Voices for peace in Colombia: WCC general secretary draws close partnerships

"On the first day of our visit, we looked at the context of Colombia through the testimonies of people who were giving their impressions of how they see things, how they understand the peace initiatives, what they understand as the complex issues, and what they think can be the ways forward from a multi-sectoral point of view to work towards total peace,” said WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay.

Pillay is leading a delegation in Colombia to convey a message of the WCC’s commitment to accompanying and supporting the nation’s peace processes.

After listening to a panel discussion—organized by DiPaz, the main ecumenical peace-building platform in Colombia, and the ACT Alliance local forum—about the current challenges and context in Colombia, the delegation had conversations with the Presbyterian Church in Colombia, which has, along with other groups, been responding to new patterns of violence resulting in serious human rights situations.

“We looked at how our member church has been involved in not only working with peace but also in addressing the big challenges within the country,” said Pillay. “The church is impressive in its work in areas of human rights, in education, in a multiple number of areas where they actually proclaim the gospel through action and service.”

Pillay later met with the leadership of DiPaz to finalize elements of a memorandum of understanding with the WCC. “We are looking forward to working with them and to establishing stronger ties and collaboration,” he said.

Earlier this year, the WCC, with the Colombian Episcopal Conference, United Nations Mission in Colombia, and Organization of American States, has been appointed as a permanent accompanier of the peace roundtable between the Estado Mayor Central FARC-EP and the Colombian government.

In a ceremony held at the headquarters of OAS’s Mission to Support the Peace Process with the presence of the WCC general secretary, members of the peace roundtable, including Dr h.c. Humberto Shikiya, WCC’s special envoy to the Colombia peace process, announced the installation of a mechanism of social oversight and monitoring of the terms of the ceasefire agreement signed by both sides.

“This can also inform the work we do as the World Council of Churches for peacemaking and peacekeeping in other parts of the world,” said Pillay at the end of the ceremony.

“It is a great moment to see that the World Council of Churches is doing what it really advocates, what it really calls for, what it really hopes for—and that is greater participation on a broader scale of integration with many different players around the table, whether it is from politics, whether it is from governments, from the humanitarian sector, from faith-based communities—all these different folk coming together to say: how do we find peace in the context of Colombia,” he said. 

The program of the first day also included an audience with the Apostolic Nuncio Monsignor Paolo Rudelli. Conversations were, Pillay noted, “very good to frame the context of the Catholic Church and their connections and work in terms of peacemaking and peacekeeping in Colombia.”

Besides Pillay, the delegation is formed by Rev. Vilma Yanez, Presbyterian Church of Colombia, member of the WCC central committee, Peter Prove, director, WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Dr h.c. Humberto Shikiya, WCC special envoy for the peace process in Colombia, and Dr Marcelo Schneider, WCC programme executive for communication and church relations. ACT Alliance general secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria is also joining the visit for the first two days of the programme.