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In an annual audience during the ongoing Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Bishop Bo-Göran Åstrand of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland gifted a pair of gloves to Pope Francis, described as “a modest gift, to warm the Pope’s hands in an otherwise cold world.” 

After being postponed twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 15^th General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) finally got underway in late September and early October 2023 in Kottayam, India. Under the theme "God, renew us in your spirit and restore the creation,” CCA member churches across Asia gathered to stake out the direction forward and evaluate accomplishments and challenges since the last assembly in 2015 in Jakarta. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has been fielding a growing number of greetings and reflections as it continues to observe its 75th anniversary.

As the World Council of Churches celebrates its 75th anniversary, a series of feature stories from different regions of the world will portray ecumenism at the local level—within churches, communities, and individuals who embody the spirit of ecumenism in unique ways. The feature story below offers a glimpse of some facets of ecumenism present in Germany.

For the first time in history, women pastors in the Maluku Protestant Church outnumber their male counterparts. “We have 1,444 pastors in the Maluku Protestant Church, and about 55% are women,” said Maluku Protestant Church moderator Rev. Elifas Tomix Maspaitella.

As members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee and stewards visited the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, they came away newly inspired about the next generation of the ecumenical movement.

There is an old Lutheran adage that to be Lutheran is to be ecumenical, so the theme of the upcoming Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) taking place in Poland, "One Body, One Spirit, One Hope,” is seen as totally appropriate for the times.

One hundred twenty-seven young people from over 50 countries in all eight regions served as stewards at the World  Council of Churches (WCC) 11^th Assembly providing essential assistance in all activities and areas as well as contributing energy and perspective to  our life together as an ecumenical fellowship. Two of the stewards assisting the WCC Communication team share their experience as a letter and diary to future stewards at the 12^th assembly.

During a public lecture at the Ahlul Bayt International University in Iran, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reflected on how we can improve human relations in the post-COVID-19 era.

Alexander Vozhdaev, from the Russian Orthodox Church, participated in a study visit to Rome 20-27 January as part of pursuing a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Ecumenical Studies at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute.

Carolina Zamorano, from the Methodist Church of Mexico, participated in a study visit to Rome 20-27 January, as part of pursuing a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Ecumenical Studies at Bossey Ecumenical Institute.

Direct contact in courses was the old way; going online is for some delving into the unknown, but students thrived in their recent Online Course in Ecumenical Studies at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey and found a new way.

When Rev. Dr Antje Jackelén became its first female archbishop in 2014, a major milestone was reached in the history of the Church of Sweden. It took 850 years and 69 male predecessors to get there. Jackelén also happens to be the first immigrant, at least in modern times, to occupy the highest chair of her church. That, however, she regards as a coincidence of lesser significance. For her, as a devoted Christian, the baptism matters more than the passport.