wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Samuel Kobia: The Berlin Wall lessons are relevant today

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 05/11/2009 

LESSONS FROM THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL ARE RELEVANT TODAY

Twenty years ago in East Germany, "Christian hope and
perseverance contributed significantly to the fall of the Berlin
Wall", said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary
Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia. Commenting on the 20th anniversary of event
that brought to an end the "cold war era", Kobia stressed: the
people who "gathered in the churches and became the nucleus for
the movement of change […] taught us that Christian faith can
inspire a resistance movement against fatalism and despair - a
lesson which is as important today as it was twenty years ago". 

The full text of the WCC general secretary comment follows:

Christian hope and perseverance contributed significantly to the
fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago. A movement that started
with prayers and candle light vigils in the Saint Nicolas Church
in the centre of Leipzig spread all over East Germany and
inspired and encouraged people to confront the power of police
and secret service in a very effective and peaceful way. The
church in the former German Democratic Republic offered an
inclusive space to people in search of freedom and a spiritual
home. 

When we celebrate today twenty years of the fall of the Berlin
Wall, which marked the end of the cold war era, let us remember
the faith and the courage of all those people who gathered in the
churches and became the nucleus for the movement of change. They
taught us that Christian faith can inspire a resistance movement
against fatalism and despair - a lesson which is as important
today as it was twenty years ago. There are still many walls
separating humankind: the "Demilitarized Zone" between North and
South Korea, the "Security Wall" on the occupied territory in
Palestine, but also the walls of injustice, racism and prejudice
that separate rich and poor, stigmatize persons suffering from
HIV and AIDS and destroy the lives of many people.

>[ends]

>See also:

Opinion piece by Konrad Raiser on 

"The fall of the Berlin Wall and its meaning for the ecumenical
movement"
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/the-fall-of-the-berlin-wa.html

Feature story: "The Berlin Wall fell in many places"
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/the-berlin-wall-fell-in-m.html

Additional information: Juan Michel +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363media@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 349 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.