WCC NEWS: Thousands join faith-based calls for action in wake of US violence

Calls for justice are on a crescendo—from more than 100 pastors who stood in solidarity with the community of Minneapolis, Minnesota; to more than 8,000 people who gathered online on 25 January for a prayer organized by the Faith in Action network; to peaceful protests in communities growing in cities and towns across the US.  Participants in a pro-democracy demonstration in Eugene, Oregon, on June 11, 2025. The protest took place in response to increased deportation sweeps by ICE around the country. Photo: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth 26 January 2026 As violence escalated in areas to which US federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents have been deployed, religious leaders stepped up their calls for human rights, dignity, and nonviolence. As Faith in Action Network executive director Bishop Dwayne Royster stated during the online gathering: "We are gathered tonight because blood has been shed, and that blood demands our time.” Representing many faith traditions, they agreed that prayer must be accompanied by action. “You carry moral authority,” said Royster. “This is not a time for performative faith.” Marianne Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC, said: “We are grieved by what is happening in our country, with our eyes and ears particularly focused on Minnesota and yet acutely aware that what is happening there is also happening in neighborhoods and towns across our land.” Rev. Dr Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, spoke specifically of Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal agents on 24 January. Pretti was a member of the federation. “When a worker is killed under the authority of the state, this is not just a tragedy, this is a moral failure,” said Kelley. “Federal workers are not expendable.” Minister JaNae Bates Imari, co-director for ISAIAH, a multi-racial, multi-faith, statewide, nonpartisan coalition of faith communities in Minnesota, noted that Minneapolis saw 75,000 people pour into the streets on the coldest day of the year. “We are facing a existential crisis not just about our democracy but about who we are,” she said.  Rev. Dr John Welsh, chair of the board of the Gamaliel Network in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, prayed for families that have fractured as federal agents conduct raids. “Families separated before still have not been unified,” he said.  Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah in New York, offered a prayer of lament. “How long will armed troops roam our streets terrorizing, kidnapping, and murdering our neighbors?” she asked. “Grant compassion to our weary hearts that we may continue to care for each other and for ourselves.” Hugh Byrne, a Buddhist meditation teacher, led a meditation for a time of grief and suffering. “May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be peaceful. May you be held in loving kindness,” he said.  Rev. Carlos L Malave was among pastors who recently traveled to Minneapolis to stand in solidarity with the community. “What we experienced from the people in Minneapolis is that people are living in terror,” he said. “People are not working. People are not going anywhere unless it’s absolutely necessary. Can you imagine a five-year-old adducted from their parents and sent to Texas?” Laurie Carefone, executive director of Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, said: “As people of faith, we decry these deaths and the horror done to countless families.” Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC How will you say no?  Cardinal Joseph Tobin, from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, offered a reflection that said putting our faith in action means saying “no.” “We mourn for a world, a country that allows five-year-olds to be legally kidnapped and protestors to be slaughtered,” he said. “How will you say no? How will you say no to violence?” Bishop Francine Brookins, from the African Methodist Episcopal Church, asked people to imagine living with the kind of fear that has gripped Minneapolis. “I want you to imagine that, within an hour, somebody could be knocking at your door,” she said. “Your pet could be left alone. Your child could be left alone, freezing in a car. This is all of us.” Jamie Beran, CEO of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, said: “May this country begin to know the courage that comes from a radical, holy honesty. There is no one coming to rescue us. We are the ones coming to rescue us.” Haris Tarin, vice president of Policy and Programming for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, lifted up in prayer immigrant communities across the nation. “Strengthen us to confront systems that profit from fear, policies that fracture families, and practices that strip people from humanity in the name of law, order, and politics,” he said. “Protect those who protest peacefully. Hold accountable those entrusted with power, even if they try to be unaccountable. Make us builders of a future where safety does not come at the cost of dignity.” Religious leaders and all those gathered called for actions includingcontacting policymakers to stop funding ICE, put a pause on ICE activities, and urge a thorough bipartisan investigation into deaths.  Rev. Dr Karen Georgia Thompson, United Church of Christ general minister and president, and president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, offered a closing reflection, observing that the time together was across traditions, and was about building community, and building solidarity. “It’s going to take all of us, joined together, to see the change that we need at this time,” she said. “We continue to hold each other in prayer as we leave here. We will be present until change comes.” Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the WCC central committee, expressed appreciation for the prayerful standing for true Christian values. “As Christians we must denounce the misuse of religion for legitimizing brutal action everywhere in the world - be it Iran where courageous people stand for freedom, or Ukraine where the people are terrorized every day by Russian bombs,” he said. “Or now in the USA, where a president invokes the Bible while brutally persecuting migrants and spreading fear and terror.” Bedford-Strohm added: ”Prayer and action for justice belongs inseparably together.” WCC deeply alarmed by escalating violence in US (WCC news release, 25 January 2026) WCC member churches in the United States 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 356 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