The international community's responsibility to protect endangered populations when their governments fail to do so, and church support for protective measures, has been the subject of lively debate at a World Council of Churches (WCC) workshop at the 20-25 January World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya.

At the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, speakers involved in a workshop organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) said that wealth, poverty and ecology are strongly linked to each other and to society's commitment to the common good.

In a message to all the Palestinian people, Jerusalem church leaders alarmed at worsening relations between two main political parties are calling for an end to violence and an urgent return to the "real priorities" of Palestinians. The plan is to work with Jerusalem's top Islamic leaders on a similar Christian-Muslim message as well.

The former moderator of the World Council of Churches, Catholicos Aram I of the Armenian Apostolic Church, says Lebanese leaders need to sustain the democracy they have and not continue fomenting insecurity that could easily trigger more unrest in Lebanon, reports Ecumenical News International.

Some 25 theologians from all over the world will gather on 5-8 December 2006 in Cret-Berard (near Lausanne, Switzerland), to discuss why and to what extent the persistence of cruelty can be considered as an important theme for theological reflection.