“As we enter into the second decade of the 21st century, the world continues to face many crises … financial crisis, climate crisis, a food crisis, a new wave of terrorism and violence, new burdens of injustice and violations of human rights,” said Tveit at WCC headquarters in Geneva as he took up his post at the head of the world’s biggest church grouping. “We start this year also with a greater concern for the religious freedom of some of our Christian sisters and brothers in several places.”
The WCC gathers 349 churches — principally Anglican, Orthodox, and Protestant — and represents some 500 million Christians worldwide. Tveit was elected to the post in August, after serving as general secretary of the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations.
