WCC representatives speak on Africa's dilemmas and genocides of the 20th century
Free photos available, see below
Cf. Press Update PU-04-22 of 19 April 2004
Cf. Press Update PU-04-21 of 19 April 2004
Cf. Press Update PU-04-20 of 16 April 2004
Cf. Press Update PU-04-19 of 14 April 2004
Cf Press Update PU-04-18 of 8 April 2004
”We are often unable to live like neighbours in mutual respect and affection in spite of humanity's enormous scientific and technological progress,” said Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in Kigali, Rwanda.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary was speaking at a Kigali workshop on "Hope for lasting peace in Africa", while heading an ecumenical delegation visiting Rwanda from 16-18 April 2004. Attended by church and ecumenical leaders from some 20 African countries, the workshop was convened by the Protestant Council of Rwanda and the Alliance of Evangelical Churches in Rwanda, the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and the WCC.
Kobia suggested that for Rwanda the challenge is how to transform the genocide into a new spirit in which neighbours are seen as fellow human beings whose life must be protected. The memory of the genocide will remain imprinted in people's minds for a long time; this memory must become morally able to interpret the events and identify what was lost without forgetting God's promise, he said.
The question "Where was the church during the genocide?" needs to be asked, and a second closely related question is "What is the church?" Kobia said. As to where the church is today, he cited the example of Sierra Leone, where peace education is beginning, and said that the WCC sees its role as helping to set up such education programmes so that peace can become rooted in people's minds and hearts.
The WCC general secretary offered workshop participants six principles whose observance, he said, could help restore legitimacy to Africa's institutions and bar the way to murderous ideologies.
The continent, he said, must learn to live with its history and understand the causes of its various conflicts, including the Rwandan genocide. It must learn to transform painful memory into a positive memory of God's promise. It must reaffirm human dignity based on the biblical understanding of the sacredness of the human being and the promise of a re-created society.
Further, Africans should relativize identity issues and learn to see people from other ethnic groups as a richness rather than as rivals or dangerous opponents. Citing Europe as an example, he said they should understand that people can communicate well across barriers. And finally, because most conflicts on the continent are caused by bad governance, Africans need to strive for good governance, Kobia said.
Justice is needed for reconciliation
The conclusions of the ecumenical workshop were summarized in a document - the Kigali Covenant - read at a service at the Kigali stadium on Sunday evening 18 April. In a message delivered during the service by his representative, Father Krikor Chiftjian, the moderator of the WCC central committee, His Holiness Aram I, emphasized that justice must be part of the process of peace, reconciliation and forgiveness.
Underlining that the 20th century was the most violent century in human history, marked by genocides and mass killings, he called on the churches and the international community to ensure that genocides of the 20th century were properly acknowledged and justice offered to the victims.
On its arrival from Nairobi the ecumenical delegation was received by Bernard Makuza the prime minister of Rwanda. The delegation told the prime minister that it had come to his country to convey the ecumenical community's solidarity with the people of Rwanda, and to ask for forgiveness for having failed to denounce the genocide with enough force while it was happening.
A speaker at the ecumenical workshop, Rwanda's minister of Justice Eda Mukabagwiza said that while the government has set up mechanisms of rehabilitation and reconciliation, the country needs support in order to regain its "lost humanity". The international community must counteract genocidal ideologies and establish international mechanisms capable of rapid intervention when necessary, she said.
Speaking at the service at the Kigali stadium, Rwanda's minister of Foreign Affairs, Charles Murigande, praised the participants' determination to oppose genocidal ideas on their return to their home countries, their willingness to admit failures regarding the genocide, and their commitment to support the survivors.
Full text of the Kigali Covenant:
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/kigali_covenant.html (English)
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/kigali_covenant-f.html (French)
Free high-resolution photos of the visit available at:
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/kenya-rwanda-visit.html
