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Kobia leads World Council of Churches in quest for peace

 


Kobia leads World Council of Churches in quest for peace

May 17, 2004

By Linda Bloom*

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The Rev. Samuel Kobia

NEW YORK (UMNS) - The leader of the World Council of Churches believes his organization can help the United Nations bring peace to troubled regions of the world.

When the Rev. Samuel Kobia, a Methodist from Kenya, meets with Kofi Annan, the U.N.'s secretary-general, on May 17, he intends to discuss conflicts in places such as Sudan, Iraq and the Middle East.

"I want us to look at how the political and moral come together and where we could complement each other's work," Kobia explained during a May 14 press conference at the Church Center for the United Nations. He became the chief executive at the beginning of 2004, after serving the ecumenical body in other positions over the years.

The World Council of Churches is in the midst of its Decade to Overcome Violence, which calls churches, ecumenical organizations and people of good will to embrace creative approaches to peace building; collaborate with local communities to cultivate a culture of peace; and walk with people systematically oppressed by violence. The United Methodist Church is an active member of the council.

Each year, the decade has a different geographical focus. The 2002 focus on the Middle East, for example, resulted in the establishment of an ecumenical accompaniment program in Israel and the Palestinian territories. "Each year, we have no less than 20 to 24 people from around the world who go to Israel and Palestine just to be there with the people," Kobia said.

In 2003, the focus was on Sudan, where Kobia had been involved in peace talks since 1991. The conflict there primarily involves an Islamic militia backed by the government, which is based in the north, and Christian, animist and more moderate Muslim groups in the Darfur region.

When Kobia met last October with the principal negotiators in Sudan's peace talks, the discussions gave him reason for optimism. "I had hoped by the end of last year the comprehensive peace agreement would have been signed," he said.

Sticking points, he believes, include the status of a contested area in the oil-rich south; the status of the capital city of Khartoum, which is under Muslim sharia law; and control over a mountainous area in the north that is occupied mostly by Christians.

Of most concern, he said, is the situation in the Darfur region. "All indicators show that this is almost a genocide in the making," Kobia explained. "We have reports from our contacts on the ground that massacres are going on."

On May 7, the United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, passed a resolution expressing concern over the humanitarian crisis in the Sudan, where an estimated 2 million people have been killed by war and famine and another 5 million displaced during the past five years.

The resolution deplored the use of government-sponsored violence there and called upon church agencies, as well as individual members, to monitor the situation and use all available means to urge an international response to the crisis. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has established an emergency fund for Sudanese refugees in Chad.

In 2004, the focus for the Decade to Overcome Violence is on the United States - in part, because of the nation's historical struggle with violence and history of nonviolent movements, its enormous global influence and the role that its churches play in promoting social change.

Through special events and interfaith contacts, the World Council of Churches is working to promote an understanding of the situations and challenges that confront U.S. churches as they carry out peace and justice witness; solidarity with churches in their efforts to overcome violence; and celebration as a way of supporting peace.

"I'm going to get involved more and more in what the churches and communities in the United States are doing to overcome violence," Kobia said. He wants to build on the type of nonviolent approach to conflict advocated by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., he said.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.  News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 or newdesk@umcom.org.

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