WCC NEWS: New resources to equip and support discussion at WCC 11th Assembly

The World Council of Churches has released new resources to help equip and discussion at the WCC 11th Assembly. Vama Siret border crossing, connecting northeast Romania with Ukraine. Following the invasion by Russian military in Ukraine since February 2022, over a quarter of Ukraine's population have fled their homes, with nearly two-thirds of the children in Ukraine now displaced. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 23 August 2022 10th Report of the Joint Working Group of the WCC, Roman Catholic Church: “Walking, Praying and Working Together.” The 10th Report of the Joint Working Group of the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church, and two related study documents, are now available for the WCC 11th Assembly. The report and documents include recommendations for the parent bodies. The study documents include: “Peace Is a Treasure for All: An Ecumenical Reflection on Peacebuilding in Situations of Conflict,” and “Violence and Migrants and Refugees: Ecumenical Challenges and Opportunities Together.” Both documents encourage intensive ecumenical cooperation of all Christians and people of goodwill, with a particular emphasis on the contributions that can be made by the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church together. Strengthening Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights: Perspectives from an International Consultative Process. The WCC, together with the Protestant Church in Germany and the United Evangelical Mission, recognized the need for a process of ecumenical study and reflection on the relationship between human dignity and human rights from biblical, theological, and victims' perspectives. This two-year process culminated in a Conference on Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Humans Rights held in Wuppertal (Germany) and online from 9-12 April 2022. The rich contributions of papers received from theologians, people with different academic backgrounds, experts in ethics and human rights, and human rights defenders—together with the joint message of the participants of the Wuppertal Conference—are made available in this publication. Mission books. To celebrate the jubilee of the International Missionary Council, the historical predecessor of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, a number of publications have been published. Together in the Mission of God: Jubilee Reflections on the International Missionary Council highlights how, in the course of the past century, structured efforts to foster unity in mission cooperation have shaped not only Christianity but even the world. In A Hundred Years of Mission Cooperation—the Impact of the International Missionary Council 1921-2021 contributions from all over the world analyse and evaluate the impact—or the absence thereof—of the International Missionary Council and the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism from 1921 until today. 10th Report of the Joint Working Group of the WCC, Roman Catholic Church: “Walking, Praying and Working Together” Strengthening Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights: Perspectives from an International Consultative Process Together in the Mission of God: Jubilee Reflections on the International Missionary Council A Hundred Years of Mission Cooperation: The Impact of the International Missionary Council 1921-2021 WCC Assembly resources See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland