News and stories

The general secretary of the WCC, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has said the recent agreement reached between two Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, holds not only the hope and promise for a healing process within the Palestinian community but also creates the atmosphere for a seeking "a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Israel/Palestine".

The power and political will being used in Libya to protect the safety and interests of the Libyan people “must be directed away from the use of armed force” and “channelled into negotiations to end the bloodshed” now consuming Libya, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) said in a statement on 4 May.

As part of a week-long series of events to promote a just peace in Israel and Palestine, Palestinians and Israelis will be praying for peace in front of several Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the separation wall and in houses of worship in Jerusalem and across Palestine.

The Chernobyl disaster of 25 years ago remains a human and environmental tragedy so severe the consequences will continue for centuries. Its anniversary this week is especially timely given the current emergency in Japan which echoes some of Chernobyl’s hard lessons. To learn them would honour those who suffer from the past and could save lives in the future.

Lessons behind both tragedies will figure in an extraordinary conference next month...

Jim Hodgson is a journalist with extensive experience in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 2000, Hodgson has worked with the United Church of Canada’s Caribbean and Latin America desk, most recently as programme coordinator for South America and the Caribbean.

The last issue of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation newsletter is now available online. Learn about the final preparations for the upcoming gathering in Jamaica and about ways you can participate from afar.

"Peace is more than the absence of war. It is the absence of any kind of violence, too," WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit writes in the editorial of the newsletter. He invites churches and Christians around the...

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has expressed concern that the deteriorating situation in the West African country of Cote d'Ivoire “is on the verge of enflaming religious conflicts.”

As the sun rises on Sunday 22 May Christians and churches across the world are being encouraged by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to celebrate God’s peace in their worship services, to hold a Peace Sunday dawn vigil, to plant a tree as an act of peace or to use social media to share prayers for peace with Christians around the world.

As churches worldwide prepare for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in Jamaica in May, the latest edition of the World Council of Churches (WCC) quarterly journal, Ecumenical Review, will focus on challenges of peacemaking in places as varied as the Middle East and Africa.

From the sound of a new song written specifically for the upcoming International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, to a proclamation that Jamaica is the proper place for this peace event, the IEPC was officially launched at a ceremony in Kingston, Jamaica on 15 March.