NEWS
News from our member churches and the wider ecumenical movement, with our monthly roundup and a library of stories from ecumenical bodies around the world.
A Lutheran bishop on a lifetime of unity
Bishop Åke Bonnier, a retired Lutheran bishop from Sweden, has been part of the Focolare Movement for more than thirty years.
WCC leaders meet Pope Leo XIV
A WCC delegation, including the moderator of its central committee, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, and general secretary Rev.
True Freedom: a Lent course on modern slavery
The WCC and the Clewer Initiative have published True Freedom, a six-week Lent course on modern slavery based on Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
Seven Weeks for Water 2026
Every Lent since 2008 the WCC’s Ecumenical Water Network has offered weekly reflections on water.
The WCC and the Vatican take stock of interreligious dialogue
During World Interfaith Harmony Week, representatives of the WCC and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue met in Geneva and at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey from 2 to 6 February.
First Asian general secretary for the World Communion of Reformed Churches
The World Communion of Reformed Churches has installed Rev.
The Week of Prayer around the world
From radio broadcasts and video messages to shared services, churches in many countries marked the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January.
Pacific churches look back on 2025
The Pacific Conference of Churches has looked back on a year of practical unity, in which Eastern and Western churches also shared the same date for Easter.
A young theologian on the Week of Prayer in Africa
Rev.
An Armenian reflection opens the Week of Prayer in Geneva
At a morning prayer at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 19 January, Archimandrite Garegin Hambardzumyan of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in Armenia reflected on this year’s Week of Prayer material, which draws on the heritage of St Nerses the Gracious, the twelfth-century catholicos and hymn writer.
Week of Prayer 2026: one hope, one calling
The theme for the 2026 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity came from Ephesians 4:4: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling.” The prayers and reflections were prepared by the Armenian Apostolic Church with Armenian Catholic and Evangelical Christians, drawing on hymns and prayers that in some cases go back to the fourth century.
A new year prayer from the Pacific
Writing on the WCC blog for Epiphany Sunday, the first Sunday of 2026, Rev.