For the first time in the history of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Pontic Greek Genocide at the hands of the Turks was explicitly referenced in the official joint communiqué, alongside the illegal occupation of Cyprus.
This marked the close of the Conference of the Churches’ Commission on International Affairs (CCIA) of the WCC, which took place in Athens from May 18 to 20 and was hosted by the Church of Greece.
The conference participants unanimously accepted the inclusion of a reference to the Pontic Genocide for the first time, following a proposal by the Church of Greece.
The communiqué also included references to commemorative events in Athens marking the tragic anniversary of “the genocides of 1915 of the Greeks, Syriacs, and Armenians,” serving as a grim reminder of humanity’s persistent cruelty, violence, and greed. Christians are continually called to renew their commitment to peace, justice, and the integrity of creation.
Notably, the World Council of Churches sharply criticized the United Nations and its role in global conflicts.
The communiqué states, “The utter inadequacy and ineffectiveness of the UN Security Council in preventing or resolving conflicts — whether in Gaza, Ukraine, or Sudan — has raised serious doubts about the usefulness of this body and whether the ‘international community,’ to which we often appeal, truly exists.”
“We mourn this failure and urgently call for a radical reform of the international peace and security architecture so that it may better fulfill its purpose of saving humanity from the scourge of war.”
At the same time, the Council praised the work of churches around the world in building peace, resolving conflicts, promoting human rights, and fostering social cohesion at the local level.
The conference focused on the ongoing situation in Gaza. It described the violence inflicted by the Israeli military as blatantly violating international law and morality. This violence is further compounded by attacks on southern Lebanon and threats of ethnic cleansing against Gaza’s Palestinian population.
Additionally, the WCC condemned the ongoing illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, the uncontrolled civil war in Sudan, the military dictatorship in Myanmar, the occupation of Cyprus, the evacuation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s indigenous Armenian population, and the growing militarization in various regions.
Message: Reclaiming the Spirit of Life & Work for Ecumenical Renewal
The Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) convened in Athens on 18-20 May 2025, hosted by the Church of Greece to whom we are deeply grateful for their exceptional hospitality.
During these days together in Athens, our meeting has taken place against the background of increasingly desperate news of the appalling violence and suffering inflicted on the people of Gaza by the government and military of Israel in flagrant violation of international law and morality, accompanied by attacks on southern Lebanon in violation of its national sovereignty, and by threats of full-scale ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population of Gaza. We recalled also the ongoing illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, the terrible unconstrained civil war in Sudan, the brutal military dictatorship in Myanmar, the ongoing occupation of northern Cyprus as well as of the Palestinian territories, the emptying of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh of its indigenous ethnic Armenian inhabitants, the proliferation of conflicts and conflict-risks elsewhere, and increased militarization in many contexts, as well as the global displacement crisis, spiralling economic inequality, and the accelerating climate crisis. At the same time, during these days we have heard and seen demonstrations in the streets of Athens commemorating the 1915 genocides of Greeks, Syriacs and Armenians, reminding us of the persistence of human cruelty, violence and greed, and that each generation faces recurrent threats to God-given human dignity and to God’s design. Christians are continuously called to renew their witness for peace, for justice, and for the integrity of creation.
This meeting of CCIA marks the centenary of the Universal Christian Conference on Life & Work held in Stockholm in 1925 (“the Stockholm Conference”), which we recognize as the foundation stone upon which the ecumenical Life & Work movement – and CCIA itself – was established. This centenary occasion is a salutary opportunity to reflect on this pivotal movement in ecumenical history and on the rich heritage of ecumenical social ethics and action.
The fact that the Life & Work centenary also falls in the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 has prompted a reflection among us on the historical and theological connections between Nicaea and Stockholm, between Faith & Order and Life & Work (the two streams of ecumenism that were to merge in the establishment of the WCC in 1948). The Nicaean Creed was founded on the Holy Scriptures as a concise expression of the written and oral tradition of the Church’s continuous spiritual experience. From this foundation, Stockholm urged the practical application of the Christian faith to the burning issues of that time. The 1925 Stockholm Conference marked the 1600th anniversary of Nicaea, and was consciously envisaged as “a Nicaea for ethics, for practical Christianity”.
The Stockholm Conference did not focus on doctrine or ecclesiology, but on the Christian calling to work for justice and peace in the world. It gathered representatives from churches in countries that had recently been engaged in the bitter and bloody conflict of the Great War. The war “had made friends into enemies and pulpits into platforms for chauvinist propaganda.” The conference affirmed “the responsibility of the churches for the whole life of people and society”, and “moved Christian ethics from a matter of individual concern to that of communal responsibility. In doing so, it challenged both unrestrained capitalism and socialist disdain for individual rights.”
By their coming together as well as by their discussions, the participants in the Stockholm Conference provided an example and a message of encounter, dialogue, and cooperation as the path to peace, justice, and reconciliation. However, we recall that it was also in 1925 that Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was published, charting a very different trajectory for the world, leading to an even greater and more catastrophic conflict, to the Holocaust, and to the development and first use of nuclear weapons. In our current global situation, we perceive that the world’s peoples once again face the same choice of radically diverging paths.
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19
The Stockholm Conference, the subsequent iterations of the Life & Work movement, the establishment of CCIA, and – shortly afterwards – of the WCC itself, are all based on the universality of the Gospel message, and an emerging understanding of Christianity as a global community, transcending denominational, national and other human boundaries.
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
Ecumenism and internationalism emerged during the same period, and at least partly in response to the same historical context and impulses. From a basis of Christian unity, the Stockholm Conference sought unity, peace and social justice for the peoples of the world. The conference addressed itself to a constellation of challenges for churches and societies at that time, ranging from persistent international tensions, the deterioration of relations between powerful states, an accelerating arms race, escalating economic inequality, and the need for improved education, to social harms resulting from technological disruption and various forms of addiction. Needless to say, this constellation of challenges is strikingly similar to those of our own time.
However, in our discussions we also highlighted issues not recognized or adequately addressed in Stockholm in 1925, especially the systemic violations of colonialism and racism, which continue to infect our relations today including within and among the churches, as well as the global phenomenon of population displacement, refugees and migrants. We must now also add the challenges posed by technological developments not yet dreamed of in 1925, including nuclear weapons, cyberwarfare, social media, and Artificial Intelligence. We are deeply concerned by recent instances in which the use of nuclear weapons has been explicitly threatened in current situations of conflict and tension. Any such threat is utterly unconscionable. Moreover, the global climate crisis represents an existential challenge of a kind not faced by any previous generation, and with profound implications for all future generations of life on Earth.
Participants in the Stockholm Conference saw hope in the development of international law and international institutions to mitigate and resolve such challenges. Following this line, CCIA has since its establishment in 1946 given special priority to working with and through the United Nations, and to promoting the development of international law instruments and accountability mechanisms. However, the United Nations – and the commitment to international cooperation, respect for international law, and trust between nations and communities – now face a major crisis driven by populist nationalism, political polarization, military confrontation, and mis- and dis-information.
The utter inadequacy and ineffectiveness of the UN Security Council for preventing or resolving the conflicts in Gaza, or Ukraine, or Sudan has especially raised grave doubts not only about the utility of this body but even about whether the “international community” to which we so often appeal actually exists anymore, or has become an empty mirage.
We lament this failure, and call urgently for root-and-branch reform of the international peace and security architecture to better fulfil the purpose of saving people from the scourge of war. We also see the need for renewed and sustained dialogue within the ecumenical movement on the Christian calling in contexts of conflict, tensions and militarization. In this context, we lift up the impacts of militarization on human rights defenders and peace activists in many places. At the same time, we celebrate the persistent determined faithful work of churches and communities of faith at local levels around the world to build peace, to resolve conflicts and to promote human rights and social cohesion – to maintain “everyday peace” in communities – as well as to provide humanitarian assistance and support in emergencies, and to care for migrants and refugees in search of a better and safer life.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9
We also lament the fact that while rampant economic inequality was rightly recognized as a key challenge at the time of the Stockholm Conference, the scale and consequences of the unprecedented levels of wealth and income inequality today far exceed those of one hundred years ago. This phenomenon now constitutes a fundamental challenge to democracy and to social and economic stability worldwide.
In such a context, we propose to reclaim, rehabilitate and re-assert the concept of the ‘Welfare State’, in its origins a theological concept, seeking to define the nature of the responsibility of the State towards all of its citizens.
The witness of the ecumenical movement for unity amidst division is once again an urgent calling in a world that is on an accelerating trajectory of fragmentation, confrontation and conflict, and away from justice, solidarity, and peace, one hundred years after the Stockholm Conference. We observe that all of these challenges have a particular impact on children and young people, to whom the current generation is leaving this toxic legacy. However, the heritage of the Life & Work movement, the work of CCIA and WCC (notably the Ecumenical Call to Just Peace), and the instruments and mechanisms of international law for which and with which we have worked through the intervening decades, provide a rich legacy from which to draw in fulfilling this calling.
We believe that alongside the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and new weapons systems, the proliferation of populist nationalisms – unfortunately often amplified through religious communities – is a key challenge we must confront in our current context, together with the co-option of human rights language and democratic processes for unjust and illiberal purposes. We must update and deepen our ecumenical and interfaith reflections and dialogue on the relationship between religion and state. We must renew our commitment to economic justice and solidarity. And especially in this time of social media echo chambers filled with mis- and dis-information, we must recommit to the task of education and capacity-building for dialogue, solidarity and unity.
Inspired by the Stockholm Conference, we proclaim again the central importance of encounter, relationship and dialogue, focusing as an ecumenical movement on what unites us especially in our Christian faith, and embodying the multilateralism and commitment to dialogue, cooperation and solidarity that we seek to restore in the wider world. Among other things, we believe that in this time of crisis for international cooperation, ecumenical reflection and consequent action on the relationship between synodality and multilateralism may prove to be of benefit to our divided world.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6
The hospitality with which we have been hosted by the Church of Greece during our meeting in Athens underscores and strengthens anew our fellowship and shared ecumenical heritage in the Life & Work movement. We thank God for the blessing of our unity in Christ.
