Ekklesia News

The global financial crisis should not derail progress on fighting poverty worldwide, religious leaders have said, adding that the current financial market turmoil makes attempts to tackle deprivation all the more urgent.

Amidst rapid social and political changes in Eastern and Central Europe, leading representatives of theological institutions in the region gathered in Romania recently to seek more mutual cooperation and development.

The current global financial crisis is not a counsel of despair, says Patrick Hynes. It is an opportunity to review our priorities and invest practically for change through agencies like Oikocredit.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos, seen by many of the world's Orthodox Christians as their spiritual leader, has said he backs the bid by Turkey to join the European Union if the Muslim-majority nation meets human rights standards.

The Middle East Quartet (EU, Russia, UN, USA) is failing - making inadequate progress towards improving the lives of Palestinians or improving the prospects for peace - according to a new report by leading humanitarian and human rights organisations.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development has issued a strong statement on the economic crisis, urging the Bush administration and Congress to focus on finance as a moral issue.

The executive committee of the World Council of Churches has used the opportunity of its latest gathering in Switzerland to maintain its active concern with many of the world's trouble spot and most pressing humanitarian issues.

Building bridges with storytelling is the focus for an information week beginning on Saturday, when Quakers in Britain will profile their life, faith and practice as a distinct and viable commitment in a divided world.

Christian students in Zimbabwe have urged the country's new government expected to be forged out of a power-sharing agreement to ensure that perpetrators of violence that marred a presidential runoff election in June face the law.

The UN Liaison Office of the World Council of Churches and Mennonites have co-sponsored an international dialogue between some 300 religious leaders and political figures - including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The WCC has honoured a former general secretary, Philip Potter, a Methodist from the West Indies who helped the churches take a high profile role in the struggle against apartheid and white minority regimes in southern Africa.

For the first time in Germany, a Protestant church has been turned into a synagogue. The Rev Alfred Buss of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, where it is located, said the new place of worship is a "house of hope".

Two Christian campaigners from Manchester have begun a 2-week protest camp outside the Houses of Parliament to call on MPs to help change UK policies that are making refused asylum seekers destitute.

Commenting on the theme of World Tourism Day 2008 - "Tourism: Responding to the Challenge of Climate Change" - the Pope says humanity has the duty to protect the earth's resources and commit itself against exploitation.

The main British party conferences were about to sidestep the economy, but the latest bank crunch has made the topic unavoidable, says Simon Barrow. But do politicians or the churches have anything meaningful to say?

The executive committee of the World Council of Churches has announced their decision to extend the contract of Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, the current WCC general secretary, through to the time when a new general secretary takes office.

The Church of England has been encouraged to "put its money where its message is", after revelations that its finance managers have been using the same aggressive tactics its archbishops yesterday condemned City traders for.

This Sunday two Christian campaigners from Manchester will begin a 2-week protest camp outside the Houses of Parliament to call on MPs to help change UK policies that are making refused asylum seekers destitute.

Tony Blair will today launched an international search for thirty outstanding young people to serve as inter-religious ambassadors for the Millennium Development Goals. In Spring 2009 these young activists aged 18 – 25 will be selected to be the first Faiths Act Fellows.

Anabaptists in India say they have been horrified that Christians have had to the jungle with nothing but the clothes on their backs, fearing for their lives because of communal violence in a country once known for religious tolerance.