World Council of Churches

A webinar on 21 May, “From Occupation to Annexation: Legal perspectives and the implications of current political realities for the occupied population,” examined legal realities in Palestine and Israel—even as the grim situation on the ground are changing by the hour. 

Two conferences in May—the first in Antalya, Türkiye, and the second in Bucharest, Romania, brought forth the great relevance of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea to contemporary theology. 

Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East held an official celebration marking the 17th Centennial Jubilee (1700 years) of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.

Accreditation remains open for the Armenian Heritage Conference, taking place in Bern, Switzerland, 27 – 28 May 2025.  

As the “Life and Work” centenary conference continued on 20 May in Athens, participants took a deep dip into church history, emerging with challenging questions and topics that will inform their ongoing discussions. 

As interconnected crises of land degradation, water scarcity, and food insecurity intensify worldwide, faith communities in India are taking the lead to address these challenges through a holistic "nexus approach." The India Peace Centre, in collaboration with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the National Council of Churches in India, is launching a certificate programme consisting of four educational webinars on the nexus approach to land, water, and food.

As a “Life and Work” centenary conference in Athens entered its second day, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs traveled back in time to consider the scene in Stockholm in 1925—then took a courageous look forward at the many serious global issues under consideration by churches today. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the loss and celebrating the life of Dr Thomas Wieser, a member of the United Presbyterian Church in the US, who was originally from Basel, Switzerland.

As Pope Leo XIV presided over the Mass of Inauguration on 18 May, he urged the world to walk toward God and to love one another—a message that resonated deeply with the World Council of Churches (WCC) leaders who attended the mass as well as a private ecumenical audience with Pope Leo on 19 May.

A webinar on 21 May, entitled “From Occupation to Annexation: Legal perspectives and the implications of current political realities for the occupied population,” will kick off a new World Council of Churches (WCC) campaign, “Stop annexation, end the occupation.”

On the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the 1884–85 Berlin Conference that institutionalized the colonial partitioning of Africa, former World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Konrad Raiser delivered opening remarks at a landmark ecumenical gathering in Berlin. 

Reports from the moderator and the director of the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs summarized the history of the Conference on Life and Work and looked forward at the commission’s upcoming discussions of emerging global trends. 

A “Life and Work” centenary conference opened on 18 May in Athens, with participants seeking a fresh commitment to unity of the church and of all humanity.

As the international conference “Berlin 1884–1885 and Anti-Black Racism: In Search of a Shared Anti-Racist Ecumenical Vision” opened on 18 May, those gathered in-person and online acknowledged that the deep wounds of colonialism carved 140 years ago are by no means healed. 

Noting the situation in Haiti has deteriorated markedly, the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, in a minute on Haiti, urged more international attention and engagement.

Visitors to the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 13 May included 22 students from an international initiative between HTWG Konstanz (Germany) and Elizabethtown College (USA), as well as Outi Piiroinen Backman from Tuusula, Finland.

From 14-17 May, an international symposium on Nicaea is taking place in Bucharest, organized by the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Faculty of Orthodox Theology "Justinian the Patriarch” University of Bucharest.  

In a report before the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the WCC central committee, reflected on the urgent need for peace, the hope found in a common Easter, and the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others whose lives still inspire and uphold the ecumenical movement. 

In his report to the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay reflected on what it means—amid wars, rumours of wars, violence, trade wars, climate catastrophes, retaliations, and the quest for self-protection and preservation of identity—to be God’s family.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, in a statement, acknowledged that the people of the Philippines have long faced a complex web of challenges, including poverty, inequality, human rights violations, environmental degradation, and recurring natural disasters.