News
Just back from an intense 16-day ecumenical visit to the Greater Horn of Africa and Tanzania, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser notes the complexity of inter-faith relationships in the region, and emphasizes the need to take them "much more seriously" than the international ecumenical community has done so far.
"We cannot just underline concern about Muslim fundamentalism without recognizing that there is a similar fundamentalism on the Christian side," Raiser says. He notes that Christians often get caught in a mindset that their role is to "contain or push back" Muslim influence. But this, he says, only pits each side against the other in a struggle for territory and hegemony.
The main purpose of the WCC delegation's visit was to attempt to address the root causes of conflict and violence in the region. "We need to move away from a tendency to say that the root cause is 'injustice'," Raiser states. To his mind, political and power issues, access to resources including land and mineral resources, ethnicity, religious identity, religious militancy, the absence of law and impunity are at the heart of the conflicts now being experienced in the region. "These are the more specific root causes of the violence and injustice," he says. "While peace-building needs to address injustice, our strategies must be more sophisticated. They must address the real causes. In terms of our Focus on Africa and the Decade to Overcome Violence, the WCC needs to go in this direction," he says.
Troubling situation in Eritrea
The ecumenical delegation led by Raiser ended its visit in Eritrea and expressed "profound concern" about the situation there. "On the surface, the peace agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia is accepted, the borders are agreed, the United Nations mission is continuing and both governments appear to be cooperating," Raiser observes. "But for the people who had a stake in the war, this is still little more than a formal peace declaration. Their hatred and profound disillusionment with one another has not been overcome at all."
Raiser finds the Eritrean government's attitude to its own people and to any critique of its policies particularly troubling. Describing it as "the mentality of perpetual war that needs enemies to be maintained," he fears that Eritrea could be another example of a liberation movement unable to make a transition from military strategy to responsible political governance. "With a siege mentality nurtured on conspiracy theories, they will be unable to live in peace with each other," he observes.
However, Raiser also notes that in both Ethiopia and Eritrea, the effort to bring religious leaders together is generating good results. "It was encouraging to see the ease with which the Christian and the Muslim leaders related to each other," he says. "They also are making every effort to spread this among their people."
Raiser affirms the ongoing role of Norwegian Church Aid as an ecumenical advocate in the peace-building efforts. However, he notes that the international community will need to give more attention to caring for internally displaced people, who are dependent on non-governmental organizations for assistance. The Action by Churches Together (ACT) alliance has been very active in this regard. "At some point," Raiser says, "we will need to see how we can move from an 'emergency' mindset to a strategy of reconstruction and rebuilding."
Peace prospects need the people
The delegation also visited both North and South Sudan and met with representatives of the government in Khartoum and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), as well as of churches and civil society.
As the two sides engage in negotiations under the IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development) framework, Raiser notes that the people the delegation met in Southern Sudan were clear that "unless a peace agreement addresses the issue of religion and state and recognizes the right to self-determination, they cannot recognize the agreement."
"For the people, it is very clear that they must be given the option. The church itself has no position on any option. What they request is that people have the opportunity to express their convictions," he said. "The churches are very clear that while they declare self-determination as a basic right, self-determination as such does not yet provide a solution, depending on how you interpret it."
"The voice of the people needs to be heard for any peace agreement to be sustainable," Raiser emphasizes. "It must be in Khartoum's and the SPLA's long-term interest for the voice of the people to be heard and taken seriously in the negotiations. As yet, there is no specific way for this to happen." Raiser hopes that the WCC has strengthened the churches' claim to be involved. He says the WCC is not seeking a special role, but sees itself as facilitating the voice of the churches, through the Sudan Ecumenical Forum. As one of the next steps, the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC), based in Khartoum, and the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC), based in the south, are planning a meeting of church leaders and representatives from the negotiating parties to look at the root issues that need to be addressed for sustainable peace.
"The people want peace - there is no question of that," Raiser concludes. "But they don't want peace at any price."
_________
The WCC delegation visited northern and southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Tanzania and Kenya during its 1-16 July tour. Members of the WCC delegation were Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, WCC general secretary, Ms Karimi Kinoti, former coordinator of FECCLAHA, All Africa Conference of Churches, Mr Stein Villumstad, East Africa regional representative, Norwegian Church Aid, (Sudan-Khartoum, Ethiopia, Eritrea), Mr William Temu, WCC regional secretary for Africa, Mr Mitch Odero, head of Information & Communication Department, All Africa Conference of Churches, Mr Peter Williams, WCC photographer and videographer (Southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea). The delegation was accompanied by Rev. Haruun Ruun, New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) executive secretary.
Photos of the visit are available on our website at www.photooikoumene.org/events/events.html