wfn.org | Mandela affirms WCC's work for human rights, sees challenges

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

ahead

Dec. 14, 1998	Contact: Tim Tanton((615)742-5470(Nashville, Tenn.
{737}

By Tim Tanton*

HARARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) - The World Council of Churches inspired the
opponents of apartheid in South Africa and struck fear into the hearts
of those who supported the racist system of government there during the
struggle for freedom, Nelson Mandela said.

"To us in South Africa ... the World Council of Churches has always been
known as the champion of the oppressed and the exploited," he said. "On
the other hand, the name of the World Council of Churches struck fear
into the hearts of those who ruled our country during the inhuman days
of apartheid," he said.

Mandela, president of the Republic of South Africa, addressed the World
Council of Churches' Eighth Assembly at the University of Zimbabwe Dec.
13. The school's Great Hall was filled to capacity with current and
former delegates, as the WCC marked its 50th anniversary with a "Journey
to Jubilee" program, followed by a recommitment service, dinner, and
celebrations that
went into the night. 

When Mandela entered the hall, the room erupted with applause, and the
clamor continued as he slowly made his way amid a thick crowd to his
seat on the front row. Accompanying him were Zimbabwe Executive
President Robert Mugabe, WCC General Secretary Konrad Raiser and WCC
moderator His Holiness Aram I.  Zimbabwe's national anthem was played,
followed by South Africa's. 

After Mandela was seated, Pauline Webb, a British Methodist and the
first female officer of the WCC, recounted the highlights of past
assemblies. When she described how the Fourth Assembly, in Uppsala,
Sweden, launched the Programme to Combat Racism in 1968, a choir burst
into song from the back of the hall. The South African choral group
Imilonji Kantu entered, clad in long robes of white, black, gold, green,
red and blue. They sang as they proceeded up the aisle, with a drummer
pounding out the beat. Mandela rose from his seat and joined them on
stage, moving to the music and drawing loud approval from the assembly.

In his remarks, Mandela praised the ecumenical fellowship for its work
in human rights. "The World Council of Churches helped to voice the
international community's insistence that human rights are the rights of
all people everywhere."

The WCC encouraged and inspired South Africans when it initiated its
Programme to Combat Racism and gave support to the liberation struggle,
Mandela said. The WCC was banned from South Africa until shortly before
the collapse of the apartheid system.

The South African leader also noted the role that the churches and
missions played in educating the people at a time when education was
denied them by the government.

"My generation is the product of church education," Mandela said.
"Without the missions and other religious educators, I would not have
been here today."

Mandela attended Methodist schools and Sunday schools as a youth. His
wife, Graca Machel, the former first lady of Mozambique,  is a United
Methodist.

"I will never have sufficient words to thank the missions for what they
did for us."

Mandela outlined the work that lies ahead for Africa: promoting
development, advancing democracy, eradicating HIV/AIDS, rooting out
corruption and greed, and ensuring human rights.

"The rights that have been gained, and that have been declared
universal, will remain hollow shells and our freedom incomplete if they
do not bring an end to the curse of hunger, disease, ignorance and
homelessness which blight the lives of millions in our country, in
Africa and across the globe," he said.

His continent, he said, "dreams of an African renaissance" in which
peace, democracy, human rights, growth and development are a reality for
all Africans, he said.

"Most of the countries in the continent are at peace with themselves and
their neighbors," he said. Until the recent global economic problems,
the countries of sub-Saharan Africa had average economic growth of about
5 percent for almost a decade, he said. 

"Regional cooperation is a reality," he said. However, conflicts in the
Sudan, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo "are a great
concern," he said. "Such conflicts have the capacity to set back all our
efforts."  

He wanted to make clear, he said, that "Africa generally and our region
in particular has highly competent and committed experienced leaders,
and I have no doubt they will be able to resolve these conflicts to the
satisfaction of everybody."

Noting the WCC's deep commitment to fighting racism 30 years ago,
Mandela called upon the council "to show that same engagement for the
more difficult struggle" of development.

Ways must be found to increase investment in Africa, he said, and he
added his voice to those of  earlier speakers at the WCC by calling for
removing the barrier of debt that "affects Africa more than any other
region." 

Institutions that regulate economic systems should be reoriented so that
world economic growth translates into development, he said. 

Today's leaders must find ways in which the world economy can be used to
address the problem of poverty, he said. That is a "formidable but
achievable task," he said.

Mandela spent nearly 30 years as a political prisoner in South Africa,
winning release with the collapse of apartheid and becoming his
country's first democratically elected president. Mandela's presence at
the WCC assembly "is a living example of the sanctity and humanity of
persons of every race," said Philip Potter, a Methodist and former WCC
general secretary. 

Speaking after Mandela, Potter reflected on the WCC's progress during
its first 50 years and looked ahead to challenges that it faces.

"Christians are now willing to face openly the divisions which have
taken place, especially those of the past 1,000 years," he said. "The
historic churches are now all on speaking terms. Within the last 40
years, there have been remarkable comings together and conversations."

Through the WCC's Faith and Order Commission, steps have been taken
toward increased fellowship, he said.

"Religious liberty is being more clearly observed," he said.

The WCC also has intensified its central task of furthering the mission
of the church, the proclamation of the Gospel and the ministry of health
and healing, he said. There has been steady growth in dialogue among the
churches, and in several cases, cooperation on concerns of human rights
and peace "is fruitfully taking place," he said. 

"In the last 20 years, however, there has been an unhappy increase in
ethno- religious conflicts, which call for more concerted ecumenical
attention than has been given," he said. As economic and financial
pressures accelerate, "so do the violent reactions of ethno-religious
groupings in many countries," he said.

The task facing the WCC and other religious groups is "to intensify the
dialogue of action and to seek ways to overcome violence and encourage
cooperation for human well-being," he said.

Potter noted that the WCC and other international organizations have
launched many activities that have effected change in the world,
breaking down barriers between people, promoting the "one human family
in justice and peace, and upholding the integrity of creation," he said.

Working among refugees, displaced people and migrants will continue to
be important in a world broken with war and conflict, he said.

The Programme to Combat Racism has highlighted the discrimination
against people because of their race and the marginalization of
indigenous people, he said. "This task must urgently be carried out with
eager determination."

The WCC has challenged the "age-old discrimination against women in
church and society," he said. With the conclusion of the WCC's Decade of
Churches in Solidarity with Women, a new stage has been reached in
recognizing the "God- given equality of women and men," he said, drawing
applause.

Poverty and unemployment are increasing in both rich and poor countries,
and those problems must be attacked, he said. 

The 20th century will transmit a legacy of weapons of mass destruction
and conflicts into the next century, he said. It is the duty of the WCC,
other religious bodies and the United Nations "to work with ceaseless
vigilance" for peace.

He also charged the WCC with the duty of addressing poverty,
unemployment and environmental concerns around the world, and declaring
the unity of God's people, proclaiming the Gospel and advancing the
well-being of all people. 

Potter, who spoke to the WCC's first assembly in Amsterdam in 1948 as a
youth representative, said he hoped the young people at the Eighth
Assembly would be present at the next jubilee, in 2048, to testify about
the organization's continuing work.

He concluded by drawing on the assembly's theme, "Turn to God - Rejoice
in Hope," saying the "task is now before us, whatever the circumstances
and the resources may be. For that, we must constantly turn to God and
rejoice in hope, knowing that hope is love in action  And to God be the
glory."

# # #

*Tanton is news editor for United Methodist News Service.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/