Search results

In a message to the Global Refugee Forum released 12 December, faith-based leaders underscored their commitment to offering sanctuary for refugees as well defending their human rights. 

Ekaterina E. wears the human face of statelessness every day.“Statelessness is about expulsion from the human community” she says, “for me personally, being stateless means I have been separated from my mother for nearly 30 years now.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and Religions for Peace will issue on 9 May a joint message on statelessness, “Belonging—Affirmations for Faith Leaders”.

The document is one of the most recent fruits of WCC work that has been ongoing for more than a decade around the issue of statelessness. It is currently available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

A “human chain” singing for peace and a new hymn by Swedish composer and pastor Per Harling are just two of many creative ways people are expressing their yearning for peace.

A new publication from WCC, “Coexistence: Peace, Nature, Poverty, Terrorism, Values (Religious Perspectives)” by Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania, is now available in hard copy and as an eBook.

The advocacy statement of ecumenical organisations responding to the new EU Migrant Pact and the situation of migrants and refugees in Europe was received 25 September in the European Commission offices in Brussels. The statement was addressed to Vangelis Demiris, cabinet member of the vice president of the commission Margaritis Schinas, who is coordinating the commission’s work on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen, general secretary of the Conference of European Churches, and Dr Torsten Moritz, general secretary of the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, delivered the statement to Demiris, who is responsible for the dialogue with the churches and faith-based organisations.

Voices from the World Council of Churches (WCC) global fellowship are speaking out strongly against racism and for justice in an ongoing show of solidarity and action. These voices are amplifying the idea of a “conversion that will end all forms of racism and racial discrimination” set forth in a 3 June World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee Statement on Racial Justice in the USA.

After more than ten years heading the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit says this is the time that "we should remind one another that we believe in God as the “Good shepherd” who promised to be with us also in times of crisis,” especially in this time of the global COVID-19 crisis.

An interreligious conference exploring religion and migration was hosted from 27-30 January in Sweden by Religions for Peace co-president and Church of Sweden Archbishop Dr Antje Jackelén.

The annual meeting of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) was hosted by the WCC at the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, and at the nearby Chateau de Bossey from 6-7 February.

As the Finnish Mission Council celebrated its centenary on 12 October in Tampere, Finland, the Lutheran Archbishop of Finland, Dr Tapio Luoma, celebrated the witness in mission of the earlier missionaries and generations. Luoma also urged every generation to find answers to the question of how to live fully as a disciple of Jesus and fulfil his commission.

At a conference with the theme “Promoting Peace Together” held in Geneva on 21 May, religious leaders focused on two historic documents related to peace-making. The first, “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” was jointly signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi in February. The second, “Education for Peace in a Multi-Religious World: A Christian Perspective,” jointly prepared by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the World Council of Churches (WCC), was officially launched at the conference.

An adage that some people ignore these days is that mobility has shaped each human society, and a recent meeting of the Maison Internationale des Associations in Geneva focused on this.

Many colours and flavours of humanity assembled on 7 April for a lively day of discussions and exchanges about human mobility where most views were celebrating the social phenomenon at an event titled “Tout d’ailleurs, tous d’ici” (All from elsewhere, all from here).

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit was visiting Los Angeles this week from 30 March to 4 April, preaching at the Hollywood United Methodist Church, delivering a lecture at Loyola Marymount University, and meeting with various ecumenical organizations and groups.

Under the headline “Free to change” hundreds of Swedes gathered in the sacred cathedral in Gothenburg on 2 February to learn more about international advocacy from a faith and human rights perspective.

A full-day programme arranged by the dioceses of Skara and Gothenburg in cooperation with Church of Sweden’s youth organisation, covered a wide spectrum of pertinent issues facing the ecumenical movement.

Calling for a new social pact, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit urged an international, interreligious conference in Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to use their religious influence and institutions to nurture tolerance and respect through the transcendent value and concrete practices of love.

Peace education to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between people involving the religious and secular sectors is needed to counter uncertainty fed by radicalization and xenophobia, says a leading human rights advocate.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has made several new appointments this year, welcoming programme executives, a programme director, and a new dean of the Bossey Ecumenical Institute.