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Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata: “Colombia is a deeply fragile but promising country”

Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, World Council of Churches (WCC) programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia, led a delegation that visited Colombia on 8-11 August to express solidarity with the Colombian churches, government and people as they collaborate in the design, implementation, and advocacy for the construction of peace in the country. Below, he shares his impressions of the visit.

En Argentine, « Servir un monde blessé » est un appel à la collaboration plein d’espoir

Le professeur Dr h.c. Humberto Martin Shikiya, vice-président du Centre œcuménique régional de défense des causes et de service (CREAS) en Argentine, réfléchit à la manière dont le document « Servir un monde blessé dans la solidarité interreligieuse » : un appel chrétien à la réflexion et à l’action pendant la COVID-19 et au-delà » est reçu comme un appel plein d’espoir à la collaboration œcuménique et interreligieuse. Le Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE) et le Conseil pontifical pour le dialogue interreligieux ont publié conjointement « Servir un monde blessé » pour encourager les Églises et les organisations chrétiennes à réfléchir à l’importance de la solidarité interreligieuse dans un monde blessé par la pandémie de COVID-19.

In Argentina, “Serving a Wounded World” is a hopeful call to collaborate

Prof. Dr h.c. Humberto Martin Shikiya, vice president of the Regional Ecumenical Advisory and Service Center (CREAS) In Argentina, reflects on how Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19 and Beyond” is being received as a hopeful call to collaborate ecumenically and interreligiously. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue jointly published Serving a Wounded World” to encourage churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hoping against hope

The same week Brazil reached half a million deaths by COVID-19, my parents got the first dose of the vaccine. On my way to work, I pass through a vaccination post full of people, and through a cemetery full of grief. The past year and few months were a mix of fear, indignation and anger for me. But also a time where I saw generosity and hope bloom.

Indigenous peoples and the pandemic in the land of inequalities

476 million indigenous people live around the world, of which 11.5% live in our Latin American region. In these years that we are going from the COVID 19 pandemic in our territories (indigenous or tribal at the Latin American level), the presence of many extractive companies, mainly uranium and lithium, has increased, land traffickers and among other monoculture companies with fires for the cultivation of oil palm, logging, putting vulnerable peoples at greater risk than what is already experienced.

In Colombia, “what is happening is terribly painful”

Rev. Gloria Ulloa, World Council of Churches president for Latin America and the Caribbean, is in Cali, Colombia, with a delegation of DiPaz, the country’s main ecumenical peacebuilding platform. The group is having direct grassroots contact with the conflicts currently taking place. Ulloa and others hope to bring to light testimonies of peoples and communities usually forgotten by the big media.

Below is Ulloa's latest description on the ground.

Les Grands-mères de la place de Mai sont un exemple du rôle moteur des femmes en matière de justice et de paix

Si les violences envers les femmes sont monnaie courante dans les situations de guerre et d’oppression, les femmes n’en prennent pas moins fréquemment l’initiative de s’élever contre l’injustice. Le courage affiché par les mères et les grands-mères des disparu-e-s de la «guerre sale» en Argentine (1976-1983) a été qualifié d’exemple et de défi par les responsables du COE.