World Council of Churches

Each year, the Lanterns for Peace global campaign, on 6 and 9 August, remembers the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The commemoration is not only a moment of mourning, but a genuine call to conscience.

In a letter to UN secretary-general António Guterres, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay urged pausing the proposed merger of UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund under the UN80 reform initiative. 

A new World Council of Churches (WCC) publication by German theologian Dr Ulrich Duchrow, “Justice, Peace, Economy of Life: Experiences, Struggles, and Visions in the Global Ecumenical Movement,” has been published, allowing readers a glimpse into his decades of work as a theologian, social ethicist, and long-time activist. 

Thursdays in Black ambassadors met on 3 August, re-engaging their global network and reviewing a 12-month activity framework covering theological, advocacy, creative, and institutional themes. 

A group of youth delegates from the League of Creative Minds, based in the US, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 5 August, as part of a study trip to Europe to learn about and research nuclear policy, peace, and diplomacy, among other topics.

WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay was featured in a interview with Christian Peschken, Geneva correspondent for EWTN Germany since 2014. The interview will appear on EWTN and CNA Deutsch. 

Five young researchers joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 2026: four through the Climate Curve Constellations Fellowship, a programme placing early-career researchers with organizations working on climate change, and one returning for a second internship in the WCC’s work on children’s rights. They came from Nigeria, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and the United States. Ask any of them why climate justice, and the answer starts somewhere specific. A farm, a marsh, an audit desk.

On 5 June, churches and faith-based organizations from Colombia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, together with investment and ecumenical partners, submitted a complaint under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct concerning HSBC Holdings plc and its financial relationship with Glencore, the company operating the Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia. This is the second of a three-part feature story that illustrates the grave health effects—particularly on children—of the Cerrejón mining operation. 

Erin Tsutsui is a 16-year-old rising junior at Henry M. Gunn High School in California. She visited the World Council of Churches on 5 August with a group from the League of Creative Minds. She shared her grandfather’s story of surviving the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.

Rev. Nicole Ashwood, WCC programme executive for a Just Community of Women and Men, served as a guest lecturer at Universitas Kristen Indonesia Maluku on 20 July. Her lecture, entitled “Is Decolonial Ecumenism JUST Talk?” challenged the students to move from words to action.

The Ecumenical Institute at Bossey is celebrating its 80th anniversary - and the World Council of Churches (WCC) invites everyone to join in commemorating a vibrant institution that has transformed thousands of lives.

Twenty-three young ecumenists were called to embody hope and unity during the month-long Asian Ecumenical Institute 2026 in Chiang Mai, an annual ecumenical formation programme organised by the Christian Conference of Asia. 

On 2-3 July, the Second International Conference of the Observatory of Religious Fundamentalism was held at the Orthodox Academy of Crete on the topic “Fundamentalism and the Protection of Religious Monuments and Sites.”

Meelis Süld - pastor, journalist and general secretary of the Council of Lutheran Churches in Great Britain - reflects on why church unity is important, and what are the ecumenical resources that help the most.

Rev. Prof. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, World Council of Churches (WCC) programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation, visited Australia during late July and early August, offering a guest lecture at the United Theological College, preaching at local churches, and sharing an update on the WCC with local religious leaders. 

Rev. Prof. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, World Council of Churches (WCC) programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation, offered the May McLeod lecture at the United Theological College in Australia on 30 July. 

In an address on 26 June, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew warned that a third world war—this one against nature—is being waged.

As part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, two webinars will be held exploring the institute’s enduring contribution to ecumenical formation and its future role in advancing Christian unity, reconciliation, common witness, and diakonia.

World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and the Presidium of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) met with H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of the Republic of South Africa on 30 July 2026. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel will focus on protecting children.