Ushered into the venue of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, one finds a sanctuary, a safe space under the canopy of yellow leaves. Under the shade of trees with leaves slowly going through the withering process is the springing of hope for a better world engaged in conversations and dialogues that promote life at its fullness.
World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed great concern in the wake of a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the northern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines on 27 July.
Kerlan Fanagel’s submission to the Human Rights Council (HRC), delivered on the council’s 10th anniversary, highlighted the plight of the Lumad in Mindanao, a group of people who have been displaced from their traditional lands in the southern Philippines.
Some 40 individuals from churches, faith-based groups, community-based organizations, academia and the government will gather in the Philippines on 11 December for a consultation entitled The Right to Food and Life in the Context of Climate Change.
During the 4th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, the WCC, in collaboration with the ACT Alliance and Lutheran World Federation, organized a side-event on “Faith-based organizations’ contribution to the protection of communities’ land rights: lessons learnt and good practices from Africa, Asia and Latin America” at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.
When Rev. Rex Reyes leaves as Christian Conference of Asia president of clergy after two general assemblies and one term as president, the organization loses a humble and very articulate man firmly rooted in the faith.
At the recent World Social Forum, ecumenical voices warned about the grave consequences of extraction of natural resources and mining, which they say generate a tremendous amount of social and ecological debt.
