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.
Let love lead: the archbishops’ Easter message
In their joint Easter message for 2026, Archbishops Don Tamihere, Sione Ulu’ilakepa and Justin Duckworth reflected on Jesus’ command to love one another as he has loved us.
A feast of creation for the whole church
More than 600 church leaders met online in March to explore the Feast of Creation, kept on 1 September or the Sunday after, which has its roots in the Eastern Orthodox calendar.
Southern Eastercamp turns thirty
Southern Eastercamp began in 1996, when Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian youth ministries brought 360 Canterbury teenagers together to hear the Easter message.
An Easter message from Pasifika Communities University
In his Easter message, “The Intensity of Grace Amid a Wounded World”, Rev.
A relic of St Carlo Acutis comes to New Zealand
A relic of St Carlo Acutis, the Italian teenager who was canonised in September 2025 and is often called the patron saint of the internet, was to tour New Zealand in June with an exhibition on eucharistic miracles.
Holy Week prayer with the Old Catholic churches
The WCC’s morning prayer on the Monday of Holy Week was prepared with the Old Catholic World Communion.
Our archbishops at Canterbury
The three Primates of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Archbishops Don Tamihere, Sione Ulu’ilakepa and Justin Duckworth, took part in the installation of Dame Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral on the Feast of the Annunciation.
Easter messages from Australia’s church leaders
The National Council of Churches in Australia published Easter messages from the national leaders of its member churches, noting that Western churches would celebrate Easter on 5 April and the Orthodox and Oriental churches would keep Pascha a week later, on 12 April.
Sixty years since the Common Declaration
An ecumenical Morning Prayer in Canterbury Cathedral on 26 March marked sixty years since the Common Declaration of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey in 1966, which began formal relations between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church and led to the founding of the Anglican Centre in Rome.
The WCC’s Easter message for 2026
The WCC’s Easter message asked how Christians can celebrate Easter honestly at a time of so much suffering in the world.
Unity at the heart of Christian witness
Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, president of the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, led a morning prayer at the Ecumenical Centre on 23 March.
The prior of Taizé meets Pope Leo
Brother Matthew, prior of the Taizé Community, was received by Pope Leo XIV in a private audience at the Vatican on 21 March.
A new Archbishop of Canterbury
Dame Sarah Mullally, the first woman to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, was installed as the 106th archbishop at Canterbury Cathedral on 25 March.
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.
The Bishops’ Lent Appeal for 2026
During Lent, New Zealand’s six Catholic diocesan bishops wrote to Catholics around the country inviting them to support the Bishops’ Lent Appeal, which Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand runs on their behalf.
Anglicans and Lutherans review their journey towards full communion
The steering group of the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission on Unity and Mission met at the Anglican Communion offices in London from 4 to 7 March.
A new Anglican and Methodist committee meets in London
The new Anglican-Methodist International Coordinating Committee, hosted by the World Methodist Council, met for the first time in London from 23 to 28 February.
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent book, with two voices from Aotearoa
Dancing to the Heartbeat of God, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent book for 2026, gathers personal stories on discipleship and unity from 26 Anglican writers around the Communion, and is designed for personal reflection or small groups.
A new edition of the Cook Islands Māori Bible
A newly reformatted edition of Te Bibilia Tapu Ra, the Cook Islands Māori Bible, was dedicated at the Pacific Islands Presbyterian Church in Auckland on 28 February.
Indigenous Catholics from four countries meet in Auckland
The second International Conference on Catholic Indigenous opened in Auckland on 2 March, with New Zealand delegates hosting visitors from the United States, Canada and Australia, along with representatives of the Vatican.