April 30, 2012

Following armed attacks Sunday on Christian churches in Kano and Maiduguri, Nigeria, and in Nairobi, Kenya, leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have called for people of faith to support afflicted believers through prayer and solidarity.

"The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and God's ears are open to their cry," said Georges Lemopoulos, deputy general secretary of the council, pledging spiritual and practical support to the afflicted. Quoting from Psalm 34, he continued, "The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit."

The leadership of the WCC is in close contact with member churches in Nigeria, Kenya and other nations and regions, including South Asia and the Middle East, where religious communities have come under fire in recent times.

According to news agency reports, at least four people in Maiduguri and fifteen in Kano were killed, and many more injured, in a series of bombings during Sunday morning worship services. A church service in Nairobi was the target of a similar grenade attack; late in the day, one person was said to have been killed there and 16 others were wounded, five of them critically.

Accompanying churches in situations of conflict: http://lists.wcc-coe.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=jazjt,efhp,usx,4mbs,hvfc,iczd,e4ua.

WCC member churches in Africa: http://lists.wcc-coe.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=jazjt,efhp,usx,2y61,li63,iczd,e4ua.

World Council of Churches