Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has joined worldwide tributes paid to Chiara Lubich, founder of the religious and humanitarian Focolare Movement, whose death was announced on Friday.

Presided by an African woman, and including three young people, eight women, and strong representation from the South, the search committee for a new World Council of Churches head has set to work.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev Samuel Kobia, a Methodist monister from Kenya, has announced that he will not seek a second term at the head of the world's biggest Christian grouping.

Ethnic and political divisions have prevented church leaders in Kenya from responding to the political crisis in their country, the main governing body of the WCC has been told by its general secretary, the Rev Samuel Kobia.

Pope Benedict XVI and the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have announced they will meet in Rome on Friday 25 January 2008, at the centennial of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The head of the World Council of Churches has called on Kenya's two main political parties to "turn urgently from partisan postures and negotiate in good faith to reach a non-violent, political solution" to their electoral dispute.

Concern about undue pressure exerted by the European Union on African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to sign interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the end of the year has been expressed by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev Dr Samuel Kobia.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, plans to visit member churches and Christian communities in the strife-ridden occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

Blaming religion alone for the world's troubles is factually wrong, says the head of the World Council of Churches. Both religious and non-religious roots of conflict must be faced, and Christians have a vocation as peacemakers.

The widespread availability of deadly weapons links the Virginia Tech killings to 'wanton violence' elsewhere in the world, says World Council of Churches chief Samuel Kobia. He wants proper gun controls.