At the G20 Interfaith Forum, which took place 12-14 September in Bologna, Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, spoke on religious commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those focusing on children, hunger, water and sanitation.
Before the Community of Sant'Egidio in Bologna, Italy, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit spoke on “Poverty and Inequality in a Time of Climate Change.”
WCC News spoke to Rev. Henrik Grape, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Working Group on Climate Justice. He was on his way home after attending an ecumenical gathering in Assisi.
On 27 March, a hug between a 7-year-old girl, Majida, and her grandmother reflected the bright light of possibility that the ecumenical Humanitarian Corridors project continues to bring to refugees arriving in Italy. The child was waiting with other family members at the Fiumicino Airport in Rome as her grandmother arrived, safely and legally, in Italy from Lebanon.
Not nearly enough is being done to save the lives of the 20 million people who face famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria. Among them are 1.4 million children, who are at imminent risk of death unless aid reaches them immediately.
At the 42nd Committee on World Food Security in Rome on 12-15 October, the intergovernmental body continued its quest to coordinate a global approach to food security.
The World Council of Churches welcomed Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si'”, released on June 18, which highlights what churches and ecumenical organizations have been doing for decades on caring for the earth and climate justice issues.