WCC Pilgrimage Blog

The pain and the glory.

Clare Amos

The days after the Ascension are a time of waiting and expectation, a time like the earliest disciples in Jerusalem in which to reflect on the meaning both of Jesus’ life and its significance for ourselves: indeed a season of both pain and glory. That is certainly the experience these days of our brothers and sisters in those lands where Christianity first began.

Tags: PilgrimsOnTheMove, Solidarity with churches in the Middle East, Refugees and migration, JusticeAndPeace

Echoes from Namibia: an ecumenical spring

Marcelo Schneider

I was sitting in the space reserved for media, in the back of the plenary hall, when Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, of the Roman Catholic Church, brought greetings from Pope Francis to the 12th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Windhoek, Namibia.

Tags: Christian Unity

My heart is crying – but Pope Tawadros said, “love never ends”

Marianne Ejdersten

Time for reflection after my visit to Egypt. The story has etched itself into my memory. I can’t leave it behind. It comes to me every day like a constant reminder of the fragility of life, of our mortality, of the courage and faith of our fellow humans that carries us in our darkest and most despondent hours.

Tags: FellowPilgrims, Solidarity with churches in the Middle East, spiritual life, JusticeAndPeace

Christian relations with the Al-Azhar University in Cairo

Benjamin Simon

Last year in September 2016 the Grand Imam from Al-Azhar University in Cairo visited the WCC in Geneva and the Bossey Ecumenical Institute. This time it has been the turn of the WCC to visit the Al-Azhar University with the Grand Imam and the Muslim Council of Elders.

Tags: PilgrimFocus, Inter-religious, PilgrimsOnTheMove, inter-religious, PilgrInspire, JusticeAndPeace, Solidarity with churches in the Middle East

The Reformation and us

Nikos Kosmidis

It has often been questioned whether it is possible for Christians of different traditions to jointly commemorate historical events that have marked and traumatized the collective memory of Christianity over the centuries. The Reformation is certainly one of those events that not only changed the course of world Christianity in a dramatic way but that also ceaselessly redefines the basic concepts of Christian theology and life in ways that affect even those who do not embrace its positions.

Tags: Christian Unity, FellowPilgrims

When farmers go hungry

Kristine Greenaway

During the night of 3-4 October 2016, Hurricane Matthew tore through the southwest region of Haiti. Powerful winds and torrential rains washed away fields, livestock, and houses. The only bridge linking the region to the rest of the country was destroyed. Suddenly farmers who had been exporting agricultural produce could no longer feed their families.

Tags: Food, FellowPilgrims, Economy of life for all, JusticeAndPeace

Domestic helpers and stories of war

Esther R. Suter

More than thirty local women as well as women from other Muslim-majority countries, including some from other faith communities, gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in early February. The interfaith seminar offered two public sessions, discussing the “Plight of Domestic Helpers: Interfaith Perspectives” and “Conflict and War: Direct Accounts.”

Tags: FellowPilgrims, just community of women and men, Inter-religious

Connected, yet disconnected: Famine in the midst of plenty

Manoj Kurian

Never has humanity lived in a more connected, yet disconnected time! Connected by the endless notifications on our smartphones – alerting us to all the latest news and tidings in our social media, yet not connected deeply enough to respond substantially to people's suffering. Among the many tragedies are the human-made famines in South Sudan, Somalia, North-Eastern Nigeria and in Yemen.

Tags: Food, PilgrimFocus, Economy of life for all, JusticeAndPeace

Rambling thoughts about a journey of justice and peace

Stan Noffsinger

This afternoon is a down time. I'm sitting in the Nigerian sunshine at EYN Guest House in Abuja. It is nice to feel the warmth of the sun. But moments ago, the tranquility was interrupted by a youth group singing below my balcony.

On the inaugural address of one of the greatest world leaders in human history

Clare Amos

“See I set before you today two ways in which you can walk, the way of life or the way of death, the way of blessing or the way of curse.” During the last few weeks I have listened to, and then re-read several times, the inaugural address given by one of the greatest world leaders in human history. I am referring of course to the Sermon on the Mount.

Tags: human rights, Economy of life for all, JusticeAndPeace, transformed, FellowPilgrims, Human dignity, WhereWillYouGo

Celebrating together during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Maria Scharffenberg

We live next door to each other. Have the same landlord. Shop in the same stores. Greet one another when we meet. We read the same Bible and pray to the same God, but have never shared divine service together. Not until now, that is.

Tags: Christian Unity, FellowPilgrims, spiritual life, PilgrimsOnTheMove

Interfaith harmony, every day

Aiko Sumichan

World Interfaith Harmony Week 2017 is coming to an end and I wonder how many people are even aware that it exists, especially in my country, Indonesia. Indonesia presents a unique situation when it comes to interfaith relations. On the one hand, it’s been deemed an example of religious tolerance. On the other hand, it has seen many cases of extreme religious violence. Not to mention the fact that the government only recognizes six “official” religions, and every citizen is required to choose one of them – as it is noted down in our identity cards.

Tags: Youth, PilgrimFocus, Inter-religious

One year and still moving forward

Yessica Kansil

When you choose to join the ecumenical movement, it means you'll never stop moving. You need to always find a new perspective of life, to share your faith to all people that you'll met in your journey. It also means you'll never stop learning, from all things that you encounter, good or bad. And it means you should never stop sharing about your ecumenical movement so the people you meet can start their own ecumenical journey.

Tags: Youth, transformed, spiritual life, FellowPilgrims, WhereWillYouGo

Days of pain, days of hope

Katilene Willms Labes , Rodolfo Fuchs , Thomas Kang

Passion for football is not unanimous in Brazil. Although the world seems to be convinced of the contrary, Brazilians have a wide range of feelings towards the sport. For some people, football is a true passion. But there are people among us who are indifferent towards football. And there are others who criticize the game severely. They are especially critical of fans' alleged refusal to acknowledge all the corruption that is involved in several institutional levels of organizations linked to this sport.

Tags: FellowPilgrims, transformed

The ambition to become a climate neutral church

Rebecca Froese

"Isn’t it kind of contradictory to fly in thousands of people to talk about CO2 emission reductions? Wouldn’t CO2 emissions substantially decrease, if the amount of people participating in these conferences would be minimized to - let’s say, just some ministers and their advisors?"

Tags: climate change, PilgrimFocus, JusticeAndPeace

Praying for toilets

Dinesh Suna

For many of us “toilet” is a taboo subject to talk about. To do so in the prayers is all the more not acceptable to many of us! We can talk of water in our prayers due to its strong spiritual significance with all religions, including Christianity. But it seems the issue of “sanitation” is rather a profane one! But it is high time we talk about it as lack of adequate sanitation affects 2.4 billion people – that is 1 in every 3 in our planet.

Tags: Health and healing, Human dignity, JusticeAndPeace, water, spiritual life, Economy of life for all

On leaving Marrakesh

Joy Kennedy

Flying through the labyrinthine alleys of the Medina on a motorbike as the COP22 came to a close in Marrakesh, I thought it an apt comparison to the complex and intricate UN process responding to climate change. At every twist and turn or blind alley we encountered a huge variety of people, dwellings, riads, vehicles and forms of transport – from donkey carts to bicycles, small wagons, three-wheelers, skateboards, motos and electric cars, in all directions at once, all struggling with their different capacities to get through the narrow passageways to their destinations.

Tags: climate change, PilgrimsOnTheMove, Economy of life for all, JusticeAndPeace

Polarization, polar ice and what they tell us

Henrik Grape

All over the world polarization is on the increase. And it seems like the further distance between the standpoints, the better. To be clear about something has become a synonym of being irreconcilable. We should be concerned about this.

Tags: climate change, JusticeAndPeace, Economy of life for all, Indigenous Peoples

Standing Rock: the pain of the past and the challenges of the future

Bishop Mark MacDonald

They stopped counting at 524, but many more showed up. The 524 were clergy, registered from over 50 different groups, but many others were along to show support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. They also called for an end to the militarized governmental response to the peaceful protest.

Tags: Health and healing, climate change, JusticeAndPeace, water, Indigenous Peoples, FellowPilgrims, Economy of life for all

An Orthodox view on the commemoration of 500 years of the Reformation

Archbishop Job of Telmessos

On 31 October 2016, Lutherans and Catholics co-hosted for the first time in history a joint commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The events took place in Lund, Sweden, under the slogan “From Conflict to Communion”. Many Orthodox representatives attended the event. What did it mean for them? I cannot respond to this question on behalf of all the Orthodox present, but I will try to explain how I perceived it through my eyes.

Tags: Christian Unity, PilgrimsOnTheMove