WCC NEWS: On World Health Day, prayers lift up “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) morning prayer focused on World Health Day, observed on 7 April under the theme “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures.” Morning prayer at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on the World Health Day, 7 April 2025. Morning prayer at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on the World Health Day, 7 April 2025. Dr Birgitta Rubenson offered a reflection. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 07 April 2025 World Health Day 2025 is emphasizing that the health of mothers and babies is the foundation of healthy families and communities, helping ensure hopeful futures for us all. Dr Birgitta Rubenson, a pioneer of WCC's work on Health and Healing, especially concerning the work on HIV from the very onset of the pandemic in the 1980s, offered a reflection. Rubenson authored the first-ever WCC publication on AIDS: “What is AIDS: A Manual for Health Workers” (1987).  She offered a history of the WCC’s work on HIV and AIDS.  “For WCC and the member churches there were several difficult issues to tackle: the lack of knowledge about the disease and its spread, especially in Africa, the prejudices about the disease and it’s spreading in gay and drug abusing circles in USA and Europe,” she said. “And everywhere there was the immediate need for care of the sick and dying, as there was no cure.” At that time, research had discovered the virus causing the disease and that it was spread with body fluids, such as blood, saliva, and breast milk.  “We had to give as correct information as we could about the spread and care,” said Rubenson. “As so often the focus for many was sidetracked into what was easier to talk about and find ways around like the minimal risk of spread through saliva on the chalice at Eucharist.” The real lifestyle risks related to sexuality were more difficult to talk about as they were the basis for so much prejudice and fear, said Rubenson. "I wrote two very basic manuals on HIV and AIDS, one for health workers and one for pastors,” she said. “The disease is still deadly but can be kept under control by medication.” She noted that AIDS forced the churches to reflect on their ecclesiology, their role as churches, tradition or context, reality or ideology, inclusion or exclusion. “These issues are continuously relevant, and possibly even more important today than ever,” she concluded.   Director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing Dr Manoj Kurian noted that, even in this age of advanced science and technology, 300,000 women lose their lives due to pregnancy or childbirth each year, and over 2 million babies die in their first month of life.  “Half of the world's population lacks access to essential health services,” he said. “At the same time, we are witnessing a troubling decline in international cooperation with reductions in health, development aid, and humanitarian support.” He pointed out that, during these critical times, we are called to prayerfully mobilise the contribution of the church to build healing communities, starting with our personal lives, our families, and our congregation. “We also have to engage in direct advocacy—to meet with government representatives to call for increased funding and action on health, climate, and social justice issues,” said Kurian. With the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, the WCC is also praying with and for the people and churches of the Balkans - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia. See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland