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During a European consultation on just peace, organized by the Conference of European Churches in cooperation with the Polish Ecumenical Council from 9-11 December, Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of Churches on International Affairs, spoke about “A Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity” in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee, in a statement entitled “Yearning for Just Peace in Europe,” recalled with heavy hearts that the war in Ukraine has now passed 1,000 days. “Each of those days has been marked by the blood of so many civilians as well as combatants killed and maimed, the traumatic displacement of communities, and the destruction of homes, livelihoods, and civilian infrastructure,” the statement reads. “We reaffirm our Christian calling and desire for peace, and for the justice without which peace is unsustainable.”

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and WCC moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm are urging caution with regard to a law passed by the Ukrainian Rada which bans the activities of religious organizations associated with Russia in Ukraine.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay denounced the missile strikes on Kyiv and other densely populated areas of Ukraine, which killed at least 34 people, and which severely damaged two of the country’s main hospitals for children and women, including the country’s largest paediatrics facility.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, in a minute on the escalation of the war in Ukraine, called for “an end to the invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory, and the re-establishment of peace in the region.”

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, denounced the Russian missile strike on a hardware store in Kharkiv, Ukraine. 

The strike resulted in at least 14 deaths and 40 people wounded. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, on behalf of WCC member churches, said that the WCC cannot reconcile the Decree of the XXV World Russian People's Council describing the conflict in Ukraine as a “Holy War.” 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay denounced the continuing Russian campaign to terrorize the people of Ukraine, “exemplified by yesterday’s missile attacks on several Ukrainian cities which resulted in at least 30 deaths and more than 160 wounded,” he said.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is postponing a planned initial roundtable dialogue meeting on Ukraine, announced WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay.

During the World Council of Churches (WCC) leadership delegation visit to Ukraine in May, an ecumenical prayer service was held in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on 12 May. The service, led by the WCC leadership, WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC moderator Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm and Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, with participation of members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), took place at St Andrew Orthodox Church in Bucha.

World Council of Churches central committee moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm delivered a lecture at the Kitzingen deanery, a regional church district near Würzburg, for the parishes of the deanery as well as for the public. The lecture, entitled “Just Peace through Military Force? Peace Ethical Considerations in Light of the War of Aggression against Ukraine,” was offered on 29 April

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay is visiting Moscow this week, meeting with H.H. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, and representatives from the largest WCC member church.

During an ecumenical morning prayer held 15 May, the World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and partners observed the UN International Day of Living Together in Peace, holding in prayer many nations across the world facing challenges to living together in harmony.

During a Global Peace Prayer on 22 March, Christians across the world drew together to pray for peace in a broken world, and to listen to voices from people suffering in Ukraine and other conflict-ridden areas.

A Global Peace Prayer on 22 March will draw Christians together in hope for a better future. A communique from a prayer planning committee explained that Christians are called into prayer and advocacy for peace. “In a global context where war and violence abound, the practice of peace has become even more urgent,” reads the message.

The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations is inviting all believers of all denominations to unite in fasting and prayer on 24 February—a day marking one year since the start of the war in Ukraine.

At least 494 religious buildings in Ukraine have been destroyed, damaged, or looted as a result of the Russian invasion—and seizure of religious buildings for use as Russian military bases increases the scale of destruction of religious sites in Ukraine, reports the Institute for Religious Freedom.