Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, reflects below on outcomes from the Life and Work Centenary Consultation in Athens in May 2025, and how those form a message for the ongoing Ecumenical Week in Stockholm.

On 11 August, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay; Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs; and Rev. Dr Hyojin Kim, coordinator for the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity; together with the leadership of the National Council of Churches in Korea, paid a courtesy visit to H.E. President Lee Jae-myung of the Republic of Korea.

Welcomed by African churches, the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee, held its opening prayer on 18 June, beginning a meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa that will run through 24 June.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is celebrating the life and mourning the death of Walter Brueggemann, who passed away peacefully on 5 June at the age of 92.

In a message to the 27th Pentecostal World Conference, being held in Helsinki 4-7 June, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay reflected on the theme of the conference, “Go &Make,” describing it as both timely and deeply challenging.

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.

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.

Church leaders and Christians in Africa are mourning the death of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, 21 April.

In a conversation held on 2 May that drew repeated applause from the large audience at Kirchentag in Hanover, Germany, Bishop Marianne Edgar Budde, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC, and Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the World Council of Churches central committee, reflected together on how churches, with courage and unity, can stand up for justice.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) extended ecumenical greetings to Pope Leo XIV and an assurance of continuing engagement with the Roman Catholic Church in the era of its new pontiff.