News and stories

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has urged the United States of America and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to hold bilateral talks within the context of resumed Six-Party Talks on North Korea's nuclear programme.

Resettlement of people displaced by the consequences of climate change was highlighted as a major concern for churches at a gathering of ecumenical representatives from Asia and the Pacific region.

The opening or fall of the Berlin Wall was an unexpected event for the people most directly affected, but even more so for the world at large. The ecumenical movement was no exception. However, the events in 1989 East Germany were to have a wide and long lasting impact on it that can still be felt today.

"Now is the time to continue the trend" toward nuclear disarmament, four global, regional and national ecumenical organizations told leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, the United States and Russia. "The present opportunity must be transformed into conclusive actions."

An international ecumenical delegation has urged stronger action against human rights abuses in Honduras at a meeting with the general secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS) and representatives of the U.S. State Department in Washington, 22-23 October.

Nearly 140 leaders from the world's churches, North and South Koreans among them, have called for the formation of an inter-Korean confederation even before complete reunification of Korea can take place. Agreement was reached at the close of a three-day meeting in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong where the Christian leaders expressed unrelenting hope for peace and reconciliation among Koreans, despite the stark realities of the ongoing division of the...

In a momentary foretaste of Korean reunification, two Korean pastors - one from the north, one from the south - bridged more than 60 years of separation in jointly presiding over a celebration of the Eucharist during a worship service commemorating more than 25 years of work toward bringing peace and reconciliation to the divided Korean peninsula.

In a recent meeting with a delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) visiting Pyongyang, North Korean president Kim Yong-nam said a significant impetus to solving the nuclear weapons stand-off in the region would be for North Korea and the U.S. to meet “face-to-face with each other”.

Senior representatives from Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Islamic and other faiths have met at the Vivekananda Institute of Human Excellence in Hyderabad, India to discuss reconciliation and peace at an event hosted by Ramakrishna Math and Andhra Pradesh Council of Churches.

Amidst the growing tensions and diplomatic negotiations among various countries within the Six Party Talks on peace and security on the Korean peninsula, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, will be making a pastoral visit to the churches in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) this week.