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World Council of Churches News Release 9 January 2008
WCC SEES SIGNS OF HOPE IN KENYA, PRAISES CHURCHES FOR PEACEMAKING ROLE
Posted on Feb 6, 2008
The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has called on Kenyan political leaders to keep moving towards dialogue while praising the countries' churches for their role in peacemaking.
"While the situation continues to be critical, some signs of hope can be seen", Kobia said in a public statement today. He welcomed recent developments in the country and expressed hope that the "political stalemate" may be broken. "We call on the political leaders, especially President Kibaki and Hon. Raila Odinga, to refrain from taking decisions that might frustrate the process towards dialogue for a peaceful resolution of the conflict", he said.
Violence tainted with ethnical components erupted across the country following a disputed presidential election last December. Reports estimate that about 600 people have been killed, while some 200,000 have fled their homes.
Kobia praised the work of the Kenyan churches, which have been "strongly involved in resolving the situation and calling for peace", at a time when their "ministry of healing and reconciliation" is deeply needed. "Church leaders must continue to rise above ethnic differences and politics and call for an end to the disputes", he said.
The WCC statement also appeals to churches around the world to "continue to pray for the Kenyan people and churches and to provide humanitarian aid through ecumenical partners" in the country.
Full text of the 9 January statement on Kenya by the WCC general secretary
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=5495
All Africa Conference of Churches
http://www.aacc-ceta.org
National Council of Churches of Kenya
http://www.ncck.org
Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 347 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
