The leader of the Methodist Church in Britain has welcomed moves by Church leaders in Pakistan which call on the Pakistani government to end religious violence in the country.

Campaigners have accused Israel of denying Palestinians the right to access adequate water by maintaining total control over the shared water resources and pursuing discriminatory policies.

World Council of Churches General Secretary Samuel Kobia says new Lutheran World Federation leader Martin Junge will champion lively church partnership and wider human solidarities.

Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has made a return visit to the Lower Ninth Ward District of New Orleans, USA, to survey the restoration and recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

Following news that the Roman Catholic church may accept more married ex-Anglican priests into its ranks, the grassroots network FutureChurch has called for the option of a married priesthood in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church too.

The Iranian authorities must immediately release dozens of people arrested last week during a prayer service in support of activists detained following protests after June’s presidential election, Amnesty International has said.

The governing body of the Lutheran World Federation has decided to delay voting on the election of a new General Secretary for the LWF, which was scheduled for 22 October 2009. The LWF Council meeting is taking place near Geneva, Switzerland.

In what is being seen as a landmark decision, the Church of Sweden has formally agreed to recognise same-sex marriages and conduct gay weddings and blessings, becoming the first major church to do so.

As world leaders meet at the UN in New York to discuss increased funding for healthcare in developing countries, Amnesty International's Secretary General has launched a campaign to reduce maternal deaths in Sierra Leone.

A petition calling for the repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which impose the death sentence on a person found desecrating Islam's holy book, the Qur'an, has gone to the United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights.