Interfaith Health Platform

19/06/2026

19/06/2026

WCC publishes “HIV and Mental Health: What Can the Church Do?” by Dr Sue Parry, a practical and theologically grounded resource for congregations ready to respond to one of the most complex pastoral challenges of our time.

The book is an invitation and a challenge to churches and faith communities to engage courageously and compassionately with the profound intersections of HIV, mental health, and psychosocial wellbeing.

Drawing on theological reflection and global best practice, this manual affirms the church's unique vocation as a place of healing, dignity, and hope. Faith communities are positioned to reach where healthcare systems alone cannot: into homes, relationships, and the interior life of the spirit.

Rooted in scripture and theology, the manual combines reflection with practical tools, case examples, and a clear framework for action. The question the title poses—What can the church do?—is answered here with clarity, compassion, and an unmistakable call to act.
Translations into French, Spanish, and Portuguese will be available soon.

📰 Read more: https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-publishes-hiv-and-mental-health-what-can-the-church-do

📖 Book: https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/publications/hiv-and-mental-health

19/06/2026

The Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe has announced a Europe-wide awareness-raising and prevention initiative within Protestant churches related to protection against sexual violence.

Read more: https://www.oikoumene.org/news/communion-of-protestant-churches-in-europe-launches-awareness-initiative-on-protection-against-sexualised-violence
Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC

09/06/2026

500 million girls and women. No menstrual products. Many kept from school, from church, from public life.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) hosted a Menstrual Hygiene Day webinar to confront that silence — "Breaking the Blood Taboo" — bringing together voices from four continents on 4 June.

"For something so universal, so natural, so fundamental to the continuation of human life, the silence on menstruation is not only inexplicable, but also it's inexcusable," said Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC programme director for Life, Justice, and Peace.

His goal: "No woman is banished from community, worship, or dignity because of her God-given biology."

Watch the webinar and read the full story ➡️ https://oikoumene.org/news/wcc-webinar-no-woman-banished-for-her-god-given-biology

05/06/2026

😷 This week on the WCC blog, Rev. Christo Greyling, chairperson of HIV and Reproductive Health Working Group of the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing, reflects on how controlling an outbreak is not only a medical challenge. It is also a challenge of trust.

Learn more: https://oikoumene.org/blog/building-trust-before-fear-takes-root

📷Sean Hawkey/Life on Earth

05/05/2026

Drawing on reflections from World Health Organization (WHO) experts, faith leaders, and scientific experts, a webinar entitled “For Every Generation: Faith, Justice, and Science in Immunization” was hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 30 April.
Read more: https://www.oikoumene.org/news/webinar-explores-faith-justice-and-science-behind-vaccines
📷Marcelo Schneider/WCC

22/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18dH9QXV9i/

A webinar on 30 April will focus on "For Every Generation: Faith, Justice, and Science in Immunization."

In preparation for the World Health Assembly, and in observation of World Immunisation Week, the 90-minute webinar will bring together World Health Organization experts, faith leaders, and scientific experts working at the interface of faith and science to explore how vaccines protect people across the life course. It will review the history and scientific evidence for immunisation, highlighting how vaccines safeguard children, adolescents, adults, and older persons, and why equitable access is a matter of health justice.

📅 30 April | 3:00 PM CEST
🔗 Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Apk6KFxXRz23Kdi7iZ_5Ig
Read more: https://www.oikoumene.org/news/webinar-will-focus-on-for-every-generation-faith-justice-and-science-in-immunization

09/04/2026

Today marks World Health Day — and at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, WCC staff and visitors gathered in morning prayer under this year's theme: "Together for Health – Standing with Science."

In a message from the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing, Commission Moderator Rev. Dr Stavros Kofinas reflected that health is multidimensional — encompassing social, personal, and environmental realities:

"Our social environment is formed by our family environment, our political environment, our religious environments, our educational environment, our occupational environment, and even the environment of our health systems."Center

His call for this World Health Day: "We must become compassionate and merciful to those that suffer. By doing these things, we will be true caretakers of all that composes our environment and we will endure a healthy state of being, not only for our individual selves, but for the world at large."

How is your faith community responding to the call for a holistic, compassionate health?

🔗 https://ow.ly/7TP950YEWUN

📸 WCC