Contact: World Council of Churches, +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press
 
GENEVA, April, 6, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- In the wake of news reports relaying an horrific chemical weapons attack in the Idlib Governance of Syria, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called for a cultural shift in the region as he expressed deep sympathy to the families of the victims.

Multiple news sources confirmed that more than 70 people have died, including 20 children, in the village of Khan Sheikhoun.

"This attack and many other airstrikes have been targeting civilian populations, including vulnerable children and women," said Tveit. "The World Council of Churches believes that these attack, as well as so many other war crimes, crimes against humanity and unbearable atrocities, are sadly still taking place against an innocent civil population because the culture of impunity is maintained in Syria and the whole region."

Tveit urged the UN Security Council to put an end to this impunity by investigating these crimes and establishing mechanisms of accountability that will bring all those responsible to trial.

"The WCC expresses its deep sympathy with the families of the victims, and prays that God may grant them comfort and heal their wounds," concluded Tveit. "We also pray the God of justice and peace to accompany the Syrian people in these critical and painful moments."

Solidarity with churches in the Middle East

Statement by the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit

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 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway.