The WCC is urging the NATO summit in Chicago 20-21 May to “lead by example” and withdraw NATO nuclear weapons still deployed in Europe more than two decades after the close of the Cold War.

The WCC congratulates the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople for receiving the Freedom of Worship Award of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute which acknowledges his efforts in promoting religious freedom, dialogue and environmental concerns.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit was honoured with the “Friend of the Armenians” award by the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) in the United States, as an acknowledgement of his efforts to support Armenian churches throughout the world.

A Global Theological Education Survey started by the Ecumenical Theological Education programme of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in partnership with other organizations is under way, and will result in the launch of a web based global directory of theological institutions.

To support the Colombian communities in Montes de María and San Onofre, faced with armed conflict and displacements, the national reference group of the Programme of Ecumenical Accompaniment in Colombia (PEAC) is planning the next steps in implementing the programme.

The human rights of migrant workers in the Arabian Gulf region was the subject of a consultation convened at Santhigiri Ashram in Alwaye, India by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Christian Conference of Asia.

The concept of accompaniment, including spiritual and pastoral accompaniment, is the main inspiration of the churches involved in the Programme of Ecumenical Accompaniment in Colombia (PEAC), an initiative of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) carried out with support from the World Council of Churches (WCC) and other Christian organizations.

“Together with other Christians whose theology, worship traditions and local contexts may be quite different from our own, we are called to discipleship that has transformative potential,” said the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit on Tuesday 1 May at the General Conference 2012 of the United Methodist Church in the United States.

To stress the relevance of theological scholarship programmes for the future of world Christianity, a conference was organized by the Ecumenical Theological Education programme of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in partnership with the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the Academy of Mission, University of Hamburg.

Inspired by participating in the Youth for Eco-Justice training, a joint project of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Durban, South Africa last year, Kristi Holmberg started a “Climate Justice Campaign” which concluded successfully on 22 April, Earth Day.