A severe reminder "of the wealth that was built and sustained on the continued extraction and plunder of Africa's resources as well as on the exploitation of Africa's people" was addressed to Christians in the global North by the participants in the African ecumenical consultation "Linking poverty, wealth and ecology" last week.
When does the pursuit of economical wellbeing turn into greed? This is one of the questions to be discussed at a 5-9 November ecumenical consultation in Dar es Salaam. Joint church strategies and actions for addressing the interlinked problems of poverty, excessive wealth, and ecological degradation in Africa are intended results.
"This letter is most welcome," said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, especially at a time when "all of humanity is looking to religious leaders for guidance as to how to respond to the situation of violence in the world". Kobia was commenting on the letter "A Common Word between Us and You," saying that it "gives a lot of hope".
Calling for alternatives to enforced free trade, churches and church-related organizations world-wide, along with other religious groups and community partners, are gearing up for the Trade Week of Action, 14-21 October.
The Ecumenical Review explores emerging issues within the ecumenical movement and the potential and reality of Christian cooperation in faith and action. Founded at the same time as the World Council of Churches in 1948, it focuses on themes of current importance to the movement for Christian unity
