Witnesses for creative peacemaking from member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Burundi, Brazil, Greece and the United States will travel to Germany, 27 June - 4 July, to exchange experiences in overcoming violence.

Two church communions from opposite sides of the globe were welcomed into full fellowship of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on Wednesday, increasing the membership of the global Christian body, the largest of its kind, to 349.

A member of a leading workers' rights organisation in Brazil, partnered by Christian Aid and other aid agencies, has been shot dead at point-blank range after fighting broke out during the occupation of a genetically modified crops testing site.

A wealthy Brazilian rancher has been convicted of ordering the killing high-profile supporter of landless people Sr Dorothy Stang in 2005. But the Pope's silence has disappointed her family and social justice activists.