10th July, 2009

FREDRICK NZWILL

Nairobi, Kenya

Ecumenical News International

Protestant churches in Kenya have dispatched one of their leaders to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to deliver a one-million signature petition urging investigations of post-election violence.

"I will execute the instructions given to me as soon as possible," said the Rev Peter Karanja, the general secretary of National Council of Churches of Kenya, on 2nd July in Limuru, near Nairobi, while receiving 500 000 of the signatures.

He led prayers, dedicating the petition and signatures, which the grouping started collecting in March. The petition calls for immediate commencement of investigations and prosecutions for the violence that took place after elections in 2007. The violence spread to many parts of the country into 2008, after opposition parties said the government rigged the results.

"We are convinced that only an international tribunal or court...can legally and effectively prosecute and punish the perpetrators of the post election violence," said Rev Karanja. "Our prayer is that this action will break the barriers that have hindered the administration of justice and break the systems that perpetuate impunity."

Rev Karanja said prosecutions would mark a turning point for Kenya by shattering the belief that one can kill, maim and destroy property and get away with it. He said prosecution would put Kenya on the path of recovery and reconciliation.

The grouping of Protestant churches said it viewed the signatures as an affirmation that the Kenyan judicial system was incapable of dealing with the perpetrators. However, its position has appeared to differ with that of the Roman Catholic Church.

Some Catholic leaders have argued that a local tribunal would help Kenyans to overcome mistrust for their systems, including the judiciary.

"The right way to go now is with a local tribunal. The Hague may only try 10 or five suspects, which would not help the country a lot in dealing with impunity," the Kenya Episcopal Conference vice-chairperson Bishop Philip Sulumeti was quoted by the Daily Nation newspaper as saying on 17th June.

The government has been rooting for a local tribunal, but some political groups have rejected the plan, saying it will punish specific communities. A third option, which according to media reports is under consideration, would allow the High Court to establish special courts for the task.

FOR PREVIOUS ISSUES OF WORLDVIEW:

1st July, 2009

WORLD MEETING PLEDGES URGENT SOCIAL SUPPORT FOR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

The European Union and dozens of countries have pledged to speed up social support for Holocaust survivors and the search for art and other items that were stolen during World War II by the Nazis.

     At a meeting in Prague, they agreed to establish a special European institute to deal with these issues and education. As the number of survivors of the Nazi Holocaust rapidly declines, there is a sense of urgency among delegates that the world must provide them with adequate social assistance and compensation for stolen goods.

     The five-day meeting - attended by Holocaust survivors, members of Jewish organisations and delegates from nearly 50 nations - was a follow-up to a conference more than a decade ago in Washington that led to agreements on recovering art looted by the Nazis.

     STEFAN J. BOS reports...  | more... |

18th June, 2009

URGENCY GROWS FOR INVESTMENT IN CONFLICT PREVENTION AS 42 MILLION UPROOTED BY WAR AND PERSECUTION

The number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide stood at 42 million at the end of last year, according to new figures from the UNHCR.

     However, neither the UK nor the US feature amongst the main refugee-hosting countries in the world, despite waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which have caused the biggest refugee movements.

     The news comes after campaigners have urged that more money be put into conflict prevention and peacebuilding work, which they suggest would save millions of pounds and prevent millions from being displaced.

     A report from Ekklesia...  | more... |

13th June, 2009

PATRIARCH CONNECTS TO RUSSIAN YOUTH USING "MEGA-CHURCH" STYLE

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill I has addressed thousands of young people about the dangers of alcoholism and an unchecked market economy as he takes the church to a people used to the Kremlin as the biggest institution.

     When he was installed in February, Patriarch Kirill committed himself to connecting with Russia's young people and he launched a special programme at a meeting of several thousand college students in Moscow on 23rd May. The Patriarch then appeared before an even larger gathering in St Petersburg a week later.

     SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY reports for Ecumenical News International...  | more... |

31st May, 2009

TAMIL AND SINHALESE CHRISTIANS UNITE TO OVERCOME AFTERMATH OF SRI LANKA'S WAR

At least a quarter of a million civilians, including Christians, remained displaced last week in Sri Lanka following the government's final military crackdown on independence-seeking Tamil rebels, but Tamil and Sinhalese Christians said they have united to overcome the crisis and show reconciliation is possible.

      Sinhalese and Tamil Christians said it remained difficult for hundreds of thousands of people to rebuild their shattered lives but added they have united and are working closely with the Evangelical Alliance United Kingdom “to call on Christians to pray for Sri Lanka and donate to agencies working on the ground.”

     A report from Bosnewslife...  | more... |

15th May, 2009

UN CHIEF URGED TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE ON RIGHT FOR FOOD

A group of Christian leaders who campaign for justice in the fight against hunger are calling on the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to step up to the plate and seek tangible results in realising the right to food. The Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance sent the letter as the first of a series of actions in a global campaign on food. It was launched on the same day the World Council of Churches and its donors discussed the food issue after being addressed by EAA members. "Churches have always helped people in need of food, but now we want to tackle the root causes of hunger as a structural problem," the Rev Malcolm Damon, chairperson of the EAA's Food Strategy Group, told Ecumenical News International on 13th May.

     PETER KENNY reports...  | more... |

8th May, 2009

NAMIBIAN CHURCH-BACKED COALITION URGES BASIC GRANT TO CITIZENS

Churches and civil society groups are urging the Namibian government to provide citizens with monthly basic income grants by raising taxes. They have called for a Basic Income Grant of 100 Namibian dollars (US$11) to alleviate poverty in the country. "Namibia's taxable capacity exceeds 30 per cent of national income. Yet Namibia's actual tax collection and projected tax collection over the medium term horizon has been falling," said a report published on 28th April by a coalition of groups, including the Council of Churches of Namibia and the National Union of Namibian Workers.

     RODERICK MUKUMBIRA reports for ENI from Windhoek...  | more... |

1st May, 2009

CHRISTIANS UNDER ATTACK IN SUDAN

Christians in Sudan faced another tense day Wednesday, 29th April, amid reports that followers of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir have intensified attacks on Christians and others they believe support the International Criminal Court's recent decision to prosecute the president for his alleged involvement in atrocities in the Darfur region.

Among those attacked is Aburahaman Tai, a leader of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in the Nuba Mountains village of Chat in central Sudan, who was beaten and injured by a suspected government militia in early March, news reports said.

     A report from Bosnewslife...  | more... |

24th April, 2009

FAITHS, RIGHTS GROUPS LAMENT RACISM CONFERENCE'S SHUNNING OF DALITS

There is an untouchable word that appears nowhere in the declaration of the UN conference in Geneva reviewing progress on fighting racism. It is Dalit, the self-designation of a South Asian group traditionally regarded as untouchable or of the lowest caste. "Caste discrimination is one of the most important issues being left out of this conference," said Peter Prove of the Lutheran World Federation. The Australian human rights lawyer has worked with the Geneva-based LWF for many years towards eliminating discrimination against Dalits.

     PETER KENNY, of Ecumenical News International, reports...  | more... |

16th April, 2009

CUBA'S CATHOLIC CHURCH SEEKS DIALOGUE AND CHANGE

At a time of shake up in Cuba's ruling elite, and with international pressure mounting to break the long impasse in relations with the United States, the Roman Catholic Church on the island is urging a "national dialogue". "Each Catholic, each Christian, each baptised person that makes up the Church has the same expectations as any other person," the recently-elected president of the Cuban Catholic bishops' conference said at the end of March. In an interview with Palabra Nueva, the newspaper of the Havana archdiocese, Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibanez of Santiago de Cuba described changes in Cuba as "necessary", and said, "The Church is part of the people."

     A report from Ecumenical News International...  | more... |

3rd April, 2009

CHURCH GROUPS REJECT "RUTHLESS" MILITARY ACTIONS IN MADAGASCAR

A delegation from two global church groups to Madagascar has called for international pressure to secure democracy in the island nation following the military-supported ousting of President Marc Ravalomanana. The delegation urged the African Union and the 15-nation Southern African Development Community to assume, "their rightful place in ensuring justice, establishing peace and effecting democracy in Madagascar as a matter of urgency".

     A report from Ecumenical News International...  | more... |

29th March, 2009

IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, RAPE LEAVES A TERRIFYING TRAIL

Nifa fled from the fields near her village after she heard the sounds of the screaming and commotion. By the time she reached Kiwanja and her mother’s tearful embrace, she had already been raped by soldiers on a dirt road. Compounding the ordeal, her father died in the assault. “We want women and girls to talk about the sexual violence,” says Esther Ntoto, who serves with her husband Camille as field coordinators for Light of Africa Network.

     MARK ELLIS reports...  | more... |

19th March, 2009

THOUSANDS OF NORTH KOREAN CHRISTIANS RECEIVE FOOD AND SECRET TRAINING

Thousands of North Korean Christians have received food and Christian education from a major Western organisation, despite fresh attempts by North Korea's leadership to crackdown on foreign aid. Netherlands-based advocacy group Open Doors said it gave Biblical training to over 4,000 Christians from the world's most isolated nation in 2008, about 10 times more than in 2007 when "440 North Koreans received Christian education".

     ERIC LEIJENAAR and STEFAN J. BOS report...  | more... |

11th March, 2009

RIGHT TO LIFE ADVOCATES CRITICISE OBAMA ON STEM CELL RESEARCH

"Right to Life" advocates have criticised US President Barack Obama's decision to reverse policies of the administration of George W. Bush that limited federal funding for stem cell research. "It is a sad day when the federal government will fund research that exploits living members of the human species as raw material for research," Douglas Johnson, a spokesperson for the National Right to Life Committee, said in a statement. He was speaking about Obama's decision to overturn policies of the previous administration and to expand stem cell research, announced at a 9th March ceremony at the White House.

     CHRIS ERLINGER reports...  | more... |

5th March, 2009

CHRISTIANS ANXIOUS AS GUINEA-BISSAU'S PRESIDENT IS KILLED

Minority Christians and missionaries were among those anxiously looking to the future of Guinea-Bissau as officials confirmed that President Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed, hours after the West African nation's armed forces chief died in a bomb blast. It was not immediately clear whether a coup was under way, but automatic gunfire and heavier explosions were heard in Guinea-Bissau's capital, Bissau, early Monday, 2nd March, before a tense calm returned.

     STEFAN J. BOS reports...  | more... |

24th February, 2009

AID AGENCY WARNS OF 'TSUNAMI SCALE' LONG-TERM NEED IN SRI LANKA

A Christian aid agency has warned of ‘tsunami scale’ long-term need in Sri Lanka.

     Tearfund is working with partner agencies in Sri Lanka to help many of the 250,000 civilians caught up in the island’s increasingly bloody civil war. Recent weeks have seen an intensification of fighting between government forces and those of the Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebel group in the north of the country.

     Key rebel strongholds have fallen to advancing government forces but many civilians have been caught in the crossfire, despite the creation of ‘safe zones’.

     A report from Ekklesia...  | more... |

13th February, 2009

MERCY SHIPS REACHES OUT TO BENIN, AMONG THE WORLD'S POOREST NATIONS

The world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, arrived in Cotounou, Benin, this week to begin 10 months of specialized partnership with the nation’s Ministry of Health.

     The hospital ship’s “Operation Access” screening team left Cotonou for two provincial capitals in North Benin shortly after docking with the goal of increasing access to health care services offered by the ship throughout the nation equitably. Posters and public service announcements were sent out ahead of the team appealing for family members to bring those with particular ailments to the North Benin screening sites this week.

     PETER WOODING reports...  | more... |

2nd February, 2009

CHURCHES URGE REVAMP OF FINANCIAL SYSTEM AT WORLD SOCIAL FORUM

The global economic crisis offers an opportunity to create a more just financial system, a representative of the World Council of Churches has said during the World Social Forum in Brazil.

     "If we miss this point again we are going to repeat history with another crisis," Rogate Mshana, the church grouping's programme executive for poverty, wealth and ecology, told Ecumenical News International during the 27th January to 1st February event, a global gathering addressing exploitative globalisation.

     STEPHEN BROWN, of Ecumenical News International, reports...  | more... |

13th January, 2009

CHURCH GROUPS WARN ABOUT 'COLLAPSE' OF SUDAN PEACE PACT

Church agencies and analysts have warned that an agreement signed four years ago to put an end to a two-decade long civil war in Sudan is threatened with breakdown, thereby endangering the already fragile Horn of Africa region.

     The pact, called the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed on 9th January 2005, ended a 22-year civil war between Sudan’s central government and the Southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army.

     "Without swift, decisive action by the international community there is a danger that the peace agreement will collapse and violence will escalate in Sudan," Gerrit Noltensmeier, the special representative for Sudan of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) said in a statement to mark the anniversary of the signing of the pact.

     STEPHEN BROWN, of Ecumenical News International, reports...  | more... |

PAKISTANI CHRISTIANS SERVING IN THE MIDST OF CONFLICT

Pakistani Christian communities confronted with the presence of the Taliban and Al-Qaida serve their Muslim neighbors in an unfriendly environment. Christians in the North Western Frontier Province of Pakistan find themselves in the midst of a complex conflict involving regional and global powers. With Pakistani government security forces fighting Taliban from within the country and Al-Qaida militants from beyond it, the border to Afghanistan is not much more than a demarcation line on the map. In the mountainous landscape extremists can roam freely. Add in cross border strikes from US military based in Afghanistan and it is hard to know who is who in the very tense situation.

HENRIK HANSSON, of the World Council of Churches, reports... | more... |

CHURCH LEADER WANTS CHRISTIANS TO CELEBRATE EASTER ON SAME DAY

Lebanon-based Armenian Orthodox leader Aram I has at a Vatican meeting with Pope Benedict XVI proposed that the world's churches set a common date for Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. "There are no special doctrinal problems to achieve this goal, but only problems of the calendar," Aram, who heads the Catholicosate of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, told journalists in Rome at the end of his 23rd to 27th November visit to Rome.

     LUIGI SANDRI reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

MIDDLE EAST: EXODUS OF CHRISTIANS FROM IRAQ CONTINUES

Words of encouragement from local, regional and international church leaders, who want Christian institutions to remain in Iraq, have not been able to stem a tide of Iraqi refugees from leaving their country in the face of violence.

The family of 60-year-old Basil Mati Koriya Kaktoma and his wife, Ekram Ishak Buni Safar, aged 55, have lived in Syria since July 2006. Refugees such as these are adamant they will never return to their homeland given their experience of threats, physical abuse and, in the case of Kaktoma, a week-long abduction by Muslim gunmen Kaktoma believes targeted him because he is Christian.

     CHRIS HERLINGER reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

20 YEARS OF WORLD AIDS DAY IS TIME FOR FAITHS TO "TAKE STOCK"

Faith leaders "should shout from the rooftops that AIDS is not a punishment from God but a medical condition which is preventable", the former leader of South Africa's Anglican church, Archbishop Njongo Ndungane, has told the World Aids Campaign. Archbishop Ndungane was speaking in an interview for the Amsterdam and Cape Town-based World Aids Campaign, founded by UNAIDS, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the marking of 1st December as World AIDS Day. The campaign says World AIDS Day is a time of "global solidarity for a pandemic that has led to over 25 million deaths, with an estimated 33 million people currently living with HIV worldwide".

     PETER KENNY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

GLOBAL CHRISTIAN LEADERS CENSURE AFRICA FOR ZIMBABWE FAILURE

Leaders of global Christian organizations have criticised African leaders for their failure to address a "growing humanitarian catastrophe" in Zimbabwe and for their failure to question the "illegitimacy of the current government" there. In a statement on 14th November they called on" the Zanu-PF party [of Robert Mugabe] and the MDC [the Movement for Democratic Change] to form a government based on the will of the voters, true equity and in the interest of real and durable political progress, socio-economic transformation and national healing".

     PETER KENNY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE SAYS WORLD'S GREAT CHALLENGES ALSO BRING "GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVANGELICAL ENGAGEMENT"

More than 500 senior evangelical leaders gathering in Pattaya, Thailand, wrapped up their General Assembly in late October, after five days of intensive discussion to plan the way forward in world evangelisation. Delegates agreed upon six major resolutions setting out an evangelical response to religious liberty, HIV and Aids, poverty, peacemaking, creation care and the global financial crisis. "The worldwide financial turmoil is, at its root, evidence of what happens when too many are captivated by greed and put their faith in, and entrust their security and future aspirations to, a system animated by the maximization of wealth. Many legitimately feel betrayed," read the resolution on the global financial crisis.

     MICHAEL IRELAND reports for Assist News... | more... |

CHRISTIAN AID GROUPS FEAR CATASTROPE IN CONGO

Christian emergency response organizations have expressed alarm at a deteriorating situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Northern Kivu province and about brutalities innocent civilians are facing in a potential humanitarian catastrophe. The Geneva-based ACT International (Action by Churches Together) said in a statement on 30th October that it had accounts from aid workers of looted shops and dead bodies on the pavements in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

    A report from Ecumenical News International... | more... |

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL CONSECRATED IN HAVANA

In the latest signs of warming relations between Russia and Cuba, President Raul Castro has attended the consecration of Cuba's first Russian Orthodox church, and Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who led the Russian church's delegation from Moscow, met the ailing leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro. Raul Castro, who became president in February 2008, when his brother's nearly half-century rule ended, was present at the consecration of the white, gold-domed Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Havana on 19th October.

   SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

INDIA VIOLENCE HIGHLIGHTS GLOBAL PROBLEM OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

The World Council of Churches' General Secretary, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, has said that "one of the greatest problems facing the world today is religious extremism" - and that all faiths must be fully engaged in tackling it.

      Rev Dr Kobia expressed his concern over the recent outbreak of violence against Christians in the eastern India state of Orissa during a visit to the national headquarters of the Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA) in New Delhi, India.

    A report from Ekklesia... | more... |

WE STILL NEED TO "SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER" IN SOUTH AFRICA, SAYS TUTU

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has commended Christian communicators for support that helped liberate his country from minority white rule, and has appealed for their continued assistance in the post-apartheid era. "We are free today because you supported us," Tutu said at the opening in Cape Town of a 6th to 10th October congress of the World Association for Christian Communication, as he highlighted the role that the group had played in sustaining independent media during the apartheid era.

    STEPHEN BROWN reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

EUROPEAN CYCLISTS RIDE FOR PEACE THROUGH HOLY LAND

Eight cyclists from Europe have spent three weeks travelling through the Holy Land to highlight the need for a just and peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict.

     The bicycle journey, the third of its kind, began on 14th August in the Jordanian capital of Amman, where the riders toured the city and visited a Palestinian refugee camp. They then spent the remainder of the trip, cycling through Arab communities near Nazareth and Haifa in northern Israel, and Palestinian communities in the occupied territories.

     JUDITH SUDILOVSKY reports from Jerusalem for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

PAKISTAN'S EMBATTLED CHRISTIANS AWAITING HELP FROM NEW PRESIDENT

The widower of Pakistan's assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was elected president on 6th September, raising hopes among the country's minority Christians who are reeling from several murders and attacks in recent months.

     Although he is officially Muslim, Asif Ali Zardari, attended Christian missionary schools and a top boarding school on the banks of the Indus River near the city of Hyderabad, according to official records.

     JAWAD MAZHAR and STEFAN J. BOS, of BosNewsLife, report... | more... |

IMMIGRATION - A BENEFIT OR A BURDEN?

One of the architects of the modern EU, Francois Mitterand, once said: "I'm afraid that when Europe's body is reunited it may lose its soul." Some people feel that is happening right now -- and that immigration is largely to blame.

     Immigration has been called the most potent political issue in Europe today. It can certainly be a very emotive one.

     On one side, there are people who argue for a very open handed approach to immigration. On the other are people who call for tighter immigration laws because, they claim, immigration may bring higher levels of crime or jeopardise traditional values.

    MAL FLETCHER takes a look at the often vexed issue of immigration... | more... |

ANGLICAN LEADER SAYS 'WIDE' CONSENSUS EXISTS TO HEAL DIVISIONS

Leaders of the Anglican Communion left for home from the Lambeth Conference earlier this month having heard Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams say there is "wide support" for measures to resolve a dispute over homosexuality that had threatened to tear apart the 77-million-strong grouping.

     "We may not have put an end to all our problems but the pieces are on the board," Archbishop Williams said in his final presidential address to the 670 or so bishops attending the 16th July to 3rd August gathering in Canterbury, England.

     TREVOR GRUNDY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

REKINDLING HOPE, RENEWING THE TRADITION OF CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM COOPERATION IN SULAWESI

The concrete wall behind the altar of the Christian Church of Central Sulawesi in Palu, Indonesia still bears marks from two bullets just three inches to the right of a framed cross-stitch portrait of Jesus Christ.
     Four years ago, on 18th July, 2004, the two bullets were among those fired from an assassin’s automatic rifle which ended the life of Rev. Susianti Tinulele, who had just finished preaching during an evening worship service. Tinulele, 28, was one of a growing number of women pastors in Indonesia.

     MAURICE MALANES reports for the World Council of Churches... | more... |

LONDON'S GANGS - MORE SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES NEEDED

Earlier this month , yet another teenager died as a result of gang-related violence in London - the eighteenth this year.

      An Independent on Sunday investigation suggested that almost 14,000 people a year are injured in knife attacks. Some authorities believe the number may be much higher, because many people do not report their injuries for fear of reprisals.

     In his second article on the issue, MAL FLETCHER writes about the problem of youth violence in the UK...  | more... |

YOUTH VIOLENCE AND GANGS IN THE UK - A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE

Some authorities have called youth violence a public health issue, because it's like a virus that spreads from child to child.

     Last week , I stood outside the Damilola Taylor Centre in Peckham, London and pondered again how we could have come to a situation where, in some European cities, violence by and against teenagers has reached chronic proportions.

     MAL FLETCHER writes about the problem of youth violence in the UK...  | more... |

IN THE SHADOW OF THE DAM, LESOTHO COMMUNITIES LONG FOR WATER

The massive dams built by South Africa and Lesotho in the mountain kingdom's highlands have proven a success for the economies of both countries. The Christian Council of Lesotho is worried, however, that the residents displaced by the project are bypassed when it comes to the benefits.

     Malethibela Lits'esane, 35, gazes up to the mountains surrounding the village of Ha Makhalanyane in Lesotho, the kingdom encompassed by mighty South Africa. She longs for the life she once lived several miles beyond those mountains. Five years have passed since she and her husband Emmanuel, 36, were forced from their village of Lamapong Ha Koporala. When the Mohale dam was built, many of the people living in the surrounding area were resettled to other locations. Two of them were the Lits'esanes.

     CHRISTIAN JOHANNESSEN reports...  | more... |

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