not be a priority issue for leaders both in the church and in government, says Eppie Marecheau, Christian educator and president of the Christian Council for Caribbean Women. In July, she participated in a seminar organized by the Pan African Women’s Ecumenical Empowerment Network (PAWEEN), at the WCC's Ecumenical Institute Bossey.

Last week, young Jewish, Muslim and Christian students learned about communication and peacebuilding during a workshop at the Ecumenical Centre, all with the hope of serving as peacemakers in their own contexts. The session was led by Marianne Ejdersten, director of WCC Communication.

For Nigerian Nwankpa Kenneth Chinedu, attending a course on peacebuilding in Judaism, Christianity and Islam in Geneva opened his eyes and helped eliminate stereotypes and myths he had built in his mind about Muslims.

As young people from across the world gathered for a three-week Interreligious Summer School at the World Council of Churches (WCC ) Bossey Ecumenical Institute, they heard inspiring greetings about interreligious dialogue from people who encouraged them to contribute to issues of religious pluralism and intercultural acceptance in a society based on migration and globalization.

Climate justice isn't a policy that can simply be thrown away by any president - it’s a moral decision that affects the well-being of millions of people and future generations across the world. Thousands of people are communicating this message via statements, posts and tweets on social media, and even with earnest conversations with their neighbors. Many are from the WCC fellowship, humanitarian groups, churches and communities, and they are bringing a clear - and unified - voice of justice after US President Donald Trump announced on 2 June that his nation would leave the Paris climate accord.

As the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute 2017 (GETI’17) drew to a close in Berlin on 31 May, participants rejoiced in a sense of renewed ecumenical energy, and of fellowship across traditions, as they prepare to return to their home contexts.

During Kirchentag, a Protestant church festival in Germany, vice-moderator of the WCC Commission of Ecumenical Education and Formation Prof. Dr Esther Mombo visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) booth, where she talked with Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director of Communication.

“We’ve seen in the case of refugees, how the church takes a strong standpoint in welcoming those who have fled. But it isn’t always so easy in the congregations. There are many who feel fear, as we receive not only refugees but sometimes also people of other faiths. In this case, we can see a gap between what the church says, and what is actually lived.”

Speaking at the Al-Azhar International Peace Conference on 27-28 April in Egypt, the Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, Pope Francis and WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit address topics of misinterpretation of religious text, the culture of peace in religion, and global peace and how it is affected by poverty, illness and exploitation.

The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel was launched by the WCC in 2002 based on an appeal from local church leaders to create an international presence in the country. So far, more than 1,800 ecumenical accompaniers have worked to create conditions for a just peace.

Rauha. Paix. Friede. Paghidait.

He earned the title “Green Patriarch” as a religious leader addressing alarming environmental issues over at least two decades. In 2008, Time Magazine named His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as one of 100 Most Influential People in the World, for “defining environmentalism as spiritual responsibility”.

Religious radicalisation is at the heart of many political discussions worldwide but is also playing a major role in intra-Christian and interreligious dialogue. Often a divisive feature in these discussions is the tendency to stereotype certain religions as having extremist expressions and actions.

Churches are probably the most powerful global civil society group, and they need to live up to this responsibility in the quest for peace, says German bishop, Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm. Bedford-Strohm, chairperson of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), was speaking at an event to promote peace in the Ecumenical Centre on 3 November.

At five o'clock in the evening today - and every day - in Finland, church bells are ringing across the country, symbolizing people’s sadness and solidarity with the people of Aleppo, Syria.

The Grand Imam of Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar mosque and university, Prof. Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb, will visit the WCC to give a public lecture and participate in high-level dialogue on interreligious peacemaking. “We are honoured to welcome one of the world’s highest-ranking and most influential Muslim leaders to Geneva, and I very much look forward to his lecture and to sharing views with him on the many challenges that we as religious persons and leaders face together,” says WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.