World Council of Churches

An intergenerational dialogue on 22 June focused on understanding and relations through a Buddhist lens. 

A conference in Rome hosted by the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, in collaboration with European interreligious partners, and the Office for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation of the World Council of Churches (WCC), on 23-24 June explored “Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs in Europe: Building Fraternity through Dialogue and Collaboration.”

The All Africa Conference of Churches, in a statement, expressed grave concern regarding the recurring instances of Afro-phobia and xenophobic violence within South Africa. 

The Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa expressed profound concern and deep sorrow over the resurgence of xenophobic attacks, discrimination, and hostility directed against foreign migrants and refugees from other African countries living in South Africa. 

A commissioning ceremony was held on 24 June in Jerusalem during which a group of ecumenical accompaniers ended their term of service, and passed along the ministry to the next group. 

The residential phase of an Interreligious Summer Course began 29 June at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey and will run through 18 July. 

With the many challenges of the present day, it is vital to advocate for those who need it, and to keep that vision alive of what is possible, says head of advocacy at United Evangelical Mission Thea Hummel.

In Bonn, negotiators wrestled with delayed adaptation targets and geopolitical tensions at the UN June Climate Meetings. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and partner faith networks gathered to do something the formal process has long struggled to sustain: speak plainly about justice.

Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, WCC programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation, represented the World Council of Churches at the Council for World Mission Europe Assembly, held 28 June through 2 July in Utrecht, Netherlands. 

Fr Dr Lawrence Iwuamadi, academic dean of the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, took time to reflect on the 80th anniversary of the “living laboratory” of ecumenism, and how its students are living into a future that brings hope in so many ways.

An international colloquium, "Decolonizing Ecumenical Hermeneutics,” held 25–26 June, was organized by the Wittenberg Center for Advanced Studies, World Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order, Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, and Faculty of Theology at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.

A roundtable discussion, hosted on 26 June by the Interfaith Alliance in Paris, was convened to discuss the draft of a new resource: “Guiding Intelligence, Safeguarding Humanity: A Faith-AI Covenant.” 

The World Council of Churches hosted an online meeting of ecumenical communicators on 22 June to offer an opportunity to share updates on work, challenges, and hopes in the coming months. 

ACT Alliance members, the Lutheran World Federation, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, and Swiss Church Aid HEKS/EPER, have issued an alert related to earthquake response in Venezuela. 

Preparations under way for the Centenary of Faith and Order in 2027.  The First World Conference on Faith and Order was held in Lausanne in August 1927 and this historic gathering was the theological catalyst that later led to the official formation of the WCC in 1948.

Representatives from the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 23 June to share visions, commitments, and insights about many issues and topics. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay extended prayers on behalf of the global fellowship to all those affected by two major earthquakes in Venezuela. 

When representatives of churches, faith-based organisations, labour movements, and businesses from 18 countries gathered in Rome, they were not there to debate whether the world of work must change. That question had been settled before the first session opened. They were there to determine how, and to make sure, the communities most exposed to the costs of that change are not once again left behind.

The World Council of Churches, along with ecumenical and civil society partners, are preparing for the first Global Dialogue on AI Governance, convened by the United Nations and being held in Geneva, 6-7 July. Participants in a symposium on "Our Common Future: Advocating for Digital Rights and AI Accountability" held in mid-April in Berlin reflected on some of the issues that will come to the fore in the Global Dialogue.

Dr Torsten Moritz is general secretary of Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe. He took time to reflect on why it’s important that churches know about the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, and how churches across Europe and beyond can remain a steadfast voice of conscience.