World churches head condemns attack in German synagogue
The World Council of Churches has condemned an attack on a German synagogue on Wednesday night with its head describing it as “a brazen display of racist anti-Semitism”. Two people were reportedly killed – one outside the synagogue and another in a nearby kebab shop – and two injured after a heavily armed man turned […]
SIGHT-SEEING: DO YOU LOVE ME?
In a sermon given on Sunday at Marble Church in New York City ahead of this week’s UN Climate Summit, Rev Dr OLAV FYKSE TVEIT, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, reflects on a passage in John 21:15-18…
Churches join “cries” for remedy to US gun violence
The World Council of Churches has joined “the urgent cries of churches and church people for real remedies to the gun violence” in the US in the wake of two mass shootings over the weekend which have left some 29 people dead and dozens injured. Twenty people were killed and dozens more injured when a […]
World Council of Churches mourns loss of Lutheran pastor in Ethiopian plane crash
A Lutheran pastor described as being “instrumental in helping local churches invest their resources to make a better planet” was among the 157 people who died when an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed soon after take-off from Addis Ababa on 10th March. Austrian Rev Norman Tendis, a World Council of Churches consultant, was on his way […]
World Council of Churches head says living in human fraternity a “divine calling” opposed to racism
Racism is “deadly” for human relationships and “one of the most dangerous poisons in our lives as one human family”, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches has told a conference in Abu Dhabi as he called for an affirmation that living in “human fraternity” is a “divine calling”. Speaking at the Global Conference […]
World Council of Churches calls for peaceful transition of power in DRC
The World Council of Churches has called for a peaceful and democratic transition of power in the Democratic Republic of Congo following its 30th December presidential election. The nation’s electoral commission last week announced opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi had won the election but there have seen been claims from the runner-up, Martin Fayulu, that he won and […]
World Council of Churches condemns separate killings of two Catholic priests in Africa
The World Council of Churches has condemned the recent killing of two Catholic priests in Africa – one in South Sudan and the other, less than a week later, in Cameroon. Jesuit priest Fr Victor-Luke Odhiambo, who was the first Kenyan Jesuit priest and was principal of the Mazzolari Teachers’ College and acting superior of […]
World Council of Churches condemns “apparent arrest” of Zambian pastor
The World Council of Churches has condemned the “apparent arrest” of Pastor George Chibubi, believed to have been detained by police in Ndola, Zambia, when organising a meeting of pastors to discuss the country’s economic crisis. The WCC said they have joined with other international advocates in urging President Edgar Lungu to release the pastor and […]
“Think and act ‘green’ in everything we do”, says WCC head in wake of latest climate change report
People have to “think and act ‘green’ in everything we do”, the head of the World Council of Churches has said in comments responding to a UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released last week. In a statement, Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, said described the report – which showed that even […]
World Council of Churches says US decision to stop funding UN agency helping Palestinian refugees is “amoral and unjust”
The US Government decision to stop funding a UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees is “amoral and unjust”, according to the head of the World Council of Churches. The US State Department announced the decision to stop funding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees late last week, saying that it has previously made it […]