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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 03.04.2003 |
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| African Churches Criticize the Use of Force to Resolve Conflicts |
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Namibian Bishop Kameeta: “If We Just Listen and Talk, We are Betraying the World”
NAIROBI, Kenya/GENEVA, 3 April 2003 (LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in Africa have sharply criticized the use of force to resolve conflicts.
"As a people called to proclaim justice and peace, we regret and denounce the use of force as a solution to conflicts," representatives of the LWF member churches declared at the end of the March 23-26 Africa Pre-Assembly Consultation (PAC), a forum to prepare the region's church representatives for the forthcoming LWF Tenth Assembly.
In a letter to participants in the April 6-9 PAC for the Latin American and Caribbean region, the 110 delegates from the 29 LWF member churches in Africa urged solidarity in prayer "together with all in our Lutheran communion, now affected by war as we cry and work for peace and healing." They noted that they "gathered in the shadow of the unfortunate war in Iraq" to prepare for the Assembly under the theme "For the Healing of the World."
During discussions they had "realized, confessed, and repented that we ourselves are very much a part of the broken-ness and alienation which we suffer,” the African Assembly delegates wrote.
At the consultation closing worship service, Bishop Dr Zephaniah Kameeta, Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN), called upon African churches to assume responsibility for the continent's problems, and cautioned against always attributing blame to the former colonial powers. “We need a ‘New Partnership for Change in Africa,’” Kameeta emphasized, referring to the “New Partnership for Africa's Development” (NEPAD) initiative, begun in 2001 by African heads of governments, advocating an open and stable economic policy framework that supports the continent’s participation in the global economy.
In his sermon, the ELCRN bishop called on the Lutheran churches, as disciples of Jesus Christ, to commit themselves to responding to all people who are in need including those in prison, the exploited and marginalized, or persons living with HIV/AIDS. “If we just listen and talk, we are betraying the world,” said Kameeta, whose church has 300,000 members.
The African PAC in Nairobi, Kenya, was held in conjunction with the All Africa Lutheran Leadership Conference, a forum for heads of churches. It was the fourth of five such consultations focusing on the theme and content of the Assembly from the different regional perspectives. The last in the regional series will be the Latin American and Caribbean meeting in San Salvador, El Salvador. Asian LWF churches met in Medan Indonesia, March 2-6, while European church representatives met February 23-26 in Vienna, Austria. The first regional PAC took place January 23-26 in North America, in Denver, USA. An international gathering of women from all the regions was held 14-17 November 2002 in Montreux, Switzerland. A global youth conference will take place July 12-18 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
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