World Council of Churches

Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally has taken a five-day pilgrimage to Palestine and Israel at the invitation of the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, Most Rev. Hosam Naoum.

Very Rev. Dr Festus Ambe Asana, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, and a former member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central and executive committees, passed away on 22 June in Orlando, Florida (US).

Leaders from the Pacific Conference of Churches and Église Protestante de Kanaky Nouvelle-Calédonie have called on the UN Special Committee on Decolonization to use its mandate to bring colonialism to an end in New Caledonia. 

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay spoke at the Religions for Peace 2026 International Council Meeting, held in Mauritius 23–25 June under the theme “Forging Pathways for Shared Sacred Flourishing.”

Faith leaders, government representatives, researchers, development partners, organizations of persons with disabilities, and health professionals from Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda have established a regional platform on disability-inclusive sexual and reproductive health and rights to strengthen collaboration, knowledge sharing, research, and policy advocacy across East Africa.

Rev. Prof. Teddy Chalwe Sakupapa has been appointed new director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. 

Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, World Council of Churches (WCC) programme director for Life, Justice, and Peace, will participate in a conference, “A holistic approach to health in the Caritas Confederation.” 

Right Rev. Dr Garth Minott is president of the Jamaica Council of Churches. He took time to reflect on how truth, accountability, and compassion can protect people from gender-based violence. 

An 11-person ecumenical group from Zurich visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 18 June, receiving an introduction to the WCC after touring Geneva.

G7 leaders met in Évian on 15–17 June, on the French shore of Lake Geneva, a few kilometres from the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Ecumenical Centre. On two continents, churches were pressing the case those leaders left unfinished: how the world taxes wealth is a question of faith. From Malawian church councils demanding an end to harmful tax incentives to UK Christians challenging Amazon’s tax record, a movement the WCC has backed since its 2019 Zacchaeus Tax Campaign is turning conviction into organised pressure.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed grave concern at plans and initiatives for the development of yet another Israeli settlement in the West Bank, in the Ush Ghurab area, next to Beit Sahour. 

His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine and Jordan, and His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, arrived in Gaza on 22 June for a pastoral visit. They are accompanied by His Excellency Dr Josef D. Blotz, grand hospitaller of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, together with representatives of Malteser International.

An international colloquium, "Decolonizing Ecumenical Hermeneutics,” set for 25–26 June, is being 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.

The Episcopal Church, as part of a series of Ecumenical and Interreligious webinars, featured the World Council of Churches (WCC) staff in a panel discussion. The WCC staff introduced the WCC to an audience largely from the US as well as from other nations across the world. 

Churches in Kenya urged the government to listen to the voice of the citizens, as the denominations remembered the citizens killed during the Gen-Z protests in 2024. Churches held an interdenominational memorial service at the Nairobi Baptist Church, Ngong Road on 21 June.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep concern and lament following a recent vote in the European Union that further restricts protections for migrants and refugees. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) senior programme lead for Children and Climate Frédérique Seidel shared an intervention at the European Conference on Christian Education, held 8-12 June and hosted by the Reformed Church of Switzerland.

The World Council of Churches joined other faith-based groups in a statement in commemoration of World Refugee Day and the 75th anniversary of the Refugee Convention. 

A new campaign and toolkit, “Until Everyone is Safe,” to be released in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, will reaffirm the right to seek safety as a shared societal good.

The Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe has announced a Europe-wide awareness-raising and prevention initiative within Protestant churches related to protection against sexual violence.