WCC NEWS: Jamaican politicians greet IEPC delegation

[WCC media <noreply@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News

JAMAICAN POLITICIANS GREET ECUMENICAL DELEGATION AS PEACE CONVOCATION
OPENS

For immediate release: 18 May 2011

Jamaican national leaders welcomed a global ecumenical delegation on
Monday as the week-long International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC)
began unfolding in Kingston.

The delegation comprised leaders from the World Council of Churches (WCC),
Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC) and Jamaican Council of Churches
(JCC) who attended a series of meetings with Jamaican authorities.

The Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary, briefed Jamaican Prime
Minister Bruce Golding on the history of the WCC and the IEPC, a gathering
of some 1,000 worldwide faith leaders and peace practitioners exploring
the concept of just peace and recent advances in peacemaking practices.

Golding offered a warm welcome, expressing his wishes that the IEPC be
“an inspired and inspiring event.” He emphasized the crucial role of
both the church and state in the ethical development of societies
worldwide today, especially in contexts – as in his own country –
marked by crime and violence.

Sir Patrick Allen, governor general of Jamaica, added his joy, on behalf of
Jamaica and the entire Caribbean region, to be hosting such a significant
event.

The IEPC's location in Jamaica is an intentional acknowledgement of the
region's involvement in the Decade to Overcome Violence, explained CCC
general secretary Gerard Granado. Kingston was one of the focus capitals
of the WCC’s “Peace to the City” campaign launched in Johannesburg,
South Africa, in 1997.

Before the delegation, Allen pointed out the fact that crime and violence
are treated as the most important items on both government and church
agendas in Jamaica today. Allen, an ordained pastor and former head of the
Seventh Day Adventist Church in Jamaica, recalled the “ultimate sources
of peace offered by the gospel” that inspire Christians worldwide to
commit to peace talks and processes worldwide. He affirmed that “there
is nothing wrong in Jamaica today that cannot be fixed by what is
right.”

His optimistic approach inspired a vice-moderator of the WCC Central
Committee, the Rev. Dr Margaretha Hendriks-Ririmasse, to call on churches
to search for mutual collaboration between governments worldwide.

“People are losing faith in Christianity. We must rescue the interest of
people in the gospel by showing how we can work together in this world,”
she said.

Jamaican parliamentary opposition leader Portia Simpson-Miller – one of
the country's most popular politicians – also received a visit from the
ecumenical delegation and listened to a brief introduction on the goals of
the IEPC.

Simpson-Miller, who was the first female prime minister of Jamaica, is also
a member of the Council of Women World Leaders. She said that the churches
play a “very crucial role” in the transformation of all forms of
hostility witnessed in the country.

Reflecting on Simpson-Miller's thoughts, Metropolitan Prof. Dr Gennadios of
Sassima (Limouris), the other vice-moderator of the WCC Central Committee,
said that one of the goals of the IEPC is to have a concrete impact on
Jamaica’s struggle to overcome violence.


Remembering young victims of violence

During a short visit to a monument in downtown Kingston in memory of
children who have been killed under violent circumstances, WCC general
secretary Tveit led a prayer for the numerous young victims who have had
their names recorded there since 2008.

“Maybe if these children can be remembered daily, less will die in the
future,” said Maria Salesmen, a representative of the Kingston & St.
Andrew Corporation and member of the board of the JCC.

The delegation wrapped up its official visits at the Supreme Court of
Jamaica, where Chief Justice Zaila McCalla offered insights on just
peace.

A dialogue about building peace and the judiciary system of Jamaica led the
Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, moderator of the WCC Central Committee, to make a
comparison between the situation in his home country, Brazil, and Jamaica.

“When the judiciary system is too slow, there is a growing feeling of
impunity in society,” he said. “Therefore, we must support all
initiatives in which the judiciary system becomes faster without harming
people’s rights and, thus, help to more effectively deter crime and
corruption.”

The IEPC opens on Wednesday, 18 May and concludes on 25 May.

More information on the IEPC (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=2aebdc4caf3bf3e5e2f7 )

Photo gallery  (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=4b812b8ed7a6d0c4ba68 )

High resolution photos of the visit may be requested free of charge via
photos.oikoumene.org (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=0ae5e22515a008b95222 )


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 Olav Fykse Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.



You receive this information as a subscriber of our media list. You are 
registered as Worldwide with the address wfn-editors@wfn.org.
Click here to unsubscribe or change your distribution settings 
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=f1413551df318ca8c541 ).