News and stories

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has called on the leaders of Kenya's two main political parties to "turn urgently from partisan postures and negotiate in good faith to reach a non-violent, political solution" to the country's electoral dispute. In a statement made public on 2 January, Kobia affirmed that "an independent investigation of the electoral dispute is necessary and should be monitored by international...

Can churches be peacemakers in a world racked by violence? This is the question to be addressed by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia at the Washington National Cathedral, Washington DC, on Sunday, 16 December 2007.

Good faith, multilateral participation and adherence to the rule of law are essential if the Annapolis Middle East Conference starting Tuesday, 27 November, is to be a success, WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia writes to Condoleezza Rice, Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas.

At a high-profile interfaith dialogue for peace in Naples, Italy, earlier this week, gathered religious and political leaders and intellectuals from five continents. The event which was called "For a world without violence" was organized by the Catholic community of Sant'Egidio and included a eucharistic celebration conducted by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, 21 October.

When does the pursuit of economical wellbeing turn into greed? This is one of the questions to be discussed at a 5-9 November ecumenical consultation in Dar es Salaam. Joint church strategies and actions for addressing the interlinked problems of poverty, excessive wealth, and ecological degradation in Africa are intended results.

Members of an international ecumenical team representing the World Council of Churches (WCC) left the United States enriched and encouraged by the signs of hope and community commitment they witnessed at a nine-day solidarity visit during which they met US Christians struggling with issues of gun control, war and a culture of violence.

There is an "international responsibility to protect people at risk in the Darfur region of Sudan and in neighbouring Chad," affirmed the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, calling upon the Council's member churches to bring that responsibility "to the attention of their governments".

The bloody conflict in Northern Ireland, the crimes committed under the apartheid regime in South Africa and under communist rule in eastern Germany, mass killings perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia or by the Guatemalan military during a 35 year long civil war: the diverse cases of these nations and their struggles to cope with the legacies of massive human rights violations are at the heart of the 1-4 October ecumenical consultation...

From the farms and rolling hills of Pennsylvania's serene Amish countryside where five young schoolgirls were killed a year ago, to an immersion into the inner-city violence of Philadelphia, a World Council of Churches Living Letters delegation learned first-hand of the profound tragedy that can suddenly impact everyday life. But they also saw "rays of light" where forgiveness and reconciliation are helping to create a more humane...

Discussions about gun control and small arms trafficking, violence in the streets and against ethnic groups, as well as the engagement by churches in peacemaking activities consumed the first days of a 10-day visit to the United States by an international ecumenical team representing the World Council of Churches (WCC).