News and Views - Church and Peace newsletter
Spring 2003
War will not have the last word...
The time has
come to mourn. Once again, and in a spectacular manner, we are witnesses to
that which government leaders - despite so many diplomatic efforts and opposition
from all levels of society - have dared to present as a just and necessary war.
The religious language being used to support the attack against Iraq doesn’t
change anything; far from eradicating evil, this new war will only cause it to
run wild. We literally are witnesses to an unleashing of destructive forces.
The immediate victims are thousands of human beings, including the most
vulnerable of society. It is impossible to calculate the longer range
conse-quences of this undertaking.
The time has
come to mourn but not to despair. One of the unexpected effects of this new
catastrophe was and continues to be an immense wave of protest throughout the
world and particularly within the churches. Never before in the history of the
Church have Christians been as unanimous in their condemnation of a war. This
formidable force should help all people of faith and conscience to not give in
to despair, and to view current events in a different perspective. As former
Church and Peace Administrative Committee member Hansulrich Gerber wrote us
recently, “As horrific as war is, it will not have the last word. (...) This is
a time of despair and danger, but it is also a time of hope and an opportunity
for the truth to be heard.” To transform this spontaneous wave of protest into
a true movement for peace - this is the task facing our world and, in
particular, the churches and Christians now, so that our rejection of war is
converted into the pursuit of peace with justice.
The time has
come to act. Over the past weeks and months our association has strived to
inform our members via email about different actions and campaigns against the
war. This issue of News and Views gives a few examples of such work by groups
and churches in the network: a report from a member of a peace delegation to
Iraq, a fast held in New York. News has reached us as well of the involvement
of groups in a number of other important activities: prayers for peace, vigils
at military installations, protests at American military bases in Germany, support
and counseling for conscience objectors, petitions and letter writing
campaigns, participation in marches and rallies on February 15th and March
15th...and the list goes on. So many signs of hope in a seemingly deadend
situation. We must continue to act for peace so that the struggle against war
does not lose momentum now that the bombs have begun to fall.
The time has
come to reflect and discern. I am writing this letter during Lent, just before
the Passion of Christ. During this time we focus on how through the Cross “the
scandal that is violence has been made powerless” (H. Gerber). We need to
reflect on this truth and hold fast to it. The Church and Peace international
conference to be held at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia,
will be an excellent opportunity to continue this reflection and to discern
collectively “the things that make for peace”. Believers from across Europe and
a region still recovering from the wounds of the recent past are invited to
take part in this reflection. May the God of peace see that this discernment
bear fruit and strengthen the participants in their conviction that “true
justice is the harvest reaped by peacemakers from seeds sown in spirit of
peace” (James 3:18). For, as horrific as
this war is, it will not have the last word.
Marie-Noëlle
von der Recke
Trans: TRM
“Speaking to the Heart”: Arche Members Fast in New
York
Theo Döllgast
To give up
something may mean taking action: this is the well-known paradox of fasting.
The buildup to war in Iraq drove the Community of the Ark (Communauté de
l’Arche) to organise an eight day, water only fast in New York. The fast took
place on February 16-22, beginning the day after worldwide demonstrations on
February 15. Eleven members of the Ark from France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
Great Britain and the Isle of Jersey took part in the fast. We stayed at a
Catholic parish house in Brooklyn and were supported and joined in our fast by
Quakers, Mennonites, Methodists, Franciscans, two Jewish families and representatives
of several NGOs including IFOR/USA (International Fellowship of Reconciliation)
and Pax Christi New York.
Our idea: a
fast in the tradition of Gandhi, not a hunger strike; an appeal to the
conscience, not blackmail; to speak to the hearts of others, not to simply
repeat tired positions and arguments. Our priority was to reach members of the
UN Security Council, the primary decision-making body at that time. We had four
different contacts which were helpful in this respect: the Vatican’s and Germany’s
Permanent Missions to the UN as well as Mennonite and Franciscan UN liaison
offices. Hans Blix confirmed receipt of our message during a short interview
with our film-maker.
Our days were
full but not overloaded - morning and evening we had devotions together as a
group, shared experiences and discussed plans for the next day. In the morning
and at noon we maintained a presence in different churches, offices (for
example at the Mennonite office across the street from the UN building) or the
small meditation room at the UN. These hours were the highlights of our fast as
we met together, small in number and weak, before the gigantic mechanisms of
the UN, direct in the belly of the whale “Manhattan”...lost, yet not truly
lost. The afternoons were taken up with meetings, phone calls, correspondence,
reading. Together we read a book by one of the fast participants* which traces
the American propensity for violence from its roots in colonial times to the
current era.
As I write
these lines (March 17) unsanctioned warfare continues in Iraq but an outright
invasion has not yet been launched. Another group of five persons from the Ark
held a second fast from March 9-15 in New York in the same spirit of the first
fast and with the same audience in mind. We do not give up even if there seems
to be no hope: this is another crucial paradox.
*Roots of Violence in the U.S. Culture by Alain J.
Richard, ISBN 1-57733-043-9
Truth - the first victim of any war
Cor Keijzer
“The perfect
traveller doesn't know where he (sic) is going” (Lie Tseu, 4th century BC)
I can certainly
vouch for the truth of this. At the beginning of February I set off for Iraq.
Representing Church & Peace I was on a Christian Peacemakers Team (CPT)
peace mission: The founders of CPT were the Historic Peace Churches in North
America (Quakers, Mennonites and Church of the Brethren). At present CPT is
trying to send a delegation of 10 to 15 people to Iraq every month. This was a
great opportunity for me to discover that there are a lot of Americans opposed
to the aggressive policy of the White House.
The aim of
these Peace Missions is to listen to the voice of the Iraqi people on the spot.
Another aim is to pass on information to the media in our own countries. These
two things are very important as all objective opinion is at risk from
propaganda. Truth is always the first victim of any war. Fortunately, there are
still newspapers that try to inform public opinion in a way independent of all
pressure. The result is that in several countries majorities are forming to
seek a favourable solution to all the problems of the Middle East. France and
Germany are playing a very important role. We must encourage the governments of
these two countries to continue on this path. History will be grateful to them
for having contributed to avoid-ing a third world war.
During my stay
in Iraq I heard the same questions everywhere: why are you making us suffer for
so long? Stop the sanctions, stop the bombing! We've had enough! The Americans
and the British are using arms that have destroyed our land for centuries. They
are the weapons of mass destruction that affect the civilian population, above
all. Isn't it genocide when the United Nations report that over a million
children and old people have died gratuitously because of the sanctions and the
bombings? What is even more serious, every month 4-5000 children die of
leukemia or other cancers.
I have been
back home since 15 February. I am still furious. Who gives us the right to
humiliate the people of Iraq in this way? We certainly do not all realise that
it is our children who will have to pay for it someday. An African proverb
says: "The earth was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to
you by your children".
I love my five
children very much. Do you love yours?
Leeuwarden –
The Netherlands, 4 March 2003
Trans: Elaine
Griffiths
Church and Peace International Conference 2003
Meet the Partners in Osijek: Evangelical Theological
Seminary
From its humble
beginning in 1972 in the basement of a local church in Zagreb, Croatia, the
Evangelical Theological Seminary (ETS) has grown into a premier Christian
school in Eastern Europe. Established to train pastors and lay persons in
biblical and theological studies, ETS was one of the few Protestant theological
institutions to be opened under communism in Central and Eastern Europe,
including the former Soviet Union. Restrictions on religious freedom elsewhere
in the region made ETS a strategic center for those seeking advanced
ministerial training.
Thirty-one years
later, hundreds of graduates now minister on all continents and in more than 40
nations. The seminary serves over 70 full-time and 200 part-time students who
represent eighteen countries and nine denominations.
Graduates have
pioneered churches and Christian ministries of various kinds including radio
programs, Christian educational television and video, and programs for
students. ETS faculty and students have made a tremendous impact, not only
under the difficult times of communist rule, but especially now in the
post-communist era where they minister in areas across Eastern Europe from
Albania to Armenia. The seminary has served as a significant bridge between
East and West.
Today, the
seminary is both international and inter-denominational in character and
vision, seeking to train a new generation of leadership for the post-communist
era.
Based on the
biblical concepts of the dignity and worth of humankind made in the image of
God, ETS’ Institute for Life, Peace and Justice seeks to become involved with
the practical implications of the Gospel as it touches these three vital areas
of human experience and value (i.e. life, peace and justice). The Institute
hopes to influence the macro structures of society by promoting dialogue and
the circulation of ideas that will support a quality of life embracing justice
and peace. The microstructures of society, such as the quality of personal
relationships and family life, are influenced by educational activities made
available to the community through the Institute.
Specific goals
of the Institute for Life, Peace and Justice include:
• translating
and publishing important works on the themes of justice, peace and life;
• promoting
dialogue at the grassroots level among religious leaders in the community;
• bringing in
guest lecturers with expertise in areas such as conflict resolution and
Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome;
• sponsoring
peace education events for teachers in the community;
• supporting
other like minded groups with similar goals
The training of
Croatians to carry on the Alternatives to Violence program and the organization
of a seminar with Miroslav Volf and local peace workers are some examples of
the Institute for Life, Peace and Justice’s recent activities. A current focus
is the devel-opment of a Master of Arts program in Peace Studies.
Overcome Evil
with Good
Church and Peace Germanic regional conference
Wolfgang Krauss
Paul encouraged
the church in Rome to “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). This
admonishment was also the motto for the conference on 18-20 October 2002 organised jointly by Church and Peace and the
German Mennonite Peace Committee (DMFK). The meeting functioned as the annual
DMFK autumn conference and the C&P Germanic regional conference. Keynote
speaker Arnold Neufeld-Fast from the Bienenberg Theological Seminary gave an
introduction to the topic of conflict transformation and presented different
methods, models and developments in the field.
From conflict management to conflict transformation
Drawing on his
own experience as well as other sources, Neufeld-Fast began by tracing the
development of Mennonite and peace church theology and practice from the
position of more passive nonresistance to that of active peacework. Then he
gave an overview of the developments in peace and conflict studies and the
resulting concepts and methods, focusing on the concept of conflict
transformation proposed by Mennonite peaceworker and conflict studies
specialist John Paul Lederach.
In conjunction
with his experience in conflict settings worldwide, Lederach developed a
concept which moves beyond the more mechanical approach of conflict management
to a holistic concept of conflict transformation. Rather than having mediators
from outside introduce Western methods of conflict management into a conflict
whose complexity they cannot fully grasp, through key groups those affected,
usually the whole community, become participants in the transformation of
potential conflict into a creative process of reconstruction. This concept of
“conflict transformation” integrates ideas often viewed as incompatible: from
diplomacy and mediation to different grassroots activities. In this model
various affinity groups work with different methods along a variety of
timelines which are integrated into a long-term overall plan embracing all
generations.*
In four working
groups specialists shared insights in different areas related to the overall
topic: Frieder Boller, pastor of the Ingolstadt Mennonite Church, spoke about
conflict resolution work in church congregations; Ernst von der Recke gave an
introduction to peer mediation in schools; Reinhard Kober shared about his term
with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron; and Ana and Otto Raffai from Zagreb
discussed the challenges of and prospects for reconciliation work in Croatia,
Bosnia and Serbia.
A mosaic of peace church spirituality
Prayer times
reflected a lively mosaic of peace church spirituality: a morning prayer time
in the style of a silent Quaker meeting was led by a special education teacher and
former DMFK office volunteer; evening prayers were led by a Swiss Mennonite
couple and members of an agricultural Protestant community in Württemberg.
A truly
colorful Saturday evening programme brought together young and old for a time
of fun and games, poetry, singing and storytelling. Participants shared
personal examples of the overcoming of evil with good and ways of dealing with
threats and violence in a manner promoting peace.
A moving
worship service concluded the weekend. In her sermon Ana Raffai gave an
interpretation of Romans 12:21. She shared frustrating as well as encouraging
experiences in attempting to pass on the methods of nonviolent action. Who
knows what evil is? Those who have experienced it. How is evil overcome? Is
good simply a tool with which evil can mechanically be overcome? Or is it not
an attitude that is lived out daily? A way of life in response to evil, a way
of life leading to the overcoming of evil? Human revenge and the call for
retaliation cannot not restore what has been destroyed. Yet when we surrender
the need for revenge to God, he has the chance to set a different dynamic in
motion. He offers all sides life instead of destruction.
After the
sermon a time of intercession and lament allowed conference participants to
bring situations of injustice and violence before God.
Trans: TRM
* Presentation available in German from the C&P
International Office.
Globalised Violence - Globalisation of Peace
Church and Peace Francophone regional conference
The Church and
Peace Francophone regional confer-ence on 25-27 October 2002 brought together
about 30 persons at the Abbaye des Dombes in southeastern France where we were
hosted by the Communauté du Chemin Neuf. We were happy to see that about a
third of the participants were attending a Church and Peace meeting for the
first time, in response to the invitation of members of the network.
The topic of
the conference, “Globalised violence and a globalisation of peace”, fit
perfectly into the current global context where terrorism following the events
of September 11th motivates us to reflect on the mechanisms of globalisation
and to seek paths of peace open to our churches and us as Christians.
Christian
Mellon, Jesuit and secretary of Justice et Paix France, and Frédéric Rognon,
pastor in the French Reformed Church, professor at the Strasbourg Faculty of
Theology and member of the Community of the Ark of Lanza del Vasto, guided us
in our reflection and helped us to better understand and analyse the effects of
globalisation in the contexts in which we live.*
Rognon
summarized the weekend with the following impressions of the conference:
“First of all,
it was a gift to be hosted by the Communauté du Chemin Neuf. We heard from the
community in their introduction that peacebuilding includes reconciliation
between churches, and the fact that we are meeting here in this very place
which has seen the efforts of the Dombes group over the past forty years to
work for unity among Christians is undoubtedly a sign. We also heard that the
Communauté du Chemin Neuf is advancing step by step on a path which may lead
someday to their becoming a community of peace. This is cause to give thanks.
Christian
Mellon’s presentation on globalised violence and terrorism gave us tools to
better comprehend what is at stake with globalisation. Four points come to
mind: it is possible to master globalisation; one should distinguish between
economy and war; speaking to those in power in their own language, taking into
account their way of reasoning, is indispensable; and, finally, one ought not
underestimate these players’ capacity for positive change. One could have
accused the presentation of being overly optimistic, but perhaps it was simply
hopeful.
During the
reflection on biblical texts which relate to a globalisation of peace, we
strove to distinguish between “pax” and “shalom” in order to become “shalom”
makers. We do not want to be content with simply refraining from returning evil
for evil but rather wish to be proactive in our interpretation of the Golden
Rule and act in ways which build shalom. We feel the need to reconcile
ourselves with our own internal Samaritan and the Samaritans with whom we come
into contact. Finally we shared our thoughts on ways of creating fertile ground
where shalom can take root and spread.
And thus we
learned that we form a “mafia for peace” (!), an underground network which
bears fruit. This work is not necessarily in the media spotlight but rather
consists of building relationships. The expression “a mafia for peace” will
undoubtedly come to mind whenever we think of this conference, along with
another word which resounded despite the gigantic challenges threatening our
work for peace: hope. Stories of hope encouraged us - of the work being done in
Rwanda, in Congo, by Attac -, lights of hope in the darkness.
We left the
conference with some tools to better understand the situation of our planet and
with some biblical insights to help us grow, but above all we departed with
renewed hope. Hope which gives life to a “mafia for peace”, a “prophetic
mafia”, a “mafia of hope”.”
Trans: TRM
* The French-language presentations and a bibliography
on the topic are available from the Francophone regional office: 5, rue du Mont
Verdun; F-69140 Rillieux la Pape; Tel & Fax: +33 (0)4 78 88 87 25;
[email protected].
NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
• Bocs Foundation seeks support for project in India
Since 1977, the
BOCS Foundation has supported the Education Sponsorship Program (ESP) school
network in Gujarat, India, which serves 94 schools and 30,000 children. Through
the promotion of education for girls and women from poor families, Bocs strives
to address the problem of overpopulation, a contri-buting factor to violence
and environmental destruction worldwide. Currently, the BOCS Foundation is
looking for partner NGOs in Western Europe to help finance the ESP. The Bocs
Foundation is a Church and Peace member and forms the Hungarian branch of the
International Fellowship of Reconciliation.
(IFOR in Action/Winter 2003)
• London Mennonite Centre to celebrate 50 years of
hospitality, service
Church and
Peace member the London Mennonite Centre (LMC) will host visitors from around
the world June 7-8 in celebration of 50 years of Christian service and
hospitality. LMC was founded in 1953 as a housing ministry for foreign students
and evolved into a place of retreat, theological discourse, and a resource
center for Anabaptism in Great Britain. Today, the London Mennonite Centre has
nine staff working at various aspects of mission, ranging from Christian
education in discipleship and Anabaptist tradition to mediation and
reconciliation. Contact: Jill Gerig, [email protected], or visit the center's
web site at www.menno.org.uk (Mennonite Mission Network)
• Petition calls for inclusion of nonviolence
education in school curriculum
A petition
calling for the inclusion of nonviolence education in the school curriculum can
be signed at the website of the French coordination group for the United
Nations’ decade promoting a culture of nonviolence and peace for the children
of the world (2001-2010): www.decennie.org
RESOURCES
• Peace education for children
Recommended by
the Centre Mennonite de Brussels (CMB): “Pour une éducation à la
non-violence: Activités pour éduquer les 8-12 ans à la paix et à
la transformation des conflict” by Jeanne Gerber. Promotes peace education for
children and conflict transformation. An indispen-sable resource for parents,
educators, social workers and psychologists; includes pedagogical tools for conflict
transformation. Published by Editions Chronique Sociale, available from CMB,
112 rue Franklin, B-1000 Bruxelles.
• Hospitality
The third
resource pamphlet in the series “Lade deine Nachbarn ein” is entitled
“Gastfreundschaft aus der Perspektive von Migranten und Migrantinnen”. The
German-language pamphlet contains migrants’ stories and experiences relating to
hospitality as well as songs, prayers and liturgical elements. The pamphlet is
available for 2,55€ from the Ecumenical
Centre in Frankfurt: Tel. +49 69 2470270,
[email protected],
www.oekumene-ack.de/lade/
• Peace church in the ecumenical movement
New
release: “Friedenskirche in der Ökumene
- Mennonitische Wurzeln einer Ethik der Gewaltfreiheit” by Fernando Enns. From
the series “Kirchen, Konfessionen, Religionen”, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht, 2003.
• Peacemaking Day by Day
The Christian
community “Brot und Rosen” in Hamburg has produced a German-language version of
the book “Peacemaking Day by Day” published by Pax Christi USA. The book is a
compilation of reflections, prayers and devotional texts with a foreword by
Dorothee Sölle. Church and Peace is co-producer of the second edition. Frieden
stiften - jeden Tag can be ordered from the C&P International Office.
• “Lanza del Vasto, le pelèrin”
This 65 minute
video invites viewers to discover the life and work of Lanza del Vasto, pilgrim
of truth and founder of nonviolent communities active in addressing societal
problems. The film explores topics such as anti-nuclear campaign work and the
Community of the Ark, then and now. Writer and director Louis Campana and
film-maker François Verlet also produced the film “Les Colombes de l’Ombre”, a
plea for the cause of peace and nonviolence in Israel-Palestine. The videos can
be ordered for 25 € each + shipping and handling from Association Shanti, 37
rue de la Concorde, F-11000 Carcassone.
• Annotated Peace Resource List
A list of
peace-related English-language books, videos, music, websites for all ages.
Includes materials for teachers and links to other peace resource lists.
peace.mennolink.org/resources/biglist/index.html