News and stories

Baldwin Sjollema, first director of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Programme to Combat Racism (PCR), received the Oliver Tambo Order from South African president Thabo Mbeki on 16 June 2004 in Pretoria.

As the international day for supporting the victims of torture (26 June) approaches, four leaders of the International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT) will meet with the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia at WCC headquarters in Geneva on 11 June 2004.

Calling the recent peace agreement "an important step towards national reconciliation and healing" and "a turning point for the people of Sudan", the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia congratulated the parties involved and voiced the "joy and happiness" of the WCC member churches "on this momentous and historic occasion of the signing of the peace protocols, after 21 years...

In this issue:

Religion, power and violence: an inter-religious consultation

Samuel Kobia to attend church merger in the Netherlands

Special Commission on Orthodox Participation

Samuel Kobia to visit the Evangelical Church in Germany

Religion, power and violence: an inter-religious consultation for peace-building

8-13 June 2004, Céligny, Switzerland

The WCC and Bossey Ecumenical Institute have invited thirty participants from Christian,...

Churches' concern over the situation in Iraq and the Israel/Palestine conflict, the role of religion in conflict, and working relations between the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the United Nations Organization were the focus of a first meeting between the UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia.

The WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, has called on the Indonesian Government to "take immediate steps to put an end to the violence in the Malukus".

The 2005 Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, which is expected to host participants from the widest range of churches in the history of mission conferences, is just one year away.

”We are often unable to live like neighbours in mutual respect and affection in spite of humanity's enormous scientific and technological progress,” said Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in Kigali, Rwanda.

An urgent call for resources to complete the task of restoration in Rwanda, and recognition of the churches' failure to address the genocide ten years ago are among the main results of an ecumenical workshop on “Lasting peace in Africa” ending yesterday in Kigali. Participants also highlighted sources of hope and courage.

"A lot of efforts were made after the tragedy, but we did not do enough in time," said Peter Weiderud about the role of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the ecumenical movement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.