Do good; seek justice (Isa. 1:17)

Week of Prayer

• 2023: Do good; seek justice (Isa. 1:17)

Visit our WPCU pages for more Christian unity worship resources. Adapt these materials in your own settings, and print the worship service freely in your own church bulletins.

Semaine de prière

• 2023 : Apprenez à faire le bien, recherchez la justice (Ésaïe 1,17)

Visitez nos pages SPCU pour beaucoup des ressources de prière pour l'unité chrétienne. Adapter ces matériaux de vos paramètres et imprimer le service de culte librement dans vos bulletins d'église.

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WCC’s Sauca meets with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on path to “work for justice and peace”

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca (left) meets with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (right) in Ramallah, Palestine
World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca (left) meets with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (right) in Ramallah, Palestine. Credit: Albin Hillert/WCC ~ Nov. 24, 2022
 — Nov. 24, 202224 nov. 2022
WCC News

On 24 November, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas formally received the acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca for a meeting to discuss just peace in Palestine and Israel.

The Palestinian president extended words of gratitude to al the churches for their ongoing support for Palestinian people. “We are one people,” said Abbas. “All churches are all our holy places.”

Abbas noted that Jerusalem is a holy city for three religions. “A city for all and with space for all,” he said. “The occupation must come to an end and we have to coexist as neighbours and friends,” he said.

Abbas concluded: “Come and visit us. Come and see. We need the solidarity from the churches worldwide.”

Sauca, underscoring the president’s reflections, said that the role of churches is to give witness to the world and work for justice and peace. He described the WCC’s peace and reconciliation initiatives in the Middle East and beyond.

Sauca noted: “We believe peace can be achieved only together with the other. We are called as a fellowship of churches to support the process of just peace.” 

He added: “We believe and see that the local churches can and do play a role in promoting peace and justice on both sides of the conflict. It is important to strengthen the church and the Christian presence in the area, so that it can be a strong witness of peace.

“No people should be denied their rights and, certainly, no people should be denied their rights for generations,” Sauca continued. 

“The unresolved conflict in Israel and Palestine is primarily about justice, and until the requirement of justice is met, peace cannot be established,” he added. “As Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza nears the 55-year mark, generations have been suffering under this reality.” 

Through the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), the WCC continues to provide, since 2002, a sense of peaceful security for children on their daily walk to school. 

This year marks EAPPI’s 20th anniversary, and over those two decades, WCC member churches have recruited over 1,800 Ecumenical Accompaniers from 25 countries to serve 3-month terms in placements around the West Bank. 

Sauca was accompanied in the meeting by Dr Audeh Quawas, member of the WCC executive committee; Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director communication; and Yusef Daher, coordinator of the Jerusalem Liaison Office.

Posted: Nov. 24, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12851
Categories: WCC News • In this article: Middle East, Palestine, peace, WCC Transmis : 24 nov. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12851
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : Middle East, Palestine, peace, WCC


Ukrainians, with photos of missing soldiers, wait for Pope Francis to arrive in St. Peter's Square for the Wednesday audience

Pope compares war on Ukraine to famine caused by Stalin

 — Nov. 24, 202224 nov. 2022

Pope Francis has drawn a parallel between Russia’s war on Ukraine and the “Holodomor” – the man-made famine that Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin orchestrated in the early 1930s and which led to the death of five million Ukrainians.

The pope made the comparison – the first time he’s ever done so publicly – during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square. He even went so far as to agree that the Holodomor, which means “to kill by starvation”, truly was a “genocide”.
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Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, WCC acting general secretary (right), meets with Isaac Herzog, president of Israel (centre), and Rabbi Prof. David Rosen, KSG CBE, international director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, and past chairman of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC)

In pursuit of just peace: WCC acting general secretary has historic meeting with Israeli president Isaac Herzog

 — Nov. 23, 202223 nov. 2022

In an historic meeting to discuss just peace in the Holy Land, Israeli president Isaac Herzog formally received World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca on 23 November. This marks the first meeting between WCC leadership and an Israeli president.
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Aloysius John, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis since 2019, was removed Nov. 22 from his leadership of the humanitarian and social services confederation. He is pictured at Nov. 10 at COP27, the climate change conference held in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh

Pope Francis ousts leadership of Caritas, church’s social service confederation

 — Nov. 22, 202222 nov. 2022

Pope Francis on Nov. 22 initiated a major shake-up within the Catholic Church’s leading humanitarian and social service confederation, removing its top leadership in response to an internal review process that reportedly revealed serious management and morale issues inside the organization.
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The ELCIC National Bishop Susan C. Johnson and the Anglican Primate Archbishop Linda Nicholls have written a joint statement on ending homelessness and housing need in our communities

Joint statement on ending homelessness and housing need in our communities

 — Nov. 21, 202221 nov. 2022

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada‘s (ELCIC) National Bishop Susan C. Johnson and the Anglican Church of Canada‘s Primate and Archbishop Linda Nicholls have written a joint statement encouraging members of both churches to learn more about the realities of housing needs in our communities, to pray for shelter for all, and to call on all levels of government to work together to identify solutions to our national housing crisis.
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Pope Francis shakes hands with Catholicos Awa III, patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, at the end of a meeting in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican

Pope Francis tells patriarch Catholics are ready for a common Easter date

 — Nov. 21, 202221 nov. 2022

Meeting the U.S.-born patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Pope Francis expressed his hope that Christians of the East and West could finally agree on a common date for celebrating Easter.

“Let us have the courage to put an end to this division that at times makes us laugh” with the ridiculous possibility that Christians could ask each other, “When does your Christ rise again?” the pope told Catholicos Awa III, the patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East.
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Restorative Justice Week - Semaine de la justice réparatrice

Restorative Justice Week: Nov 20-27

 — Nov. 20, 202220 nov. 2022

Restorative Justice Week runs from November 20 to 27 of this year. Individuals and groups across Canada are encouraged to observe this week in November. The Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC) has resources on Restorative Justice which may be helpful to you.
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'Christ Among the Pharisees' by Jacob Jordaens, circa 1660

Scholars outline history of the Pharisees and roots of harmful anti-Jewish stereotypes

 — Nov. 19, 202219 nov. 2022

Every religion has its demonology. When Malcolm X made this observation to Alex Haley as they collaborated on what was to become his posthumous autobiography, his immediate target was the antisemitic teaching promoted by Elijah Muhammed, from whose sect he had recently broken. His refusal to exempt any faith from the tendency to demonize others in order to validate itself remains as painfully relevant today as it was in 1965.
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Anglican bishops at Lambeth Conference 2022. Bishop Michael Hawkins of Saskatchewan, centre, on a break with Toronto area bishops Kevin Robertson and Riscylla Shaw

Saskatchewan bishop looks to step down in spring

 — Nov. 18, 202218 nov. 2022

Bishop Michael Hawkins, of the diocese of Saskatchewan, says he expects to resign from his position effective April 30, 2023 due to health problems he has been experiencing since a severe bout of COVID-19 in late 2020.
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Climate activists gathered to demand climate justice during the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27)

WCC joins faith leaders in urgent call for higher ambition at COP27

 — Nov. 18, 202218 nov. 2022

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca joined other faith leaders in signing a collective message calling on world leaders and their representatives at COP27 to make the bold decisions necessary and ensure that there are clear and concrete outcomes from this COP.
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