October 5, 2004
by Kristine Greenaway
Ecumenical News International

OTTAWA - Poverty is a form of violence and indifference to it is morally equivalent to possessing weapons of mass destruction says the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Sam Kobia.

Speaking at a service attended by a number of denominations in the Canadian capital, Kobia said: "Our task as churches is to become a community that will say no to violence."

On his first visit to Canada since beginning his term at the helm of the world church body in January, Kobia encouraged Canadian churches to play an active role in the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence. Through this program, which runs from 2001 to 2010, "we have begun to find new ways of addressing the issue of violence which is prevalent throughout the world," Kobia said.

At a meeting with aboriginal religious leaders in the western city of Winnipeg, Kobia heard of stories of violence in residential schools for students descended from the original inhabitants in Canada that had been run by churches in the country until 1969.

Evelyn Broadfoot, a former residential school student, told Kobia of her involvement in promoting healing and reconciliation between aboriginal peoples and the churches.

Kobia commended the example of the Canadian churches in "offering apologies and seeking forgiveness is a unique experience that could be offered to the rest of the world ... where people are seeking ways to come to terms with their history."

Canon Murray Still, a Cree leader with the Anglican Church of Canada in Winnipeg, hoped the meeting with Kobia will lead to the creation of an Indigenous Ecumenical Council to share resources such as buildings and personnel. "Indigenous people don't see each other as Anglican or Lutheran but as Indigenous," said Still.

This question of identity is central to 21st century ecumenism says Kobia, a Kenyan Methodist and the first African to head the WCC, in a meeting with theology students and ecumenical leaders at Emmanuel College in Toronto. "Listening to others as they define themselves" is a key principle of inter-faith dialogue, he noted.

Quoting an interfaith statement adopted by the WCC in 2003, Kobia said "We are not called to stand in judgment of others." Instead he said Christians around the world must "act as agents of healing" in communities where "religious plurality gives rise to tension" that can escalate into violence.

Referring to his own secret visits to Khartoum and Nairobi to talk with religious leaders and seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Southern Sudan, Kobia said 10 years of interfaith dialogue in the region meant he has links to both sides in the conflict. "That's what saved the talks" he said.

In an interview with Ecumenical News International, Bishop Raymond Schultz of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada acknowledged that identity is a big challenge for Canadian Christians. Noting that traditional denominations are in decline and Islam is the fastest growing religion in the country he said: "Our challenge is to express who we are in a pluralistic society."

Presbyterian News Service