World Council of Churches

Students from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey are visiting Rome for a week, where they are taking part in a rich programme featuring lectures, guided tours of the Vatican, and meaningful exchanges with leaders from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

Amidst a surging conflict in the east, Christian denominations in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 15 January, launched a strategy to help churches confront prolonged violence and humanitarian crisis in the central African country.

The World Council of Churches extended condolences upon the passing of Rev. Dr William G. Rusch, an internationally recognized scholar and champion of ecumenism who taught at Yale Divinity School for many years. Rusch died on 16 January at the age of 87.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) joins the ecumenical movement, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Kirkpatrick family in celebrating the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr Clifton Kirkpatrick.

Members of various Geneva churches gathered this week for the celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at Saint Paul’s church in the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy.

In 2025, one of the few years when Christians of all traditions will celebrate Easter on the same date – 20 April – a webinar being organized by the World Council of Churches on 13 February will explore how churches might renew the search for a common Easter date as a sign of their unity in faith.

Nawal Barakat lives in the village of An Nabi Samwil. It’s only eight kilometers northwest of Jerusalem—but it might as well be a world away. 

A World Council of Churches (WCC) staff visit took place from 12-21 January, aimed at empowering faith communities in Jamaica to take action on sexual and gender-based violence, racism, reparations, and climate justice.

Scholar Kristina Mantasasvili chose to focus her doctoral dissertation on work related to the World Council of Churches (WCC). She took time to reflect on what inspired her, the challenges she faced, and the hope she has for the growth of future visions.

Students from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey are in Rome for a weeklong visit, with a full programme that includes lectures, tours of the Vatican, and opportunities to interact with leaders from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

Gracia Violeta Ross, WCC programme executive for HIV, Reproductive Health, and Pandemics, offered two presentations in Bolivia, the first a training for leaders living with HIV on planning and project design for community-based organizations, and the second a keynote speech, entitled “40 years of the HIV response in Bolivia, progress and challenges,” offered at an art museum’s exhibition closure in Santa Cruz, which is the largest city in the country, with 42% of HIV cases in Bolivia,

In a letter to the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil and the National Council of Christian Churches, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shared condolences on the passing of Bishop Flavio Augusto Borges Irala on 9 January. 

As the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes place from 18-25 January, Br Guido Dotti from the Monastic Community of Bose, Italy, reflects on what it was like to prepare the materials for the largest global prayer gathering. 

During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, staff of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva joined a Monday morning prayer at the Chapelle des Crêts of the Protestant church of Geneva, reflecting on the theme of the 2025: “Do you believe this?”

During an interfaith service in Memphis, Tennessee, on 20 January at the Healing Cathedral Christian Church, hundreds of people gathered in-person and online to commemorate Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy and to respond to deep injustices plaguing the United States. 

At the 25th anniversary celebration of the Geneva Environment Network, global leaders and advocates gathered to address pressing climate and environmental crises under the theme, “Multilateralism Looking at the Future – Protecting the Environment with Humanity at the Center.”

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay celebrated with families to whom loved ones have been restored in an initial exchanges of hostages and prisoners in Gaza. “We pray that all the remaining hostages and all those unjustly detained will soon be released,” he said. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay has warmly welcomed President Biden’s decision of 14 January to remove Cuba from a list maintained by the U.S. Department of State that designates countries accused of supporting terrorism.

A newly released World Council of Churches (WCC) video addresses the importance of freedom of worship in Jerusalem and for the whole world. 

In a pilgrimage amidst deadly war, Episcopal Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo of Sudan, undertook a pastoral visit to Khartoum, where he witnessed full churches and thriving ecumenism.